Stores in new Bluffton shopping center announce opening dates

We’re still hearing crickets from The Fresh Market’s PR team about the store rumored to open in Bluffton this year, but that shouldn’t dampen your excitement about other tenants slated to launch at the intersection of Burnt Church Road and U.S. 278 in the coming weeks.

The almost complete shopping center in greater Bluffton will welcome a PGA Tour Superstore, Hobby Lobby, Sleep Number mattress store and Aspen Dental office.

Lynn Luczkowski with L2 Communications, a public relations firm for PGA Tour Superstore, said Monday the new Bluffton location would celebrate a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce on April 1.

The 25,000-square-foot store will open at 9 a.m. that day at 1129 Fording Island Road, according to a news release. This location will be PGA Tour Superstore’s 29th store.

Customers who attend the grand opening will have the chance to nab nearly $30,000 in product giveaways. The store also will give a donation to benefit youth golfers in the area through The First Tee of the Lowcountry, per the news release.

The new store will be equipped with “certified teaching professionals,” practice hitting bays, a putting green, in-house club-making and repair facility and even professional tennis racquet stringers.

There’s not a concrete opening date in place yet for Bluffton hobbyists’ newest hotspot, but Bob Miller, communications coordinator at Hobby Lobby, said in an email Monday the 55,000-square-foot location will open in Bluffton sometime in April.

The craft store will hire between 35 and 50 employees at $15.35 per hour for full-time positions and $10.23 per hour for part-time associates; a hiring event will be held at the store a few weeks prior to the opening and will be announced on the Hobby Lobby career page and social media.

“We have had our eye on Bluffton for a while and are excited to open this new store and are eager to be a part of the community,” Miller wrote.

But the shopping complex won’t just cater to golfers and crafters; Sleep Number mattress store and an Aspen Dental office will also open their doors in April.

Emily Mein, communications specialist with Aspen Dental Management Inc., said Monday the new Aspen Dental office will open April 13 at 1135 Fording Island Road. She said the company has more than 600 offices throughout the country, and customers can find offices or book appointments online at aspendental.com

“It’s not going to be the first Aspen Dental in the area,” she said. “There are quite a few ... 22 miles away in Savannah, one in Pooler, some in Charleston and Myrtle Beach.”

Bluffton’s newest mattress store won’t be far behind.

Sarah Reckard, public relations manager, said the Bluffton Sleep Number store will open April 20. She said Monday she didn’t have any specifics on a grand opening event at the new 2,800-square-foot store, but she offered assurance that Sleep Number stores always offer special grand-opening deals.

“There are more than 550 Sleep Number owned stores in the country,” she said. “(We want to) create an unexpected mattress shopping experience.”

Public relations representatives of The Fresh Market did not respond to a request for an update on a store speculated to open in Bluffton.

A “coming soon” sign originally posted at the construction site of the new shopping center in greater Bluffton included logos from PGA Tour Superstore, Hobby Lobby and The Fresh Market. The sign was later taken down without explanation.

The Fresh Market has never confirmed the opening of a Bluffton store.

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 8:34 AM with the headline "Stores in new Bluffton shopping center announce opening dates."