By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer

The Belk department store in Mount Pleasant’s Towne Centre is expanding by 20,000 square feet in an effort to accommodate the swelling population in the East Cooper area and the Greater Charleston area as a whole.

The store opened in April 1999 and is Belk’s newest Charleston area location. The expansion includes a renovation that will address floor layout, lighting, signage, merchandise presentation and decor.

“Sales have grown tremendously since the store opened here seven years ago, and the customer base has continued to expand year after year,’’ said Susan McWatters, vice president and regional store manager for the Belk Charleston region.

The $4.4 million project will increase the size of the store to 82,000 square feet. The store will remain open during renovations.

Economist Al Parish, director of the Center for Economic Forecasting at Charleston Southern University, said he is not surprised to hear that the Mount Pleasant store will expand despite the fact that it is a newer store.

“Is it unusual? Probably. Is it unusual in Mount Pleasant? No,” Parish said. “It’s simply the sheer growth that’s taking place over there, and it’s not just Mount Pleasant. It’s east of the Cooper. You’ve got a lot of growth on Isle of Palms and a lot of growth on Sullivan’s Island. What we’re getting is upscale retirees, and they have a lot of money to spend. Look at the housing prices.”

Frank Heffner, professor of economics at the College of Charleston, said newer shopping centers planned for the area just north of Towne Centre, including Carolina Park and a Wal-Mart, will not hurt Towne Centre’s business.

“You’re going to have a competing shopping center built five miles up the road, and the question would be, will Mount Pleasant sustain both shopping centers? My crystal ball says ‘yes,’” Heffner said. “You go to Daniel Island and look at the retail being developed there, and then you look at Northwoods Mall and they’ve just done a major renovation. And Citadel Mall is always packed. We have more than enough population and income to support the retail expansion.”

Leslie Riley said renovations at Northwoods Mall in 2004 included a 30,000-square-foot expansion of Dillard’s. The 34-year-old mall is 94% leased.

Lee Burnett, marketing director at Citadel Mall, said the mall’s department stores have built out to maximum capacity. The mall is 88% leased, with most of the available space in a new corridor that was built to accommodate a larger Belk store, which was added to the mall in 2000.

“It’s a very strong market, I think, given the size of the Charleston area in population,” Burnett said. “There’s a fair amount of competition, which keeps us on our toes, but it’s manageable.”

Developers may have initially wondered about the viability of Towne Centre when it was being built, Heffner said, but there is no question today that the area can support a large amount of commerce.

“Mount Pleasant is one of the most booming areas in the state, so it’s pretty clear the retail will be sustainable. That’s even with the higher cost of gasoline,” Heffner said.

Towne Centre is more than 98% percent leased. New stores coming to the center include a Scandinavian home store and Lucas, an upscale children’s boutique specializing in the Petite Bateau clothing line, said Joe Boyd, the center’s general manager.

Belk entered the Charleston market in 1926 with a downtown store and now has locations at Citadel Mall, Northwoods Mall, Towne Centre and North Main Market in Summerville.

Belk opened 12 new stores in 2005, including locations in Charlotte, N.C., Lakeland, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va. Belk stores in Greenville, N.C., and Valdosta, Ga., were among stores that were expanded and renovated last year. The company plans to open 10 new stores in 2006.

Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.

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