Officials work to fill empty stores at The Market Common

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - Plans are in the works to fill vacant spots at The Market Common, which has become the go-to destination for shopping, movies, music and dining.

While businesses like Tommy Bahama and Charming Charlie’s closed their doors at The Market Common, management said they’re actively looking for replacements. But they’re waiting for the perfect fit.

General manager Heather Gray said while they haven’t picked where it will go, a seafood restaurant is high on their list.

Eric Davis lives in the area and he said he’s glad new businesses are carefully considered.

“There should always be a plan for redevelopment here because we look at it as a mini Charleston, type of area," Davis said. "It’s like more of a home environment, it’s a lot different than your typical Myrtle Beach scene, it’s not as commercialized. You’re able to have different restaurants with different types of services.”

But, that’s not the only change coming to The Market Common area.

Last year, the city of Myrtle Beach gave the Tidal Creek Brewhouse the go-ahead to hit the ground running on their brewery right along The Market Common.

The co-owner of Tidal Creek Brewhouse, Dara Liberatore-Sawcuzk, said their goal is to open their doors by April of next year. They were originally supposed to open their doors in the spring of this year but they said a lot more had to go into the process.

She said in during the spring they went through the engineering and structural process and it took longer than they anticipated. They also had to add in a fire compression system.

Local brewmaster, Michael Grossman, said Myrtle Beach is an untapped market and as a tourist town, breweries are something the city needs. (Editor’s note: a previous version of this story inferred Michael Grossman is working for Tidal Creek, he is not)

“It will bring the beer tourism here," Grossman said. "Asheville is a great example of beer tourism. Asheville is a small little town and 20 years ago hardly anything was there, and all these breweries started popping up.”

So why are breweries the answer here?

We’re starting to draw a different kind of tourist here," Grossman said. "The younger crowd, they’re more into different things when it comes to beverages they like to drink or food they like to eat so craft breweries only make sense.”

And Myrtle Beach city leaders seem to agree.

Earlier this week we learned the city plans to add more, and Liberatore-Sawcuzk said that’s a good thing.

“I think it’s wonderful," she said. "I think it creates a great sense of pride and joy for Myrtle Beach. One thing Myrtle Beach was lacking was becoming a destination spot for brew hopping.”

Liberatore-Sawcuzk said they also plan to give back to the community through non-profits.

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