Why do Hilton Head mom and pops ‘flourish’? Biz owners conquer the odds
This article is part of a series exploring Hilton Head’s economy through local businesses. Check out the first article highlighting home construction, and the second article about landscaping.
What’s at the heart of the Hilton Head experience?
For some, it’s playing a round at Harbour Town Golf Links, hearing Gregg Russell sing or watching the fireworks at Shelter Cove.
But for others, it’s coming back to the same mom-and-pop shops each year, catching up with the owners like old friends and taking home something special.
The modern world of online shopping, big-box retailers and the COVID-19 pandemic have put many mom-and-pops across the country out of business. The trend has been dubbed the “retail apocalypse.” Yet on Hilton Head, many locally owned businesses have persevered through it all.
Still, business owners on Hilton Head do worry about the future. Hotel occupancy rates softened this summer, and Hilton Head’s high cost of living and traffic problems have made it challenging for some businesses to recruit and retain workers.
It’s hard for brick-and-mortar stores to compete with the convenience of shopping on Amazon. But as long as people keep coming to Hilton Head, they’ll buy something that reminds them of Hilton Head, business owners said.
A staple of the community: Piggly Wiggly
When the COVID-19 pandemic sent shoppers desperate for supplies to grocery stores, Hilton Head’s longest-standing supermarket didn’t run out of toilet paper.
“Here at the Piggly Wiggly, we were a savior for people’s behinds,” owner David Martin said.
As a franchise of a major southeast grocery chain, Hilton Head’s Piggly Wiggly isn’t quite a mom-and-pop, but its roots on the island run deep.
Coligny Plaza founder Norris Richardson opened Hilton Head’s first grocery store in 1956, the same year the bridge connecting Hilton Head to the mainland was built. David Martin’s father, Gene Martin, bought the store in 1969. For years, it was known as Gene Martin’s Red & White Supermarket.
David Martin has been running the store for over 25 years. In the summer, his staff consists of mostly 14- to 18- year-olds, but he doesn’t mind, because in his words, he’s mentally “about 14.”
When the COVID-19 lockdown threw Hilton Head into a frenzy, Martin and his crew spent “a lot of sleepless nights” making sure the store stayed stocked with what people needed.
But unlike other places in the world that were slow to recover during the pandemic, Hilton Head experienced a post-lockdown boom.
“That was one of our best years, and three years that followed continued to be record-breaking years because people were not traveling outside of the United States,” Martin said. “They were traveling inside the United States, so more people were coming to Hilton Head.”
Many visitors that came during that time wanted to get away while avoiding crowded places. They rented homes and cooked meals, meaning more trips to the local grocery store. The rise in remote work also meant more people were choosing to stay in Hilton Head full-time or part-time.
The advantage to being a locally-owned business is that it’s easier to “make decisions on the spot,” Martin said. “We didn’t have to have anybody other’s opinion. Every day, we’re able to make whatever decisions we needed to make that day.”
Longstanding local businesses are also more intimately familiar with Hilton Head’s seasonal economy than national chains. Stores on Hilton Head can see up to a 70% difference in revenue between peak summer months and winter months, Martin said, something “a lot of the corporate guys cannot seem to figure out.”
Unlike most other Piggy Wigglys in the American Southeast, Hilton Head’s Piggly Wiggly has an enormous selection of branded merchandise, souvenirs and beach supplies to cater to its tourist customer base.
Martin works in the store every day and is constantly adapting inventory to adjust to customer demand.
He’s watched many of his teenage staff grow up and become adults, and some have stuck with him as longtime employees.
“A lot of people want to own a store and just come in once a week and pick their money up,” Martin said. “What fun is that?”
A ‘destination’ for tourists: Nash Gallery
From floor-to-ceiling, the shelves of Nash Gallery are packed with handmade sculptures, blown-glass artwork, pottery and jewelry.
The art shop has been a staple of Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina for over 36 years. The storefront is located directly within view of the 12-foot bronze state of Neptune guarding the shopping center.
Owner Lynn Alexander said her parents started the store on two core principles. One was that everything in the store had to be made in the U.S. or Canada. The other was that everyone who walked in the store could afford something.
“My father didn’t like going into art galleries where things started at 2, 3, 4 thousand dollars,” Alexander said.
Visitors drawn in by the attractive window displays can still walk away with a $15 pair of earrings, while those with deeper pockets can buy a one-of-a-kind glass stingray for $2,500.
Much of the artwork featured in the gallery can’t be found in any other stores in Hilton Head. Artisans sign “exclusivity contracts” that prohibit them from selling their work in other local shops.
The store’s model has persisted despite challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and changes to consumer spending habits. Americans continue to spend more money online each year; e-commerce sales accounted for 16% of total retail sales in the second quarter of 2025 compared to 8% in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Luxury spending is also on decline.
However, Alexander says there are still plenty of reasons that Nash Gallery remains a popular place for people to shop in-store.
“People don’t want to buy a $3,000 piece of art unless they’ve seen it,” she said. “And that’s why our people come in here.”
For many visitors to Hilton Head, the gallery is just as much of a “destination” as any other popular island joint. Manager Tiffany Whitley always asks customers if they’ve been into the gallery before the moment they walk in the door.
“The majority of the time, people’s response is, ‘yes, you’re the first place we come to when we get to the island,’” Whitley said. “’This is our favorite part of coming to the island. This is why we come to Shelter Cove Harbour.’”
In celebration of Shop Local Saturday on November 29, Nash Gallery will host a party with complimentary appetizers and drinks. Visitors can spin a wheel for 15-40% off their purchase.
Staying on top of trends: Island Girl
For Cheryl Klippel, surviving in the retail market is about trying to find “the next greatest thing.”
She held up a stuffed teddy bear wearing a spider costume. It’s a Jellycat toy — a British brand of adorable soft toys that’s been the subject of a social media “frenzy” in recent years.
“This gets us through the winter,” Klippel said.
Her store, Island Girl, first opened its doors as a women’s and children’s boutique in Coligny Plaza in 2003. She and her daughter Emily are constantly on the hunt for new trends or clever business ideas.
They’ve built their brand on offering fun, unique items shoppers won’t be able to find elsewhere. The store is popular with teens, tweens and young adults, but people of all ages come into to buy baby gifts, birthday presents or clothes for themselves.
Ms. Klippel credits her daughter Emily with getting the store to stock Jellycat toys, which now make up a big part of sales. Emily spotted them on a trip to Italy and knew instantly they’d be a big hit in Hilton Head.
The PopSocket craze of 2017 was another trend Island Girl bought into before it took off — again, Emily’s idea. The store sold “thousands upon thousands” before Klippel decided they had gotten a little too popular.
“We don’t want to carry something that you can get at Target,” Klippel said.
The store also offers a few products that are customizable, such as charm necklaces, patched baseball caps and knotted silk scarf necklaces — also with charms.
Klippel knows online retailers like Amazon have made it difficult for a lot of small businesses to compete. But Hilton Head’s status as a tourist destination is part of why so many mom and pops here “flourish,” she said. Tourists want to shop at places that are unique to Hilton Head and are more willing to spend money on something they can’t get anywhere else.
“People that are visiting Hilton Head, they want to buy something that reminds them of Hilton Head,” Klippel said.
