JDH Capital : News
WHAT STORES ARE COMING NEXT TO OKATIE VILLAGE?
4 Jul 2008
By JIM FABER of the Island Packet
The Okatie Village Commons, whose centerpiece is a Food Lion store that opened last week, will add new tenants in the coming months, including restaurants, a hair salon and a UPS Store.
Matt Bautista plans to open The UPS Store in the shopping center, which is just outside the Sun City Hilton Head gate. Bautista owns the UPS Store franchises on the south and north end of Hilton Head Island. He recently closed his mid-island store to move it to Okatie Village.
"We didn't need three stores on Hilton Head Island," Bautista said. "And Bluffton is booming. It's huge."
The UPS Store will be roughly
1,200 square feet and offer the usual selection of shipping, mailbox and copying services, Bautista said.
Gruby's New York Deli on the island also will open a new location in the shopping center, but with a twist.
The new restaurant, called Gruby's Deli and Grill, will serve dinner -- the island location closes at 6 p.m. -- and alcohol, said Susan Altman, restaurant manager.
Altman said the eatery would be about double the space of the island location, would be able to seat more than 100 and would have about 20 employees.
Business at the island location in the Fresh Market Shoppes is strong, but the Okatie area has the growth, Altman said.
"It's just growing so much out there," she said.
Sport Clips franchisee Bill Voegtle also is planning to expand to Okatie Village, with another hair salon.
His shop on Malphrus Road has just six hair-cutting stations in 1,000 square feet of space, meaning it's usually full, Voegtle said.
"We've tried to move out to Okatie and Sun City for the past four years," Voegtle said.
The new shop will have eight stations and 1,200 square feet.
Adding another Sport Clips near Sun City -- Voegtle also has three salons in Savannah -- made sense. "Currently a good portion of our client base is Sun City-based," he said.
Other future tenants include No. 1 China Restaurant, Mi Tierrita Mexican Restaurant and Quality Golf Carts.
The shopping center has 57,729 square feet of retail space and sits on 7.8 acres, according to center developer, Charlotte-based JDH Capital. There is still space available in the center.
The developer plans to turn the buildings over to tenants in the fall and expects the first stores to be open by the end of the year, said Nicole Anthony, vice president of leasing and sales for JDH's southern region.
Food Lion fills about 35,000 of the 57,729 square feet. In addition to the Food Lion, three other buildings are in the shopping center.
The North Carolina-based grocer designed the store for Sun City shoppers with features like an expanded organic food and products section, 60 percent more wine than the average Food Lion and lower shelves.
