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Residents of Old Town Bluffton are getting their way when it comes to the design of a new convenience store in their midst.
Issues arose after Parker Companies indicated they wanted to build a new store at the corner of Buck Island and May River roads.
Construction on the convenience store started in July and will be completed this fall. Work would have started sooner, but approval delays by Bluffton’s Design Review Committee in May held up the project.
In the wake of those delays, Parker reportedly is spending about $35,000 to ensure the design plans fit in with Bluffton’s historic district.
Chairman and CEO Greg Parker said the convenience store’s design will fit the theme of historic Old Town Bluffton.
Parker said the cost of the new construction is “significant” and feels that residents of Old Town Bluffton will be pleased with the new convenience store.
The new store will be about 4,000 square feet and will have 15 full-time employees, he said.
Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka supports the project and last week said in an email to Bluffton Today that the delays are in the past.
“That is something from the past, as the station has been approved and is under construction as we speak,” wrote Sulka. “All issues have been resolved, and we are looking toward the future and the opening of this store. Very happy Parker’s chose Bluffton for its newest location.”
The new store marks the fourth Parker’s in Beaufort County — all in Bluffton — since the Savannah-based company starting building stores in the Lowcountry.
Parker said his company received requests from people wanting a Parker’s in Old Town.
Amy Lane, chief operating officer of Parker Companies, said the store will not be modeled after Parker’s Market like the Drayton Street one but will have a deli serving hot food daily.
“We will also have a full breakfast with eggs, grits, sausage and bacon, along with our delicious biscuits,” Lane said.
Parker’s Convenience Stores opened in January 1976 and operates 27 convenience stores in six counties in southeast Georgia and South Carolina.
