There's a Chipotle at 300 Mall Drive now. A Hobby Lobby sits at 231 Mall Drive, and a Floor & Decor is at 545 Mall Drive. All three addresses used to point to one place, an enclosed mall off the US 17 Bypass that most of Murrells Inlet remembers as Inlet Square.
The site is being rebuilt from the outside in. Big-box stores went up first, then restaurant pads closer to the Bypass, and a hotel is coming next to Belk. The rest of the building opens later, and only after one specific construction job is finished.
How the mall emptied out
Inlet Square opened around 1990. The Myrtle Beach Sun News puts it in the late 1980s, and the Post and Courier says it was developed in 1990. The years from there to the current construction go like this:
- August 2018. The Sun News reported that four of the mall's seven largest spaces were empty, along with many smaller storefronts.
- 2020 onward. Paramount Development Corporation says it has been planning the redevelopment since at least 2020.
- February 2023. Inlet Square Investments bought the main mall tract for $6 million, according to Horry County land records cited by The Sun News.
- December 2023. WMBF reported that the interior of the mall was set to close on January 15, 2024, with tenants told to move out by then. Belk and Planet Fitness were exempt from that order.
- May to July 2024. The county issued a demolition permit for the former Frank Theatres space on May 13, and the Post and Courier showed demolition underway by July 8.
- March 2025. WMBF reported that parts of the mall had been torn down over the previous months, while Belk and Planet Fitness kept operating.
- February 2026. Neal Bowers, real estate manager for Paramount, told The Sun News that phase two was underway.
Paramount never had to tear the whole thing down. Belk stayed open through every one of those years, and the new construction is laid out around it.
Mall Drive, store by store, this fall
Here's where each piece of the site stood as of mid-October 2026.
| Address | Business | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| 545 Mall Drive | Floor & Decor | Open. The Sun News listed it as open in February 2026 |
| 231 Mall Drive | Hobby Lobby | Open since April 17, 2026 |
| 300 Mall Drive | Chipotle | Open, according to Chipotle's store locator |
| Outparcel next to Chipotle | Coffee company | Planned. Still unnamed as of the latest report |
| Near Belk | Home2 Suites by Hilton | Under construction as of February 2026 |
| North side of Belk | New retail space | Waiting on a new Belk facade |
The Hobby Lobby is a 53,000-square-foot store and the chain's 27th in South Carolina, according to the company's announcement. In 2018 the problem was a building full of empty anchor spaces. Now the two biggest new tenants each sit in their own building with their own address.
Floor & Decor's store page lists the 545 Mall Drive location as active. Chipotle's locator shows daily hours and online ordering for 300 Mall Drive.
Why the order of openings matters
Where each project sits on the property tells you a lot. Bowers told The Sun News that Chipotle was going on one of the outparcel lots near the Bypass, with a coffee company planned right next to it. He wouldn't name the coffee company. Those pads are the parts of the site closest to the busiest road.
The hotel is a separate project. Bowers said Paramount sold that parcel for the Home2 Suites by Hilton and isn't overseeing its construction. Its opening date depends on the hotel's own builder, not on the mall's schedule.
The rest of the building depends on Belk. Here's how Bowers described the next step and the timeline to The Sun News:
He said once the new facade on the north side of the Belk store is complete, additional spaces will be opened up. In addition, there are still several outparcels that will be open for future development.
When asked when the redevelopment would be finished, he said "it's an ongoing thing." He also said Paramount was talking with other potential businesses, "but nothing I'm ready to announce."
New tenants will show up one at a time, and the clearest sign that the next round is close will be a finished north face on the Belk building.
What to watch for next
These are the open questions from the February report:
- The coffee tenant. It's planned for the pad beside Chipotle and is still unnamed. Once that building goes up, the brand will be on the sign.
- Home2 Suites. It was under construction near Belk in February 2026. That's the most recent confirmed status.
- Belk's north facade. More of the old building opens for new tenants after this work is done.
- The remaining outparcels. Bowers said there are still several open for future development.
Planet Fitness was still operating alongside Belk during demolition in March 2025, according to WMBF. Before you renew a membership or plan a trip around it, check the gym's current hours directly.
Back in February, Bowers told The Sun News he expected "a lot of these things will be open" by summer. Two of the three named retail tenants were open by then, and the third, Chipotle, is open now. The coffee shop, the hotel and the space behind Belk's new facade make up the next round.
Your errands are on the Bypass, but the holidays are on Business 17
Mall Drive is where the shopping moved. The community calendar for the season is still along Business 17 and the MarshWalk, about a short drive east, and the next several weekends are already full:
- Saturday, October 31. Halloween on the MarshWalk runs from 5 to 10 p.m.
- Saturday, November 7. The 22nd Annual Murrells Inlet Oyster Roast runs from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Wicked Tuna parking lot at 4123 US-17 Business. Murrells Inlet 2020 says to expect live music, food and local craft vendors.
- November 27 through December 31. The MarshWalk's Wonderland of Lights is on every night.
- Saturday, December 5. Murrells Inlet 2020 hosts its annual Christmas Tree Lighting at Morse Park Landing, 4925 US-17 Business, from 4 to 6 p.m.
- Sunday, December 6. The annual Murrells Inlet Christmas Parade runs along US-17 Business from 3 to 6 p.m.
Park changes are coming to the south end too. In April 2026, Georgetown County presented a conceptual master plan for Wachesaw Park. It includes an inclusive playground, a splash pad, a dog park, trails, picnic shelters and connections to the bike path. The county said the work would be phased and that initial capital project sales tax funding had been approved. Like Inlet Square, it will arrive in pieces.
If you're curious how the stores filling in along Mall Drive might affect your corner of Murrells Inlet, Kirk Stalvey keeps a close eye on what's changing along the Bypass and Business 17. He's happy to talk it through with you. Book an appointment whenever it suits you.
