Barefoot Landing getting upgrades, new stores for summer

Barefoot Landing getting upgrades, new stores for summer

Barefoot Landing is getting a fresh look and 10 new stores for the summer season.

Crews have been busy redecking the pedestrian bridges, renovating and expanding the restrooms, freshening up landscaping and resurfacing the parking lots to give the North Myrtle Beach shopping-dining-entertainment complex new life.

Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc. -- which also owns Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, a similar shopping complex -- bought Barefoot Landing for $43 million a year ago and has been “working on revitalizing it and bringing the place back to life,” Barefoot Landing spokeswoman Kim Kelley said.

Crews are still busy painting throughout the shopping center and adding new rocking chairs, benches and planters in the common areas.

“People are just going to feel better about coming back,” Kelley said. “It doesn’t have the weathered, tired look anymore....It’s little things that make such a difference.”

About 10 new stores are moving in, including several that already have locations at Broadway at the Beach.

Several have already opened:

• M.R. Docks, which sells casual wildlife apparel

• My Mobile selling accessories for electronic devices

• Geneva Time Exchange selling watches

• Yours and Mayan, which sells jewelry, masks, wood carvings

• TrickMaster Magic Shop

Several other stores aim to open in the next month:

• It’s Sugar

• Auntie Anne’s Pretzels

• Hat Fanatic

• The Silver Shack

• Crabby Jack’s General Store

Barefoot Landing, which opened in 1988, has about 100 shops, restaurants and attractions surrounding a 27-acre lake, including the House of Blues, Alabama Theatre and Alligator Adventure.

B&C officials could not be immediately reached Monday to talk about the company’s strategy for Barefoot Landing, including any long-term improvements or additions.

Myrtle Beach Real Estate

Bird Notes - Activity ramps up as spring progresses

Bird Notes - Activity ramps up as spring progresses

Fresh from their tropical winter vacations and cloaked in their finest spring raiments, the birds of summer continue to make their way into and through the Myrtle Beach area.

After having been away for far too long, the sights and sounds of these creatures, with their often brilliant plumages and constant activity, enhance the sensation of spring’s annual renewal of life.

Many folks have been happy the past week to report “blue” birds visiting their backyards, namely indigo bunting and blue grosbeak.

While both species breed in appropriate habitats in the area, they’re not common feeder birds, with exception to a few days in April.

A few fortunate folks have had the pleasure of finding a male painted bunting taking advantage of their birdfood offerings.

Any day now, rose-breasted grosbeaks will be making their way through the area as they head to their more northern breeding grounds.

While buntings and blue grosbeaks are partial to white millet seed, rose-breasted grosbeaks prefer black oil sunflower seed. Sometimes these handsome birds will show up in small groups to take advantage of well-stocked feeders.

A wave of great crested flycatchers appears to have returned last weekend, with several folks (myself included) noting their first observations of the season.

These handsome birds are fairly common in the area, although sometimes difficult to see as they prefer to stay amid the foliage of the tree canopy where they ply their namesake trade. As cavity-nesting birds, they will sometimes take advantage of birdhouses, especially those mounted higher from the ground and close to woodlots or forested areas. They are known occasionally to use mailboxes and newspaper delivery tubes as nesting sites, as well as purple martin nesting enclosures.

While the migrant birds continue returning to the area, many winter residents remain on site. In Conway, Baltimore orioles, white-throated and chipping sparrows, and yellow-rumped warblers continue to avail themselves of the resources.

Although their numbers are dwindling, those remaining individuals are rapidly achieving their breeding plumages and look their absolute best for their upcoming seasonal duties.

Our tiniest feathered friends, ruby-throated hummingbirds, continue to make their way into the area. Each week more folks are happy to report their first sightings of these minuscule marvels in their yards.

Remember to keep your feeders clean and maintained with a solution of one part sugar to four parts water with no other additives, and let me know of the hummingbird activity in your yard.

Myrtle beach Real estate