3rd restaurant opens in Mount Pleasant center this year; Charleston clothing shop to open | Real Estate

A Florida-based restaurant chain now offers two locations in the Charleston area and is the third new dining venue to set up shop in a Mount Pleasant shopping center this year. 

Maple Street Biscuit Co. opened Tuesday at 996 Queensborough Blvd. in the Publix-anchored Queensborough Shopping Center near U.S. Highway 17 and Anna Knapp Boulevard. It follows Paisano’s Pizza Grill, which opened earlier this year, and Groucho’s Deli, which opened in the fall.

Maple Street’s specialties include freshly made biscuits, never-frozen chicken and newly ground beans every day for fresh coffee. Full-plate offerings are on the menu as well.

Owned by Sandy Powers, it’s open 7 a.m.-2 p.m. each day. Richard Starling will oversee the new location.

Maple Street previously opened at 1739 Maybank Highway in the Harris Teeter-anchored James Island Center.

Jacksonville-based Maple Street has 41 restaurants in seven Southern states, including two Upstate locations in Simpsonville and Greenville.

Vintage threads

A new vintage women’s apparel shop is opening in downtown Charleston.

Portal will offer pre-owned threads in a 1,023-square-foot shop at 189 St. Philip St. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. It’s scheduled to open Dec. 10.

Tina Heath-Schuttenberg, co-owner of James Island restaurants Kwei Fei and Micho, said she has been walking past the site for the past five years and dreaming of opening her own clothing store.

“I come from a retail background with my history spent as a buyer and merchandiser for a quirky mix of high/low brands (such as) Buffalo Exchange, Zac Posen, The Plaza Hotel and Dean & Deluca,” she said.

During the past few years, she and her husband and business partner, David Schuttenberg, worked to create the two restaurants at Charleston Pour House on Maybank Highway, which she said kept her busy.

“The stars finally aligned, and I’m making the move back to my first love of retail,” Heath-Schuttenberg said.

Portal, she said, will be a buy-sell-trade-rental concept for vintage threads. She also plans to include contemporary brands. With an all-inclusive size range, she says clothing styles from edgy to demure will come in “an odd mix” that will be offered at an “affordable luxury price point.”

The shop also plans to offer curbside pick-up service and appointments for those who might need a safer shopping experience during the pandemic. All selling and trading will be done by appointment.

Stepping back in

A shoe store that closed earlier this year in West Ashley is now open again.

SAS Shoes can be found at 1755 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., at the same address it occupied previously.

The store closed when the previous owners retired. The shop is now a corporate-run location by San Antonio, Texas-based SAS, according to the store manager.  It’s open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

Less convenience

Some residents of a subdivision in northern Mount Pleasant plan to protest a request to allow a 76-brand convenience store and gas station at the entrance to their neighborhood.

From 9-11 a.m. Saturday, Charleston National residents said they plan to show their opposition to a special exemption request submitted to the town for the proposed 4,800-square-foot business with 24 fueling stations on U.S. Highway 17 at Old Course Lane. About 450 signatures were collected and delivered to the town by Dec. 1.

The site is on the east side of U.S. Highway 17 just past Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital on the west side.

The developer of the wooded tract says the town requires a 25-foot landscape buffer between the site and the residential properties to the east, but it says the buffer will actually be 95 feet of landscaping and undeveloped area. An 8-foot masonry wall also is being proposed in the 25-foot buffer area.

76, formerly Union 76, is owned by Phillips 66 Co.

The town’s Board of Zoning Appeals will consider the request during its meeting on Monday.

Beauty spots

Beauty products purveyor Sephora will replace all cosmetics areas at Kohl’s with 2,500-square-foot shops, starting with 200 locations late next year.

It will expand to at least 850 stores by 2023. Kohl’s operates 1,150 shops in 49 states. The two retailers did not say which stores will be among the first 200.

Sephora’s online beauty offerings will launch on kohls.com in the fall of 2021. The deal appears to upend Sephora’s 14-year exclusive relationship with J.C. Penney, which filed for bankruptcy protection in May. Penney will emerge from the restructuring after shedding about a third of its stores.

The Kohl’s partnership, announced Tuesday, stands to benefit both retailers as the coronavirus pandemic changes shopping habits. The retailer has struggled during the outbreak and is looking to draw new and younger customers. Cosmetics chains have been hurt as people consolidate trips to stores to lower their risk of exposure.

The Sephora shops will be near the front entrances.

Kohl’s has three Charleston-area locations in Mount Pleasant, Summerville and West Ashley. J.C. Penney has one store in the region at Northwoods Mall in North Charleston.

Earlier this month, Target said it would be opening Ulta Beauty shops in more than 100 stores next year.

Free holiday parking

The City of Charleston is once again offering two-hour parking vouchers for free parking in select garages through Jan. 1 to encourage holiday shopping downtown. 

Participating garages include: Visitor Center at 73 Mary St., South Carolina Aquarium at 24 Calhoun St., Midtown at 553 King St., Majestic Square at 211 King St., 93 Queen St., 34 St. Philip St., 1 Cumberland St. and 25 Prioleau St. Just scan the voucher upon exit. Here’s the link: https://tinyurl.com/y6mohxvk.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Do you know of a retail business that is opening, closing, expanding or in the works? Reach Warren L. Wise at 843-937-5524. Follow him on Twitter @warrenlancewise.