Empty Sam’s Club building on Hilton Head soon will be home to a new store
A Burke’s Outlet department store is expected to move into a part of the retail space left vacant nearly three years ago when Sam’s Club left Hilton Head for Bluffton.
Representatives of the Port Royal Plaza redevelopment project appeared before Hilton Head’s Design Review Board last week. They presented a plan to revitalize the shopping center with new businesses and an exterior facelift.
Documents filed with the board show the building previously occupied by Sam’s Club divided into three separate businesses.
The center section, using the existing Sam’s entry area, would be home to a nearly 29,000-square-foot Burke’s Outlet and its companion Home Centric furniture and home decor store, according to architectural plans filed with the town.
Sam’s Club closed its Hilton Head location in January 2017, two days before it opened a store about twice as large in Bluffton Gateway next to Walmart at U.S. 278 and S.C. 46.
Burke’s Outlet is a discount department store operated by Bealls Inc., based in Florida The only other Burke’s Outlet in Beaufort County is located at 11 Robert Smalls Parkway in Beaufort.
Burkes’ website describes the store as selling “brand name apparel and accessories for the entire family at up to 70% off. ... In addition most stores carry shoes, home furnishings, gifts, and toys.”
Another section of the former Sam’s Club space will be used by Smart Company Kids Zone, developer David Bloom previously told The Island Packet.
Smart Company Kids Zone, a local venture, plans to feature a ninja course, laser tag, baseball, a mirror maze and escape rooms, Bloom said.
Plans for the third section of the building, totaling around 16,000 square feet, have not been made public.
Suzzi Grigoryan, who is working as a consultant with Burke’s Outlet, said the redesign has not been finalized.
“We are just working out the details of the facade to ensure the town is comfortable,” she said.
Karen Filips, a spokesperson for Bealls, said the company hopes to begin construction in January with plans for a soft opening in late April.
Meanwhile, across the parking lot, work is expected to soon be underway on a new Planet Fitness that will open in the building that once housed a Bi-Lo grocery store. Bi-Lo closed last summer.
Kaleigh DeHart of Uproar PR, which is handling public relations for Planet Fitness, told The Island Packet in November that the gym should be open by mid-2020.
