The Rumor Mill

[Sonrise]

Speaking of latin restaurants does anyone know what happened to the cuban restaurant Congas in the Bloom shopping center on Hwy 14? Their sign has been up on the marquee for months as well as the sign above the store itself. Hanging from the storefront was a sign reading, "coming soon". My wife and I were eagerly anticipating it's opening but I began to get suspicious when all I saw was the "coming soon" sign for at least 2 1/2 months. Well lo and behold today after our weekly church/lunch/whole foods/bloom sunday itinery the sign above the store has been taken down and a "for lease" sign is now up. Awkardly the sign on the marquee is still there.

Man I was jonesin' for some garlic chicken and plantains. YUM!!!!!!

[RestedTraveler]

I'm not sure...I drove out through there today looking for it (incidentally, I did notice a Sprouts in that center) and didn't see anything. I was looking forward to some Cuban cuisine as well. I wonder if this "Bongos" is the same Bongos that Gloria and Emilio Estefan own? I doubt it, but wouldn't it be nice if it was. I love their food! That was a place that my wife and I frequented often when we lived in Orlando.

[Galley]

I dunno, but someone needs to open a gelato shoppe near Piazza Bergamo and FAST. It's too far for me to drive all the way over to Whole Foods for my gelato fix.

Bertolo's serves gelato. I've never tried it, though.

[RestedTraveler]

Bertolo's serves gelato. I've never tried it, though.

You know, that's an excellent point. I vaguely remember them bringing some to my daughter when she was a mere fussing toddler one day. I think their flavors are fairly limited though. Thanks for reminding me!

[GSP Tiger]

and didn't Panera Bread just open at McDaniel Village, why would they spend all the money to rennovate and ope a new store if the property owner was just going to tear it down?

Perhaps the plans came up after Panera's decision to open? If the plans call for small shops and eateries, perhaps they would be willing to relocate into one of them.

The fact of a supermarket in the Augusta Street area brings a necessary anchor to the area. The suggested location is a home run, if it goes through.

[Dogs On Wheels]

I had heard that Sprouts was not going to re-open downtown anywhere. They will be sticking with there Woodruff Rd location and the New location on 14.

It seems to be timed too perfect for the one downtown to close and the Hwy 14 location opening at the same time.

[silverseale]

... The fact of a supermarket in the Augusta Street area brings a necessary anchor to the area. The suggested location is a home run, if it goes through.

Can you say "Piggly Wiggly"??

[linkerjpatrick]

Can you say "Piggly Wiggly"??

You know at one time their were about 4 different grocery stores (Maybe not all at the same time but..)

They had the Mini Bi-Lo at Lewis Plaza, Earth Fare at Lewis Plaza, Winn-Dixie and Ingles near I-85 not to mention a "Bread Store" and "Urban Market" close to downtown (near YWCA), You'll probably still find people today who miss the little Bi-Lo. Anyway grocery stores on Augusta Rd. (Greenville City section) are not new, just a new cycle starting up.

[Greenville]

Can you say "Piggly Wiggly"??

I hope not.

[DowntownCityGirl]

I had heard that Sprouts was not going to re-open downtown anywhere. They will be sticking with there Woodruff Rd location and the New location on 14.

It seems to be timed too perfect for the one downtown to close and the Hwy 14 location opening at the same time.

I saw Sprouts' owner around the time the downtown store was closing and she said they WERE going to re-open downtown, but like the sign in the window, she was very vague about where. She said it would be "up the street, in a location with much better parking" and kind of waved her hand in the general direction of North Main. (she said she'd had continuing complaints from customers who could never find parking, and said that they didn't frequent Sprouts as often because it was too much of a hassle. Obviously, that's a whole different issue...)

Anyway, the other thing she said was that with the opening of the Hwy 14 store, the timing of closing the downtown location was very good for her -- not having to worry about the downtown store meant she could focus on getting Hwy 14 up and running. Finally, she talked about rent at the Washington St. location, and how much it was going up.

My big takeaway from all that was that the building owner raised the rent out of her price range, but she didn't have enough time to negotiate a new location downtown AND relocate at the same time the Hwy 14 store was coming online. So with every intention of eventually re-opening downtown, she just packed everything up. My information's about a month old now, so DOW's update may be newer and better. I hope she does re-open eventually. I don't go there much, but they obviously have a good customer base (in spite of the people who won't park and walk a block or two) and I think they add something to the downtown mix.

[GSP Tiger]

Can you say "Piggly Wiggly"??

Does Mr. Pig like Greenville?

I am hoping for something with shades of green, Publix green.

[goodbye]

Since Publix is already building in nearby downtown, I would be shocked to see another store (even a small urban one) so close. Perhaps it is time for Trader Joe's to make a move into the Greenville market. Augusta Road would be an easy sell, I would imagine, considering the amount of big money in the neighborhood.

[GSP Tiger]

Since Publix is already building in nearby downtown, I would be shocked to see another store (even a small urban one) so close.

As McBee Station and McDaniel Village are 2.5 miles apart, are located in upscale densely populated areas, and Publix's interest to locate along Augusta Street, it should not be a surprise for someone wanting to fill the void left by Bi-Lo in the late 1990s.

[gs3]

Heard a rumor and curious if any of you have heard it. Heard that UPS (Freight) was looking at the area for a state of the art distribution facility for their freight division. UPS did recently acquire Overnight Freight which has several older terminals in the area (one on 85 between Pelham and 14, another toward Gaffney). UPS also has a large customer service / call center in Greenville, as well as a mini-regional air facility in Columbia. Could this be one of the smaller projects we have heard about that would be an expansion of a local company? From what I've heard, this new UPS facility could add around 300 jobs. My source wasn't that reliable, but it all kind of makes sense. Anybody?

[Greenville]

Heard a rumor and curious if any of you have heard it. Heard that UPS (Freight) was looking at the area for a state of the art distribution facility for their freight division. UPS did recently acquire Overnight Freight which has several older terminals in the area (one on 85 between Pelham and 14, another toward Gaffney). UPS also has a large customer service / call center in Greenville, as well as a mini-regional air facility in Columbia. Could this be one of the smaller projects we have heard about that would be an expansion of a local company? From what I've heard, this new UPS facility could add around 300 jobs. My source wasn't that reliable, but it all kind of makes sense. Anybody?

That sounds very interesting! I have not heard anything about it, but I could see how it would tie into one of the projects we have heard about lately.

Hey, if we play our cards right they could locate the facility just off of I-85 at Pelham and Garlington Roads.

[krazeeboi]

"UPS rumor" thread was merged with this existing thread.

[jarvismj]

As McBee Station and McDaniel Village are 2.5 miles apart, are located in upscale densely populated areas, and Publix's interest to locate along Augusta Street, it should not be a surprise for someone wanting to fill the void left by Bi-Lo in the late 1990s.

I could totally see Trader Joes going in where the old BiLo, where the dollar whatever store is now. Of course, I would want to see new construction to blend it into the current neighborhood, but thats another rant for another day.

[GvilleSC]

That's pretty interesting, indeed. We currently have something of FedEx right? at GSP perhaps???

If this were the project in Southern Greenville County, then perhaps the Southern Connector will have more vehicles...

I could totally see Trader Joes going in where the old BiLo, where the dollar whatever store is now. Of course, I would want to see new construction to blend it into the current neighborhood, but thats another rant for another day.

I've never been to a Trader Joe's but Augusta Rd definitely seems like a great location. I'd like to see new construction, too, with perhaps a mixed use component including residential above.

[gs3]

Hey, if we play our cards right they could locate the facility just off of I-85 at Pelham and Garlington Roads.

[cundvale]

I could totally see Trader Joes going in where the old BiLo, where the dollar whatever store is now. Of course, I would want to see new construction to blend it into the current neighborhood, but thats another rant for another day.

Trader Joe's footprint would be less than 25% of a BiLo. Here in Marietta GA, they chose new construction over several available locations (including a vacant Winn-Dixie). Don't know if that's the norm for them or not. I think that prior to more expansion, Trader Joe's desperately needs a southern distribution center. They seem to be constantly out of stock here in Georgia. It's a long way to Needam MA.

[jarvismj]

Trader Joe's footprint would be less than 25% of a BiLo.

The BiLo that was on Augusta was wicked small, in fact, it was roughly the same size as the baby BiLo on Main St, if not smaller. My guess is right around the size of a WalGreens/RiteAid store.

[breed]

The BiLo that was on Augusta was wicked small, in fact, it was roughly the same size as the baby BiLo on Main St, if not smaller. My guess is right around the size of a WalGreens/RiteAid store.

Not sure about the BiLo on Augusta, but the Bi-Lo on North Main is about 15,000 sf. Standalone pharmacies are typically 12-14k sf.

It's worth nothing that the McBee Station Publix is going to be about 29,000 square feet... about two-thirds the size of a typical Publix, which is about 40-45k sf.

[connysmom]

Not sure about the BiLo on Augusta, but the Bi-Lo on North Main is about 15,000 sf. Standalone pharmacies are typically 12-14k sf.

It's worth nothing that the McBee Station Publix is going to be about 29,000 square feet... about two-thirds the size of a typical Publix, which is about 40-45k sf.

I've been in several Trader Joe's back north, and the standard CVS/Walgreens is a bit smaller. However, the BiLo on North Main would be about the right size.

[breed]

I've been in several Trader Joe's back north, and the standard CVS/Walgreens is a bit smaller. However, the BiLo on North Main would be about the right size.

The size is right, but the property is being marketed as a redevelopment play.

[goodbye]

Here are a couple rather juicy rumors to get everyone thinking hard:

1. Just north of the proposed mixed-use development on I-85 involving either a Bass Pro Shops or Cabela's, another large retail project could be in the works. This one would be a magnet outlet center.

2. This is the very interesting rumor. Mercedes is said to have bought a large piece of property in the Upstate. My source believed it was somewhere "near BMW," though which BMW location I cannot confirm.