By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
What is it about a new grocery store that inspires such enthusiasm in a community??
Is it just Beaufort, where residents once had to rely on the A&P, the Piggly Wiggly or the base commissary for groceries?
Of course, the big “news” in town last week, since we didn’t have any arrests for the Willie’s Bar and Grill mass shooting to talk about, was the opening of Aldi.
The German-based family-owned discount grocery, which has 13,400 branches in 18 countries, officially opened its Beaufort store on Thursday
And there was much online rejoicing.
When developers announced plans for the Beaufort Station shopping center in 2022, Aldi was listed as one of the major occupants. But it took a while for the building to be completed as TJ Maxx, Pet Smart, Big Lots and other retail opportunities opened their doors in the former swamp to customers happy they no longer had to shop on the other side of the Robert Smalls Parkway.
And … there’s even rumors of a second Aldi coming to Lady’s Island, across from the island Walmart, in the wooded tract where Donnie Beer Drive was just paved. But no confirmation on that, of course.
New grocery stores have been a news source for decades. When the Piggy Wiggly closed on Port Republic Street to eventually become Tabby Place event center in 2015 and a second “Pig” at the corner of Boundary Street and Ribaut Road in 2014 after seven decades in that location, there was much consternation.
When BiLo went under in 2021, closing the store located in what was the Jean Ribaut Shopping Center (now the Beaufort Town Center), there was even more outcry from citizens, especially those in the Northwest Quadrant neighborhood and Pigeon Point who did not have access to their own transportation to get to a local grocery.
(We know that drama had something of a “happy ending” as Food Lion moved into the location, just in time to give competition to the town’s second Publix that opened in 2022 in the Beaufort Plaza, replacing the town’s only movie theater that used to be there.)
And of course, Publix has its own checkered past here in Beaufort when plans for the Lady’s Island store were announced in 1992 and local tree-lovers united to protest their plans to clear the once wooded lot, now one of the busiest intersections in northern Beaufort County. The protest went all the way to the state Supreme Court where the justices allowed construction to continue after the removal of 47 live oaks and other species from the property.
Then in 2014, the Lakeland, Fla.-based grocery store moved across Sea Island Parkway to the other side, again, removing the majority of trees on the new site practically overnight.
With an empty building on that popular spot, local speculation raged while locals wondered what would be the replacement? But not to worry, Harris Teeter stepped forward in 2016 and spent almost a decade working with the city planning department since the property had been annexed into the city, before those doors opened in June 2024 to include a wine bar which has reportedly been a big hit with locals.
And now we have Aldi, which at least supports some local effort to avoid plastic bags (requiring shoppers to bring their own.) But there are still some online complaints about the lack of a Kroger, the nearest one being in Belfair Towne Village in Bluffton, or even a Trader Joe’s, the nearest in Charleston.
It’s interesting that all this public conversation about a new grocery store comes as the federal government shut-down threatens food subsidies to millions of Americans. Food banks all over the country are already reporting increased requests and organizing commodity collections.
Says a lot about our priorities.
Property tax bills bring few surprises
BEAUFORT — Beaufort County 2025 property tax bills arrived in the mail, just in time for Halloween trick-or-treat. And for many of the 411,000 taxpayers who received bills, it apparently was more of a “treat” than a “trick.”
The fiscal year 2026 budget, which was approved by the County Council in June, is 20% larger than last year, at $199 million. But the millage rate remains the same with the additional dollars coming from development growth.
Included in the budget are 3 percent cost-of-living increases and starting salary increases for the sheriff’s department and the Solicitor’s office.
This year’s budget also includes more specific line items – medical indigent care support for Beaufort Memorial Hospital and Beaufort-Jasper Comprehensive Health, support for Economic Development department, higher education support for TCL and USC Beaufort.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. The Rowland, N.C. native’s goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.
