By Caroline Fossi (Contact)
Store to be opened in Summerville to take advantage of growth in area
Local furniture retailer Harry Gregorie got a bird’s-eye view of Summerville’s explosive growth during a recent small-plane trip over the area.
During the flight, he said he was struck by the vast number of new homes and neighborhoods cropping up around the town. “It’s just unbelievable,” said Gregorie, president of Charleston-based GDC Home.
The upscale home-furnishings company is hoping to tap into that residential boom, targeting Summerville for its fourth area location.
GDC plans to open a store this fall in North Main Market, located off U.S. Highway 17-A, also known as North Main Street and one of the town’s main shopping drags. The complex is anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter, a Lowe’s home-improvement warehouse and a Belk department store, and is across the street from the Azalea Square Shopping Center, home to a number of big-box stores.
The furniture retailer will move into half of a former Winn-Dixie supermarket that has been vacant for several years. If renovations go smoothly, the company hopes to be open there before Thanksgiving, Gregorie said.
The new store will carry wooden and upholstered furniture, drapery and upholstery fabrics, lighting, bedding, home accessories and area rugs. Brand names will include Lee Industries, Vanguard Furniture, Hooker Furniture and Pine Cone Hill. The company offers direct import pricing for many of its imported pieces.
At 23,000 square feet, the Summerville location will be roughly the size of GDC’s recently remodeled Mount Pleasant store. The company also operates a 44,000-square-foot store in West Ashley and a small interior design center near Kiawah and Seabrook islands.
Many of the retailer’s customers come from Summerville and the surrounding Dorchester and Berkeley counties. Given the area’s growth, the company expects to attract new patrons as well.
“We feel like there’s a need for our product,” Gregorie said.
The retailer plans to hire about 16 people for sales floor, customer service and stockroom positions.
GDC’s expansion comes at a time when many home-furnishings companies are struggling in the face of a sluggish national housing market. But Gregorie remains upbeat about the Charleston region’s prospects. The area, he said, “is not in dire straits.”
Between July 2004 and July 2012, Dorchester County added almost 5,700 new residents, a growth rate of more than 5 percent, making it one the nation’s 100 fastest- growing counties, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Today, it’s home to roughly 120,000 people.
What’s more, the new store will be in a high-traffic area that’s also a “retail mecca,” Gregorie said, pointing to a number of big-name retailers nearby, including discounter Target and electronics seller Best Buy. The Lowe’s store next door to GDC’s future location is the top sales generator among that chain’s five Lowcountry locations, he added.
Billy Walker, owner of North Main Market, said GDC would be a good fit for the shopping center and Summerville.
The area has few upscale home furnishings shops, Walker noted. “I think (the arrival of GDC) gives you A-to-Z to choose from in retail,” he said.
Walker said he has several prospective tenants for the remaining Winn-Dixie space. He said he hopes to have it filled by next year.
Reach Caroline Fossi at 937-5524 or cfossi@postandcourier.com.
