Chimney Sweep in North Charleston, SC

Sticky Fingers Rib House, which once grew to 15 locations before falling on hard times, said it has shut down completely.

"It is with a heavy heart that we publicly announce full closure of all locations," the South Carolina-based Memphis-style barbecue chain said in a Facebook message on Sept. 5. "We thank our guests, team and partner vendors for the many years of support."

The only remaining Sticky Fingers restaurant was at 5060 Dorchester Road in North Charleston. No one answered the phone early Friday night.

Two other locations in Greenville and Chattanooga were closed this summer after the company that ran them filed for bankruptcy protection, listing more than $3 million in debt and facing eviction lawsuits.

The North Charleston restaurant was not included in the restructuring, suggesting it was under separate ownership.

Sticky Fingers helped kindle a barbecue revival when it made its debut in 1992 in Mount Pleasant. Three business partners who grew up together in Chattanooga launched the concept with a family rib recipe and a single restaurant on Johnnie Dodds Boulevard.

The company eventually grew to 15 locations in five states around the Southeast. By 2006, about 4,000 grocery stores nationwide were carrying the chain's bottled sauces.

The founders sold the business nearly two decades ago to a private equity firm. Several other owners have come and gone since then.

"Inconsistent leadership led to a decline in food quality and service and eventually a decline in sales," according to a history of the business on Sticky Fingers' website. "The company began closing restaurants."

Under the current ownership, the chain said it "started making great strides in improving food quality and modernizing menus and plateware" until the pandemic struck more than five years ago.

Afterward, Sticky Fingers shut down nine of its 11 remaining restaurants, leaving just Greenville and Chattanooga. The North Charleston location was opened in 2022. A now-closed Summerville outpost followed in 2023.

The Upstate-based operator that filed for bankruptcy protection told The Post and Courier in March through its attorney that its finances and turnaround plan were upended by the pandemic and by inflationary pressures.

A few months later, a trustee appointed to protect the interests of creditors filed a request to sell the company's assets and use the proceeds to repay some of its debts.

NORTH CHARLESTON — Tanger Outlets is no longer just a place to shop — it’s now a place to stay, play and snap a few photos along the way.

Ahead of its 20th anniversary, the mall has unveiled a renovation of its public spaces that adds family-friendly amenities and gathering spaces, a trend in the retail center industry aimed at extending "linger" time.

Shoppers will notice shaded seating areas atop and near bright green Astroturf lawns and a children’s play space with turf mounds amidst a shock of blue designed to mimic the Cooper River and surrounding marshes.

The refresh adds Southern porch-style rocking chairs and a centralized dining zone, which will sit beneath a future pergola and chandelier.

New photo-friendly backdrops and a “Hall of Hometown Heroes” mural celebrating local community members have been installed. Updated lighting throughout the promenade aims to encourage evening shopping. EV charging stations have also been added.

The refreshed look was officially unveiled Sept. 4 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by city officials and Tanger management.

“We are 100 percent fully occupied, so the only place for us to find gathering space is in our outdoor spaces,” said Andrea Gervacio, marketing director of the shopping center.

“Every element was designed to enhance the guest experience and create a place where people wanted to gather, connect, and stay just a little bit longer,” added Justin Edwards, Tanger’s senior vice president of enterprise operations. “When Tanger starts to look at renovations for properties, we don't just pick pretty colors and add turf. We look at it strategically, at ways we can grow the business itself.”

Greensboro, N.C.-based Tanger Outlets owns 40 malls nationwide. Representatives declined to disclose the cost of the North Charleston renovations, which were managed in-house.

The upgrades come as Tanger prepares to welcome new tenants, including Lululemon, Children’s Place and South Carolina’s first Shake Shack restaurant, in addition to Auntie Anne’s and Jamba Juice, showing leasing momentum despite recent closings of Claire’s and L’eggs Hanes Bali Playtex women’s lingerie store.

“National leasing has been doing an amazing job,” Gervacio said. “We added five new brands last year – Kate Spade, Pandora, Hey, Dude, Victoria's Secret and Sephora, which were huge brands for us to get last year. And we're continuing openings this year.”

Looking ahead, the shopping center hopes to add more restaurant and dining concepts for its dining zone seating area, Gervacio said. The center has two empanada carts and rotating food trucks.

Muted color schemes, lantern-inspired lighting, and a Charleston-themed photo monument were introduced during the renovations as a nod to the city’s history.

A relocated new “Wall of Heroes” mural now faces a high-traffic corridor near the Saks Off Fifth store, highlighting local leaders in education, health care, military, first response and community advocates. Honorees are nominated by the public and will continue to be recognized annually during Tanger’s Christmas tree lighting.

Behind the scenes, the renovations also include solar panels to reduce the property’s carbon footprint and an upgraded security system.

North Charleston Mayor Reggie Burgess recalled the outdoor mall’s 2006 opening as a milestone in the region’s retail growth.

“I never thought in a city like North Charleston they’d put a Tanger,” he said. “Now, North Charleston is the key to the state in economic development.”

NORTH CHARLESTON — A new overpass and pedestrian bridge that aims to serve as the entrance to the city’s waterfront district is now open.

The Cosgrove Avenue extension provides access to the city’s former Navy Base that’s now an industrial hub scheduled to be transformed into a vibrant downtown district.

The bridge’s 12-foot multiuse path, separated by a barrier, allows for residents to ride bikes or walk to the nearby Riverfront Park and other businesses. The overpass extends above the SC Ports rail yard to allow trains to move without impeding local traffic.

“(The bridge) restores a vital connection to the city's waterfront Navy Base district with the land side communities within the city,” said Butch Weber, vice president of engineering and facilities with SC Ports.

The overpass project is part of SC Ports’ Navy Base Intermodal Facility — a rail yard that will allow the Port of Charleston to move cargo from the nearby Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal to inland ports across the Southeast. Increased construction costs and permitting delays have led to delays in the rail yard opening fully, The Post and Courier previously reported.

The bridge creates an easier route for traffic from Spruill Avenue to reach the Navy Base area and allows safe access for pedestrians. Katie Zimmerman, executive director of Charleston Moves, an organization that advocates for safe corridors for pedestrians and cyclists, said she appreciated the “thoughtfulness applied to vulnerable road users” with the creation of the multiuse path.

“It is an example of how every infrastructure project in our region should plan for and include multiple modes of transportation, safely and enjoyably connecting our industry, neighborhoods and parks well into the future," she said.

Mayor Reggie Burgess said the completion of the bridge increases connectivity for residents as the area continues to be developed.

“With this connection, not only will we be able to get our citizens over here to go to concerts, to events, but we'll get our workers here as well,” he said.

After the Navy Base closed in the 1990s as part of the nationwide Base Realignment and Closures Act, nearby neighborhoods like Union Heights and Chicora-Cherokee experienced decline as residents moved away, local businesses closed and resources funneled into these communities slowed. Efforts to revitalize the blighted areas have been slow.

Plans are in motion to redevelop the former Navy Base helmed by a joint venture between Jamestown, L.P., Weaver Capital and WECCO. Charleston Mayor William Cogswell is a principal of WECCO, but he has not been involved in day to day operations since becoming mayor. His wife Lucille Cogswell now serves as the group’s president, according to its website.

The team is renovating old Navy buildings on the southern part of the former base through a project called Navy Yard Charleston. Near Riverfront Park, the development team plans to transform a 50-acre riverfront property into a downtown district called Battery Park.

SC Ports is constructing a community and recreation center in Chicora-Cherokee to mitigate impacts from the Navy Base Intermodal Facility. The center is expected to be complete this fall.

North Charleston officially opened a new bridge this week, and city leaders say it’s about much more than traffic relief, it’s about safety, community, and connection. (WCIV)

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — North Charleston officially opened a new bridge this week, and city leaders say it’s about much more than traffic relief, it’s about safety, community, and connection.

This is a great time for the city of North Charleston," North Charleston Mayor Reggie Burgess said during the press conference. "We thank the South Carolina ports tremendously for connecting this bridge, not only with the Navy yard, but with the citizens. So we can actually experience this great, great environment that we call the Navy Yard.”

Neighbors, city officials, and SC Ports representatives gathered Thursday morning to cut the ribbon on the new Cosgrove Avenue and McMillan Avenue overpass and pedestrian bridge.

“When this rail yard is bustling with the activity driving the economic engine of the state of South Carolina, we know we need to provide you with fluid connectivity to the waterfront," Butch Weber, Vice President of engineering for South Carolina Port Authority said.

FULL PRESS CONFERENCE

The project is part of the Port’s Navy Base Intermodal Facility and was designed to lift Cosgrove Avenue above the busy rail yard, allowing trains to move freely without stopping drivers or pedestrians.

Steve Dudash, Navy Yard Charleston said “the ability to coexist with the shipyard, with the intermodal rail, with living and businesses and the place making that we want to do this is critical.”

By raising the roadway above the rail yard, the bridge eliminates frequent delays caused by passing trains and creates safer routes for people walking or biking, something Charleston Moves Katie Zimmerman applauded. "This is an example of a project that we expect to see going forward. This bare minimum in every single project," she said.

It also provides easier access to Riverfront Park and Navy Yard Charleston, two of the city’s most popular destinations for concerts, festivals, and family gatherings. City leaders say the new bridge is both a transportation solution and a community milestone, helping North Charleston grow while staying connected.

When you connect things, that means businesses come. When businesses come, that means this area grows and there lies the truth. There comes a grocery store... so everything connects with this bridge,” Burgess said.

SC Ports cut the ribbon to open the Cosgrove Avenue extension and pedestrian bridge at Port Navy Base Intermodal Facility in North Charleston.

The bridge will extend Cosgrove Avenue above the port rail yard so trains can move freely without hindering traffic, according to a news release.

“The Navy Base Intermodal Facility is a premier project for SC Ports that will allow cargo to move more efficiently from the Port of Charleston to inland markets,” Phil Padgett, SC Ports interim president and CEO, said in the release. “While we serve as a port system for the entire state, SC Ports also recognizes the need to be a good neighbor and local community partner. That means providing solutions for residents who live and work right here in North Charleston.”

The overpass will connect vehicles and pedestrians to the growing mixed-use Navy Yard Charleston and to the Navy Yard Industrial Campus, according to the release.

“This new gateway to Riverfront Park marks an important step in the redevelopment of the former Navy Base,” city of North Charleston Mayor Reggie Burgess said in the release. “The opening of the Cosgrove Avenue overpass improves pedestrian safety, enhances mobility and connectivity, and provides residents with more convenient access to economic opportunities, recreational amenities and future community development.”

The bridge pedestrian path is 12 feet wide with a barrier. According to the release, the SC Ports is also close to completion on a 15,000-square-foot community recreation park in North Charleston’s Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood.

“The Cosgrove Avenue extension offers a vital new access point to the historic Naval Base, linking the regional asset to the larger Charleston community and creating new opportunity for driving commerce in North Charleston,” Steve Dudash, Navy Yard Charleston director of special projects, said in the release. “Connectivity, particularly multi-modal, is the key to great placemaking, livability and business success. This new infrastructure is pivotal to the area’s growth potential, and we commend SC Ports on the project’s completion.”