Chimney Sweep in James Island, SC

JOHNS ISLAND — Blu Smoke Pit BBQ is now open on Johns Island with a nod to a James Island smokehouse legacy.

At Live Oak Square on Johns Island, a shopping center just off Maybank Highway, a new menu of smoked meats, ribs, wings, fried chicken livers, smoked burgers and oysters marks the space’s third restaurant concept in roughly as many years.

The newest concept opened Sept. 12 and its opening day menu post on social media racked up more than 150 likes in the first hour.

Owners Rick Agius and his wife Jennifer Agius hope to revive the spirit of their long-running Smoky Oak Taproom that had a 13-year run on James Island before closing in 2021. Argus also owns Zeppelin, a pizzeria at 2817 Maybank Highway.

Pitmaster Lucas Harrell, who worked at Smoky Oak Taproom for more than a decade, is overseeing the two new commercial smokers in the Blu Pit kitchen.

To embrace the barbecue aesthetic, the seafood-themed décor from Blu Oyster — including a striking wall piece made of fish skulls — has been removed and replaced with vintage car parts and oversized gas-station signs.

“I'm a hot rod guy. I've got all these old, eclectic gas station signs that are amazingly huge. We got half of them up and the other half will be up next week,” Agius said.

The restaurant first opened as Blu Oyster Sushi & Seafood in 2022 at 1804 Crowne Commons Way. In early 2025, Agius closed after a health diagnosis affected a member of the executive team. It then briefly pivoted to a hibachi concept that lasted just six months.

“Hibachi wasn't working the way we thought it would,” Agius said. “I always wanted to do a barbecue restaurant on Johns Island and I made the decision to make it happen.”

The addition of East Coast oysters to the BBQ menu — served either raw, charbroiled or Rockefeller-style — adds a unique offering to the menu.

Agius said the BBQ menu fits into the start of football season. There are more than two dozen TVs scattered inside and outside for fans. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Other restaurants in Live Oak Square include Kiss Café, Tolli’s Apizza, The Woodruff, Island Provisions and Cabana Burgers & Shakes.

Decorative tiles ranging from fish scale patterns to classic subway-style pieces and hand-crafted designs featuring egrets now line the walls of what was once a popular James Island restaurant.

Surface Studio has officially opened at 1978 Maybank Highway in the former Mustard Seed and later, Boulevard Diner, space. The tile and stone products showroom caters primarily to custom builders and interior designers but also welcomes walk-ins.

The store marks co-owner Jason Goldberg’s newest business venture into Charleston after branching off from the family tile business.

Goldberg’s family has run Palmetto Tile Distributors in North Charleston and Columbia for three generations. Six years ago, he opened Surface in Charlotte with co-owner and interior designer Dana Shawver.

“We noticed a lot of synergy between the Charlotte and Charleston markets,” Shawver said. “We import through the Port of Charleston, we have a warehouse in North Charleston and Jason lives in Charleston. It was a natural progression to open a showroom in Charleston. When the little white house on Maybank became available, that sealed the deal for us.”

Surface Studio works with exclusive national lines such as Artistic Tile and Sonoma Tilemakers. The company will continue to maintain its North Charleston warehouse with many products available for immediate pick-up and shipping.

Shawver describes Surface Studio as “a place that provides educated options for creative people.”

“If you want it, we will find it,” she said.

It’s the second design showroom to recently take over a shuttered business in the region. Earlier this month, Construction Resources announced it will be opening a CR Design Center in the former Harris Teeter supermarket space at The Shoppes at Seaside Farms near the Isle of Palms Connector and Rifle Range Road in Mount Pleasant.

Backyard farewell

A longtime outdoor furniture retailer in Mount Pleasant has closed its doors and folded up its umbrellas.

Backyard Retreats, known for the display of colorful Adirondack chairs outside its store at 554 Johnnie Dodds Blvd., permanently closed in August.

The owners announced on social media that they are moving the business to North Carolina and hinted at a rebrand, writing, “We’re now preparing for an exciting new chapter.”

The company was in business in the same location since around 1996.

Boutique swap

A Mount Pleasant retailer is expanding to downtown Charleston.

Sloane Boutique, owned by Sloane Strauss and known for its clothing, jewelry and accessories at 620 Coleman Blvd. in Moultrie Plaza, will open an second storefront in October at 409 King St.

The corner space near Marion Square had been home for 10 years to Beckett Boutique, which said in August that it would continue its online sales while searching for a new brick-and-mortar location.

CBD in Mt. P

High Market Organics, a CBD and hemp shop offering alternative health products for people and pets, has opened at 1111 Bowman Road, across from the Nordstrom Rack in Bowman Place.

Rafael de la Maza is the owner of the store that carries vegan, organic and locally made options, with a selection that includes gummies, beverages, disposables, topicals, mushrooms, sweets and pet products.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - The old DiMare tomato packaging facility off Main Road is in mid-revitalization, and the owner anticipates welcoming business tenants as early as October.

In the summer of 2025, a real estate group invested more than $20 million to revitalize the vacant facility into something that could house thriving businesses once again.

Dubbed the Vine Works Trade Park, a marketing company has been hired to drum up interest in the 190,000 square foot facility. It offers 108,848 square feet in one building and 81,350 square feet in another. The developer is advertising 450 parking spaces and move-in ready suites that are expected to be available beginning in Q4 2025.

While the facility has been sitting empty for more than a decade, Charleston County Councilman Joe Boykin remembers its prime.

“Johns Island and its sister sea islands were one of the largest producers of tomatoes in the United States in their heyday, and literally, a rail spur came by here and went by another packing shed, because so many tomatoes were grown here to be transported by rail,” Boykin says.

While many of those farms have since closed, he commends the ones that remain, but knows the importance of repurposing the packaging facility that hasn’t been needed for years.

“My understanding with the investors on this project is they’re looking at providing a center for space for folks who would provide goods and services to folks on Johns Island. There’s a wide range of goods and services they may provide on this property, with its zoning, certainly a lien to probably contractor or building type of services or supplies, landscaping or landscaping supplies.”

Boykin says the property is already zoned for commercial and light industrial, so the project is in line with its longtime uses. He hopes to see a business that serves islanders.

“So this won’t bring more houses or more people, per se, but it will provide jobs for people who already live here, and may help limit or reduce the number of on and off island trips the people that are working here, whether it be landscaping or building services or any of the other commercial interests they may put back here that provide the citizens of Johns Island, more retail opportunities and again, trying to reduce those off island trips,” Boykin says.

Boykin explains the county offered business incentives to the investor, like fees in lieu of full taxes, because of their multi-million dollar investment. He also notes the county secured an economic development grant of $250,000 to build a turn lane into the complex.

Charleston City Councilman John McBride says these are strategic and smart moves that should serve the island as the land was intended.

“Whenever there is an opportunity for new businesses to start on Johns Island that can offer services that Johns Island residents need, it helps to reduce the traffic congestion all around Charleston, little by little, because that new service allows people to stay on the island, rather than having to drive elsewhere stuck in traffic,” McBride says.

What business will choose to inhabit the space has yet to be seen, but there is a lot of space, and leaders hope there is interest from tenants who will create jobs or opportunities for those on Johns Island.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A newly constructed roundabout is showing benefits to the highly traveled River Road on Johns Island.

The new Johns Island Elementary School, located on Claybrook Street, once from residents as it sits at the edge of the highly-travelled River Road.

City of Charleston District Three Councilmember Jim McBride says any traffic impacts along Maybank Highway and River Road impact the school.

McBride has been using a Google tracking program to follow traffic data over the last 15 months. He follows the traffic flow for four routes that flow into the River Road and Maybank Highway intersections each day.

“Overall, it’s gotten about 30 seconds worse per four-mile stretch of traffic in all directions,” McBride says. “Except, in one direction, it actually got a little bit better coming from Maybank from the West to the East towards James Island.”

Charleston County School District, the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the City of Charleston built a roundabout along the roadway that is adjacent to the school.

Charleston County School District Chief Operating Officer Jeff Borowy says the structure is the first to be built for the district. Borowy believes the roundabout has already provided benefits to the area.

“It’s been highly successful in not only mitigating any impacts of the school traffic but also providing a 24/7 increase in safety as cars slow down on River Road to get through that roundabout,” Borowy says.

McBride agrees that the roundabout provides a safer flow of traffic in comparison to a stoplight.

Borowy says the school’s location, which is surrounded by large neighborhoods, also contributes to lowering some of the school year traffic.

“That location minimizes the distance that parents have to go, that our buses have to go,” Borowy says. “It increases the number of walkers. We have up to 40 walkers that walk to the school now as opposed to pretty much none at the old school site.”

The roundabout adds to additional road improvements, including turn lanes at the corner of River Road and Brownswood Road.

McBride says the work plays a role in future traffic infrastructure improvements coming to Johns Island.

He says state representatives and Charleston County are looking to use about $5 million in state funds toward another roundabout for the River Road and Brownswood Road intersection.

McBride says he’s thankful that traffic improvements are on the way.

“People have been waiting for traffic improvements for so, so long,” McBride says. “There’s been a lot of fits of starts and stops along the way, and I’m just grateful to be here now when there’s actually improvements that are going to start really tangibly happening over the next couple of years.”

Other projects aimed at relieving the area’s traffic include the city’s plan to

McBride hopes to see an overall ease in traffic congestion as a result of the various projects by the extension’s expected completion by 2028.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Charleston County leaders are considering zoning and map changes that would allow for more development on Johns Island, leaving many residents concerned about increased traffic and other potential harms.

The proposed changes are for a 2.39-acre area along Cane Slash Road on what is considered the overlay. Two topics are up for debate.

“One that would affect the zoning and then one that would affect the future land use map. This would go from limited commercial uses to mixed use, which would really increase the density on that site,” District Nine Charleston County Councilmember Jenny Costa Honeycutt said.

Meaning if approved, it would allow for the development of hotels, gas stations and more housing to be built on the site, which could add to congestion on the roads.

“I don’t like that at all because too much traffic. It brings too much traffic here,” life-long Johns Island resident Mezaline Legere said.

District Eight Charleston County Councilmember Joe Boykin said he cannot support the proposed changes. He believes that the increased density up-zoning would allow would further exacerbate the already failing transportation infrastructure at the intersection of River Road and Maybank Highway, as well as on the island in general.

Legere agrees. She said she’s lived on Johns Island her whole life, but in recent years, the growth has been overwhelming.

“Three or four years ago, before a lot of people didn’t move on Johns Island, but a lot of people are moving on Johns Island now,” Legere said.

These changes could add even more people who call Johns Island home. It would allow for several more homes per acre to be built on the property. Audrey Subers works on Johns Island, and she’s concerned about environmental impacts.

“There will be a lot more rainwater that’s not going to have a place to go, and the flooding already is really bad with poor drainage, so I think it’s best to preserve the natural land and keep things the way they are,” Subers said.

“I think smart growth is really important, balancing growth areas that should be dense, areas that shouldn’t, is really important, and listening to the public feedback is part of that process,” Honeycutt said.

Honeycutt added that almost 200 people commented in opposition to these potential changes.

Those who would like to give feedback can attend a public hearing on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Charleston County Council Chambers. You can find more details on the agenda on the Charleston County website under meetings and agendas.