Women's Clothing Boutique Near Me Hilton Head Island, SC

Hilton Head’s only FedEx Ship Center permanently closed in March after months of reduced hours and staff shortages, forcing residents to go to Savannah for the nearest full-service FedEx and complicating operations for small business owners.

The store, which had been located on Hunter Road, closed on March 11, according to FedEx spokesperson Adam Snyder, who didn’t provide a specific reason for the closing. A sign on the building said it was closed as of March 8.

Business owners who used the shipping center reported dwindling hours and signs about staff shortages leading up to the store’s closing.

Hilton Head persistently struggles with affordable housing for the area’s workforce, and it’s not uncommon for Hilton Head business owners to have problems finding staff on the island, especially for service industry jobs.

The impact is often felt by tourists, with long wait times at restaurants or reduced retail shop hours, but the FedEx Ship Center closing hits business owners such as home inspector Ken Marchi particularly hard.

“All these people, small business people, who use FedEx would be waiting in the parking lot,” Marchi said of FedEx when the store reduced its hours before closing. He said the hours gradually dwindled over the past few years, and the store operated from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in its last months.

Marchi has lived on Hilton Head for 20 years and express ships around three environmental samples to a lab for testing each week. He said the work is time sensitive, and each test is worth about $2,500 in income to him.

“It’s just been extremely frustrating,” he said. “I am a small business. There’s other (small businesses). And I don’t know what they’re doing. They’re just pulling their hair out.”

Signage on the store’s door offered Island Pack and Ship Center, an authorized FedEx Ship Center, as an alternative. However, that center and other FedEx Drop Boxes don’t service:

The nearest FedEx Express facilities for Hilton Head Island residents are over an hour drive away in Savannah. FedEx will deliver printing supplies upon request to customers with accounts, like Marchi, who said he needs to stick with FedEx because of their tracking capabilities.

“If you don’t have the time and the intuitiveness to keep chasing them down, they are impossible,” he said.

The former Sam’s Club building on Hilton Head Island, which has been vacant since January 2017 when the big box retailer moved to Bluffton, has a new owner.

Hilton Head businessman J.R. Richardson, owner of the Richardson Group, purchased the property for $5.8 million, according to paperwork filed in Beaufort County. The deal closed Feb. 28.

Lee Lucier, chief operating officer for the Richardson Group, said on Thursday afternoon that Richardson aims to give the mid-island eyesore a new life, but it was too soon to speak of specifics.

“We were able to secure the property with the hopes of it being developed as a local asset to the community,” Lucier said. “We think we have a great plan going forward. We’re just working through the planning stages.”

The more than 70,000-square-foot building sits on 5.26 acres in Port Royal Plaza.

A small portion of the space will be a locally owned indoor pickleball club, Lucier said.

Richardson made the deal as part of a separate business, Barony Fund 1 Investment LLC. However, Richardson Group will manage the property at 95 Mathews Drive in Port Royal Plaza.

It currently is zoned for commercial development. Lucier said he didn’t anticipate the need to request rezoning.

“The property is in an Opportunity Zone, and we are glad to be able to use it as space for the island in a manner that will serve the community,” Richardson said in a statement.

Opportunity Zones are federally designated areas set up to encourage economic development and job creation by reducing taxes for investors. There are 135 Opportunity Zones in South Carolina but only one on Hilton Head.

In the seven years the former Sam’s Club building has been vacant, several businesses have announced plans that failed to materialize:

Richardson moved to Hilton Head with his father, mother and siblings in 1955. His father, James Norris Richardson, opened a supermarket and other stores in the area that would become the current Coligny Plaza on Hilton Head’s south end.

In addition to Coligny Plaza, the younger Richardson was also behind the development of Windmill Harbour and the South Carolina Yacht Club. Today, Richardson Group also includes Local Pie, Fish and Forrest Fire restaurants plus several workforce housing projects on Hilton Head Island.

Port Royal Plaza is also home to Planet Fitness and an assortment of shops and restaurants including Rollers Wine and Spirits, Fiesta Fresh, Okko, Street Meet, Paris Baguette and Jinya ramen bar, among others.

This story was originally published March 29, 2024, 11:39 AM.

Have you had the chance to head out to any part of Hilton Head Island’s 12 miles of white sand beaches lately?

If so, you may notice some beached jellyfish that have washed ashore.

With the weather warming up, the number of jellyfish stranded or floating among the surf will be on the rise once again.

The phenomenon is natural, tends to happen yearly and can even be expected by locals most of the time, but it’s understandable that the scattering of dead jellies on the shore and many more floating in the shallow surf can be alarming or even off-putting to many beachgoers.

Have you ever been curious about the dome-shaped, tentacled creatures floating through the water?

Although the term jellyfish may come to mind, that’s not the proper name to call them.

“Jellyfish are not really fish, of course, because a fish’s anatomy is centered around its backbone, whereas the jellyfish is a dome-shaped invertebrate. Therefore, it’s more accurate to refer to them simply as ‘jellies,’” states the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In fact, these roving creatures are actually most closely related to corals, sea anemones, sea whips and hydrozoans.

Frequently, the most commonly found jelly seen around Hilton Head’s shores and around South Carolina is the cannonball jelly. Luckily for many avid beachgoers, this round, smaller-sized jelly generally does not sting and poses no large threat to curious or nearby families.

However, this isn’t the only species you might find in the area.

“We have several species that occur in our waters beside the cannonball/cabbagehead, however, you locally want to call it,” Dr. Joe Staton of the Department of Natural Sciences Chair at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, has said to The Island Packet.

“There’s also sea nettles which are kind of moon jellies that occur worldwide. We get those here. We get Portuguese man o’ war which are not actually in the same group as the jellies with the bells.”

Cannonball jellies are abundant along the coast of South Carolina. If you find one dead on the beach, it’s common to find them without most of their color, as this tends to occur soon after they wash ashore. Some people even accidentally step on them while on the beach without realizing and end up getting a slippery surprise.

Once stranded on the beach, cannonball jellies can’t survive long out of the water and eventually become a food source for shorebirds, crabs, sea turtles and other critters that live along the coast. These jellies are also a favored snack for the endangered leatherback sea turtle and provide nourishment for the visiting mothers and soon-to-be hatching eggs in the future.

Another sea turtle species that visits the area and feeds on these jellies is the loggerhead sea turtle. They are the most common kind of sea turtle to use the shores of Hilton Head Island as their nesting ground, according to hiltonheadisland.org.

Aside from cannonball jellies, sea nettles can be found off the island’s coast and in the surf. These jellies are responsible for the most stings on Hilton Head Island, with the most recorded stings in one day being in the hundreds.

Another one that can be found in the area is the Portuguese man o’ war. Even though it may resemble a jelly, the Portuguese man o’ war is what is known as a siphonophore and appears bluish-purple in color.

If you come across one on the beach or in the surf, it appears similar to an inflated plastic bag.

“The important thing about the Portuguese man o’ war, if they’re washed up on the beach, they’re like dead bees. They can still sting you, so don’t mess with them,” Staton had said.

The best advice when around these multitudes of dead jellies is to not directly touch a dead jellyfish if you don’t know what kind it is.

In most cases, jellies travel in groups called “blooms.”

These assemblies tend to form in a short amount of time after the population expands following a rise in water temperatures, as they prefer and thrive in warmer waters. Thus, these clusters tend to form and follow the spring and summer months.

Rough winds, storms, swells, tides and currents can send the jellies to shore, which in certain events can happen all at once. A cooling of the water temperatures can also contribute to mass deaths of the jellies that will eventually get washed ashore or consumed.

Not sure if you’ve come across a floating jelly or stepped on one on the beach and have been stung? Always consult with a lifeguard if one is nearby or evaluate the potential sting area yourself if you know what to look for.

According to Mayo Clinic, common signs that you’ve been stung by a jellyfish include:

“Diagnosing jellyfish stings generally doesn’t require a visit to a health care provider. If you do go, your provider will likely be able to diagnose your injury by looking at it,” reported Mayo Clinic.

Mayo Clinic states that most jellyfish stings, unless severe symptoms are also present, can be treated by:

Mayo Clinic also listed these actions to avoid as they are unhelpful or remain unproved to provide aid.

Lexington catcher Jackson Cionek was almost set.

The senior had almost all of his catching gear on as he got ready to take the field last week for the Wildcats’ matchup against Dreher in the S.C. Diamond Invitational at Blythewood High School.

Cionek was just missing one thing — his earpiece. Lexington pitching coach Dell Lever grabbed the small contraption and strapped it to the back of Cionek’s chest protector strap as Cionek put his earpiece in his right ear.

That scene in the Lexington dugout is a common one in South Carolina and across the country as the National Federation of High School Associations is allowing electronic communication in high school baseball this season.

Under the new rule, a head coach or assistant is allowed to give signs and communicate any other instructions to the catcher during the game.

“It is a little weird at first trying to get used to it,” Cionek said. “It felt so weird like my pitching coach was right behind me, talking to me. After a while, you get super used to it. You get tired of looking at the dugout to get calls so you can look straight forward at the pitcher and give him the signs. So, it is super cool and really convenient for the catcher.”

High school baseball is following the lead of Major League Baseball and college baseball with the use of electronic devices. MLB adopted the use of them before the 2022 season after positive feedback from use in minor leagues in 2021 and in spring training in 2022.

College baseball has been allowing catchers to have an earpiece in their helmets since 2018.

“This change is consistent with the growth of the game and is indicative of a measured and responsible approach to enable technology into our level of competition,” NFHS director of sports and educational services Elliot Hopkins said in a release when the rule went out this summer. “The committee has made these changes to maintain the balance between offense and defense; increase the pace of play; and will responsibly manage technology so there is no advantage gained by schools that have more available resources than some of their contemporaries. Creating a level playing field is paramount to education-based athletics.”

The NFHS doesn’t make the use of electronic communication mandatory so teams can still send pitches in the old way by looking at the coach in the dugout. S.C. Baseball Coaches Association executive director Art Boozer estimates between 60% and 70% of teams across the state are using an electronic communication device.

Of the 15 Midlands high school baseball coaches responding a survey from The State, 12 said they use some sort of electronic communication this season. All 12 said it definitely helps with increasing the pace of play.

“Absolutely,” Dutch Fork coach Casey Waites said. “I think it works for sure.”

In addition to the pace of play, another obvious benefit is avoiding sign stealing from teams. Lever and Dutch Fork pitching coach Darren Jones cup their hands around a walkie-talkie as they signal pitches.

Waites and Lexington coach Brian Hucks were a little skeptical about them at first but now both coaches really like the use of them. Most of the teams in the area use the walkie-talkie style device that costs around $1,800 to $2,000. There are different types that might be as low as between $600-800.

“I like the aspect of going away from the old-school wristbands or signs where we can have a conversation with our catcher,” Hucks said. “From that aspect, it is a good thing.”

Chapin uses the Pitch-Com device that pitching coach Paul Scheno taps on the keypad and a computerized voice relays pitch and location to catcher Caden Reeves. Scheno has the keypad programmed specifically for each type of pitch and location.

The Eagles are leasing the Pitch-Com for $750 for the year rather than buying it. They have had a positive experience with it and with the help from Pitch-Com help support in case they ever have a problem

Chapin coach Scott McLeod said they opted for Pitch-Com because it is what is used in the major leagues, plus it will help with the transition with the next phase in high school communication — allowing pitchers to listen to the signals in their hat or on a wristband.

Some coaches in the area believe pitchers could be able to use communication devices as early as next season.

“I think as it goes on and the pace of play goes faster, it definitely is something we can see down the road,” Hucks said.

This story was originally published April 12, 2024, 8:30 AM.

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Lou Bezjak is the High School Sports Prep Coordinator for The (Columbia) State and (Hilton Head) Island Packet. He previously worked at the Florence Morning News and had covered high school sports in South Carolina since 2002. Lou is a two-time South Carolina Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.

The world brands Hilton Head as a vacation destination. Luxury and lifestyle travel magazines name it the best island in the U.S. Economists called it the “new Hamptons;” country singer Zach Bryan quipped about the two as retirement communities in a recent song.

There is some validity to those judgments, but there’s also a lot more to Hilton Head demographics than what’s on the surface, based on a recent town assessment.

A 2023 assessment shows the population is getting older and varies greatly based on the season. It also shows changing demographics that are rarely mentioned and might not be known among residents: Hilton Head’s population is plateauing, the Hispanic community is growing the fastest and there has been a long-term decrease in African American residents.

The town conducted a “Conditions and Trends” assessment last month, analyzing the town’s demographics to inform policy development and growth planning. The assessment was compiled by consultants and based on multiple sources including the U.S. Census, American Community Survey and Gullah Geechee Cultural Preservation Project report.

“This is the first time that we are assembling this level of data,” Director of Planning Missy Luick said.

Here are the top seven demographic findings from the report:

Hilton Head’s population is plateauing at 37,660 full-time residents after immense growth in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, especially compared to Bluffton and Hardeeville.

The island population only grew 11% between 2000 and 2020 compared to Beaufort County as a whole growing 55%, Bluffton growing 2,074% and Hardeeville growing 317%. In Georgia, the Savannah metropolitan area grew 45% between 2000 and 2020.

More people in Hilton Head are living alone or live in a household where everyone is over 65 years old, shifting the population to be less likely to include school-aged children.

Households over 65 were up 50% and persons living alone were up 57% between 2000 and 2020. It makes for smaller average household sizes, which decreased 4.3% to 2.2%, compared to 1% for Beaufort County between 2000 and 2020.

On any given day, there are more than 8,500 visitors on Hilton Head, not including second-home owners or workers. In full, more than 3.1 million people visit throughout the year.

Workers are the highest percentage of the island’s daytime population, then non-working full-time residents, then visitors.

On average there are about 53,500 people on the Island each day. The most recent breakdown is from 2021 when Hilton Head’s 48,911 daytime population was:

The island population is getting older and the school-age population is decreasing.

Islander’s median age moved from 26 to 58 in between 2000 and 2020. During that period, 9,000 new residents over 55 moved to Hilton Head. Every other age segment decreased in size.

The 65 and over segment increased 80%, accounting for 6,500 new residents during that time. It’s consistent with Beaufort County, which grew by 175% in the older segment.

Notably, residents under 18 are decreasing, accounting for Beaufort County schools losing 400 students from 2012 to 2022. The most students were lost below second grade.

Hilton Head is rich with Gullah Geechee history, but the percentage of African Americans on the island has decreased by 400 residents from 2000 to 2020. It moves the total percentage down from 8% to 6%.

This doesn’t mean that the segment of white islanders is getting larger. Islanders who identify as white decreased from 85% of the population in 2000 to 79% in 2020.

Increases come partially from residents who identify as “other” or as “two or more races,” which increased from 6% to 13% during the same time.

Hilton Head’s Hispanic community is growing faster than any other population on the island, mirroring regional and national trends. Islanders who identify as Hispanic or Latino rose by 28.2% between 2000 and 2020 from 3,934 to 5,045.

The Beaufort County School District has the third-largest Hispanic student population in South Carolina, and Hispanic students make up almost half of the public school population. The district has the third largest Hispanic student population in South Carolina, with about 7,000 students concentrated mostly on Hilton Head and in Bluffton. Only Greenville and Horry counties’ school systems educate more of these students.

About one in every three students is multilingual and developing fluency in English at Hilton Head Island Middle and High Schools. Less than 33% of those students were language proficient in 2020, falling at least 11 percentage points behind their South Carolinian peers.

A little under 12% of Hilton Head residents were born outside the the United States, with 66% of this group migrating from Latin America. Europeans represent 18% of the total foreign-born population.

Do you represent any of these trends? Reach out to reporter Mary Dimitrov at mdimitrov@islandpacket.com. This article is one in a series of explorations of the demographic changes happening in the Beaufort County area. Other installments are coming soon.

This story was originally published February 20, 2024, 9:02 AM.