Crossing the bridge: Bluffton’s economic boom leaves Hilton Head with tough choices
For Richard Boyd, a busy day often meant a stop at the Sam’s Club on Hilton Head Island’s north side — just minutes from his house — to pick up a rotisserie chicken for about $5.
“I could get it real quick and have dinner for days,” said Boyd, of Palmetto Hall Plantation.
But Boyd is unsure if he will cross the island bridge to the new Sam’s Club in the Bluffton Gateway at U.S. 278 and S.C. 46, which opened last month after the closing of its Port Royal Plaza Shopping Center store on Mathews Drive.
The move by Sam’s Club, coupled with last month’s announcement that Hilton Head Christian Academy – an island institution – plans to relocate in the next couple of years to Bluffton, has left some islanders worrying about the extra driving time for shopping and other activities, while others wondering about the island’s future economy.
Some small business owners say they moved to the mainland to be closer to their customers, or they found cheaper property or wanted to avoid traffic on the island, which, according to the local chamber of commerce, receives about 2.5 million visitors yearly.
Years ago, Bluffton area residents had to cross the bridge to Hilton Head Island to receive basic services, but a recent business boom has changed the shopping habits of many living in the region.
The estimated number of businesses operating in greater Bluffton skyrocketed from 849 in 2004 to 1,198 in 2014, an increase of 41 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In comparison, Hilton Head saw an estimated 3.7 percent decrease in the number of businesses over the same period, from 2,082 to 2,005, bureau data shows.
Meanwhile, Bluffton’s population shot up an estimated 33.5 percent from the last official census in 2010 to 2016, from 12,530 to 16,728, while Hilton Head’s projected population grew 9.2 percent over the same period, from 37,099 to 40,512, according to the Census Bureau.
As part of its in-depth series last year on Hilton Head Island’s struggles to maintain its tourism workforce, The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette reported that Bluffton area residents in recent years have been finding more opportunities for hospitality industry jobs in greater Bluffton.
The newspapers’ review this month of business license records from Beaufort County and the towns of Hilton Head and Bluffton found no hard evidence, however, of a mass migration of businesses over the past five years from Hilton Head to the Bluffton area. The business departments in the two towns say they don’t track that data.
Bill Miles, president and CEO of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce, said both Hilton Head’s and Bluffton’s economies are thriving, creating more of a regional market.
“We have two communities that are closely connected,” he said. “The bridge doesn’t affect the visitors or businesses. We have the benefits from both communities.”
Miles said although opportunities on Hilton Head for big box stores such as Sam’s Club aren’t as available as in past years, noting the island has “almost reached build-out,” the island is still seeing investment, citing as an example the groundbreaking of a new $33.5 million University of South Carolina Beaufort campus.
Hilton Head mayor David Bennett, however, is concerned about the current state of the island’s economy.
“I can’t speak for trends, but I can look around and see empty buildings,” Bennett said. “There are several buildings directly next to Sam’s Club that are vacant. I don’t think this reflects positively on us.”
Hilton Head town manager Steve Riley said he has noticed a shift in businesses to the Bluffton area over the past several decades, though he couldn’t provide specific numbers.
“There is a whole variety of reasons why they are moving,” he said. “There is a huge growing market out there.”
Sam’s Club officials said they moved because they needed more space and a centralized location. Hilton Head Christian Academy leaders said they can expand their school on a Bluffton plot of land donated to the school.
A bridge too far?
There are plenty of islanders, though, who don’t want to drive to Bluffton. Sandy Crovo, of Hilton Head Plantation, said the Sam’s Club move hasn’t found support among her island friends.
“They don’t plan to cross the bridge,” she said. “In big cities 30 minutes is nothing, but living here I don’t even like to drive to the south side of the island.”
Crovo said she has seen other island businesses leave for the mainland, noting her doctor moved to Bluffton about seven years ago.
“I decided not to go to him anymore,” she said. “It was too far of a drive.”
Hilton Head resident Connie Serrill said she has seen the island change a lot in the 25 years she has lived there.
“I see things disappearing,” she said. “I think it is concerning for the economy. There are not many places to shop here anymore, and it becomes harder and harder to stay on the island.”
Like many islanders, Serrill said she dislikes crossing the bridge to Bluffton. Yet, she finds herself doing it often.
“I have a doctor over there (Bluffton),” she said when interviewed Wednesday. “I am on my way there right now to do birthday shopping for my daughter. There is no place for me to do that here.”
Bill Strainer, a Shipyard Plantation resident, said it is frustrating to travel to Bluffton for services.
“I don’t think it is fair to the people living on the island,” he said. “I feel in order to live here we have to drive out there to do a lot of things.”
‘Nice small-town feel’
But some small business owners who left the island in recent years say it has been better for them on the mainland.
Robert Plantadis opened his business, The Midnight Bakers, on Promenade Street in Old Town Bluffton about three years ago after closing a location on Hilton Head several months earlier. He said after selling baked goods at the towns’ respective farmers markets for a few months, he realized he could find just as many customers and cheaper operating costs in Bluffton.
Plantadis also said Bluffton provided a community that fit the business model he wanted to run.
“There is a town here, not just tourists,” he said. “I didn’t see Hilton Head as a town as the way it is here. I have interactions here — I am like a post office and library. It is casual. It is tiny. It is about friends.”
Jack Qualey said he enjoys having his business, Qualey Law Firm, on Bluffton Road in the Old Town Bluffton area, where he moved to in April after operating on Hilton Head for 26 years.
“We can walk to restaurants, and it has a nice small-town feel to it,” he said.
Qualey said he relocated his business mainly because he moved his family to Bluffton five years ago, and one of his employees lives in Bluffton.
“We have a very small firm with basically my wife and two full-time employees,” he said. “Our employee force got outnumbered, and it didn’t make any sense for the three of us to drive all the way to Hilton Head.”
Steve Manley, owner of Plantation Iron on May River Road, moved to Bluffton in 2013 after deciding to expand his then-Hilton Head gun store. He said an attempt to find the right retail location on a heavily trafficked road on the island failed.
“I looked around but just didn’t see anything that was catching my eye as far as what I’d like to do,” Manley said. “I think there are a lot of draws in Hilton Head with all the shopping and tourists, but it is probably a little cheaper over here (in Bluffton).”
Lauren Renfroe, office manager at Bauer Dental Associates on Promenade Street in Old Town Bluffton, said avoiding island traffic was the “No. 1” reason the business moved from Hilton Head in 2015. She also said more patients live in the Bluffton area.
Although concerned about the shift of some businesses off Hilton Head, the island’s mayor said he remains optimistic about the future.
“It gives us an opportunity to repurpose those (empty) buildings,” Bennett said. “It is important to decide if we are remaining a resort town, or if we are going to be a place that is enticing to families.”
Bennett said he hopes the town will come together to figure out its direction and how to attain its goals.
Teresa Moss: 843-706-8152, @TeresaIPBG
Madison Hogan: 843-706-8137, @MadisonHogan
This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Crossing the bridge: Bluffton’s economic boom leaves Hilton Head with tough choices."