The Independent Edition

HUM Grocery Owner: Natalie & Andrew Humphrey Opened:  2021 Cooperative:  none Location:  6998 Maybank Hwy, Wadmalaw Island, SC Photographed:  January 2022 As we leave Charleston on Maybank Highway, we'll first hit the Harris Teeter at Maybank and Folly on James Island, then enter Johns Island to see the Food Lion and KJ's . At KJ's, we can turn left (south) to head towards Kiawah Island, or continue straight to cross over to Wadmalaw Island. All the way at the far southern tip of Wadmalaw Island is this building, which for decades was home to P. M. King's grocery, which closed not long ago but has been revitalized recently as HUM Grocery. Just a note on geography before we get into this amazing store. We're only about two and a half miles as the crow flies west of Freshfields Village , but to drive it you have to take a full trip of 22 miles, via Johns Island (where KJ's is). So this store is out at the far end of the island, and in a pretty remote area. ...

The Market Owner: Kiawah Island Opened:  unknown Cooperative:  none Location:  5480 Sea Forest Dr, Kiawah Island, SC Photographed:  January 2022 Kiawah Island is an upscale, private resort island and the main attraction is a large golf resort . The only grocery store of any kind within the gates of the island is The Market at Town Center, which is an interesting combination of convenience store and cafeteria. It seems to work quite well for what vacationers and residents are looking for. Plus, for large orders, I'm sure many stop at the Village Market by Harris Teeter just outside Kiawah Island. This store appears to be owned by the resort, as are all the restaurants (and all the businesses...?) on Kiawah Island. It's also considered to be the most, um, affordable dining option on the island. Other options include The Ocean Room, where a 12oz New York Strip steak will cost you $75 . In the front of the store is some Kiawah Island merchandise, with a few tables of g...

The Market at Storey Farms Owner: Jeremy Storey Opened:  2014 Cooperative:  none Location:  3388 Trumpet Rd, Johns Island, SC Photographed:  January 2022 Okay, I admit: this is not exactly a grocery store. So if you're not interested, feel free to skip today's post and head over to The Market Report for a boring ol' supermarket tour tomorrow. But I had a good time here, and I thought I should share that. The Market at Storey Farms, pictured above, is a farmstand and small food stand at Storey Farms, which is a functional farm (that you can read all about here ). They produce eggs, chicken, and pork, and also sell other local products and prepared foods. The Market is under a large tent, meaning it's all outdoors -- something we of course could not have up in the northeast for climate reasons. But we also got to say hello to some of the animals who live here... ...including a few baby goats, who were having a grand old time in their enclosure out by the road, Betsy ...

Blackbird Market Owner:  Billy & Delana Hayes Opened:  ca. 2013 Cooperative:  none Location:  1808 Bohicket Rd, Johns Island, SC Photographed:  January 2022 Just across the street from yesterday's KJ's Market , we find ourselves in the tiny Blackbird Market. This high-end, farmstand-like market has a little bit of a lot of things: produce, meat, seafood, baked goods, and prepared foods. I must say that the bakery items I sampled were quite delicious. The store opened around 2013 in what used to be a tire shop. And if you're interested in the farmstand/local gourmet items type of store, we have another one tomorrow to check out about eight miles south on Johns Island. Come back tomorrow to check that one out!

Bert's Market Owner: Omar Colon Opened:  1994 Cooperative:  none Location:  202 E Ashley Ave, Folly Beach, SC Photographed:  January 2022 There's only grocery store out here on Folly Island, and we're in luck -- because it's a really great one! The 6600 square foot Bert's Market seems to cater both to tourists and locals, based on its selection with equal parts food to go and regular groceries. It's also got a liquor store inside and has small but complete selections of produce, grocery, dairy, frozen, deli, bakery, meat, and even sushi. The store seems to be more or less divided into two halves. On the left is the liquor store in front with grocery and frozen behind. On the right is the perishables: produce, dairy, meat, bakery/deli, and prepared foods. Above, the view is looking left immediately inside the entrance. There's plenty of snack items, probably intended mostly for tourists, but there are also real grocery items... This store, by the way, uses Fo...

Burbage's Self Service Grocery Owner: Lisa & George Bowen Opened:  2013 under current ownership, 1946 previously Cooperative:  none Location:  157 Broad St, Downtown, Charleston, SC Photographed:  January 2022 Much like the Coming Market and the Coming Street Grocery, Burbage's Self Service Grocery is a wonderful historically preserved grocery store in downtown Charleston. We're closer to what might be considered the main business district here, towards the southern part of the city. Burbage's opened in 1946 and in 1987 was taken over by the owner's son, Al Burbage, who owned the store until 2013 when it was sold to Lisa and George Bowen. They've owned it since. Very unfortunately, Burbage's was temporarily closed when I was in town, I believe due to the owners being on vacation or something like that. But I did manage to get some excellent pictures of the classic interior through the front windows. As we see, it's a very historical grocery store b...

Coming Street Grocery Owner: Hany Zayan Opened:  2011 under current ownership Cooperative:  none Location:  224 Coming Street, Downtown, Charleston, SC Photographed:  January 2022 As I mentioned yesterday in my post about the Coming Market , my personal research focus lately has been on neighborhood, mom-and-pop-type grocery stores, but specifically in the New England region. Today, we get to dip our toes in the water of South Carolina mom-and-pop grocery store history with the Coming Street Grocery, a longtime grocery store at Coming and Spring Streets in downtown Charleston. This building is a beautifully preserved grocery relic in one of the many historic districts of Charleston, likely dating back to the early 20th century at least. While it doesn't look like much of the historical charm is present inside the 1300 square foot store anymore, the outside certainly has plenty of charm. As a matter of fact, either reproductions or restorations of old painted advert...