Doors are about to close permanently at this Bluffton grocery store, and it’s not the only one

Shoppers of the Bluffton Bi-Lo will have to buy groceries at another store or travel nearly 10 miles to the nearest Bi-Lo on Mathews Drive on Hilton Head Island come June.

The grocery store in the Shoppes at Myrtle Park shopping center at 50 Burnt Church Road will close, according to Southeastern Grocers, the company that owns the Bi-Lo chain established in Georgia and the Carolinas.

Frank Archer, regional vice president of Bi-Lo East, said in a statement Friday the closure will take place in June, but he did not provide an exact closing date.

“This decision was not made lightly,” he said. “Our associates are always the first to know of any changes at our stores and have been made aware of the closure and are encouraged to apply for open positions we have in our network of neighboring Bi-Lo stores.”

However, this is not the only Bi-Lo to close shop next month; stores in Fort Mill; Orangeburg; Columbus, N.C.; and Charlotte will also close in June, according to local news sources.

Bi-Lo representatives did not clarify whether other stores in Beaufort County would also close.

A representative of Wheeler Real Estate Co., the property owner of Shoppes at Myrtle Park, said the business could not comment Friday afternoon. The 39,000-square-foot store is described as the anchor of the shopping center on the company’s website.

The Bluffton location was a Piggly Wiggly until 2013, when Bi-Lo purchased 22 Piggly Wiggly stores in South Carolina and Georgia.

This story was originally published May 5, 2017 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Doors are about to close permanently at this Bluffton grocery store, and it’s not the only one."