Early Operation
The mall opened to the public on April 16, 1975 with full news coverage from The Sun News. The mall's leasing manager was the Caine Company, based out of Greenville, South Carolina. It was hailed as "one of the largest and most modern shopping facilities in the Southeast" for its time with an architectural style that was quite noticeable throughout the mall. The opening began with 30 diversified retail outlets. Some of the major tenants included Belk, Collins Department Store (later to be Peebles), Eckerd Drugs, and Morrison's Cafeteria.
Initially, many of the stores in the mall were local stores instead of national chains that can be commonly found in many malls. In addition to those mentioned above, the first stores that opened with the mall included Paperback Booksmith, Playhouse Toys, Record Bar, Coker's, Candlewood, Singer's, Suzanne's, Baskin-Robbins, Bottoms Up, Curious Cargo Gifts, Kinney Shoes, Magic Cavern, Der Dog Haus, Friedman's, Gingham Peddler, Lowery Organs, Lynn's Hallmark, Hickory Farms, Karmelkorn, La Marick, Leaf 'n Match, Merle Norman, Nelson's Men's Shop, Endicott-Johnson, and Orange Bowl. Most of these stores changed within the time span of Myrtle Square's thirty year history, although some remained loyal and remained in the same location.
In 1976, the first Chik-Fil-A in the Myrtle Beach area was opened in the mall by John Shaw, a sales manager from Greer SC. At the time, there were less than 50 of these restaurants nationwide, all in shopping malls. John served as the president of the Myrtle Square Merchants Association for most of his time there.
In order to open the mall more rapidly, half of the mall was delayed in opening until the next year as a "Phase II". Many new stores, including Sears, opened that year. It included a mail-ordering delivery destination for many of Myrtle Beach's residents when they ordered from the Sears catalog. Myrtle Beach's first attempt at an enclosed mall had been a success.
In addition, several outparcels were built around the mall. Big Star Supermarket opened on the southwest area of the complex, as well as Citizens and Southern National Bank.
Read more about this topic: Myrtle Square Mall
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