Moncks Corner Is Getting Its Second Wave

Cook Out opened at 646 Rembert C. Dennis Blvd. on September 1. Panda Express opens at 2745 Highway 52 on September 10. An Aldi is under construction near Highway 52.

Also in development in Moncks Corner: Chipotle, Aspen Dental, Tractor Supply, Bruster's Ice Cream, Subway, and Giacobbe's Pizzeria and Trattoria.

The reason is a population increase of 11.5 percent.

The quote worth reading twice

Justin Westbrook, the town's community development director, put it this way: "We're starting to get the second wave of investment, and that's where things really get exciting for Moncks Corner."

The first wave in a growing town is rooftops. The second wave is the national chains that follow the rooftops, because a corporate site selector has finally seen enough population data to sign off. That is where Moncks Corner is now.

The part nobody writes about

There is a third wave, and it is the one that matters most to anybody reading this. Once the chains land, the local operators who serve those same households have to decide whether to compete on price against companies that will always win on price, or compete on being the local option.

The good news for a local business in Moncks Corner is that a Subway opening down the street is also a signal. It means somebody with a research budget concluded there are enough households here to support another restaurant. You get to use that conclusion for free.

The households are new. Most of them have not picked a plumber, a dentist, a lawn service or a Friday night pizza spot yet. Berkeley County is one of the easier places in the Lowcountry to reach a defined set of new addresses, because the growth is concentrated rather than scattered.

Sources

Post and Courier, Aldi, Cook Out and 7 other businesses are coming to the booming Moncks Corner

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