Erica Hanks knows her regulars by name. Before opening The SHOWROOM, a high-end clothing boutique at Freshfields Village on South Carolina’s Kiawah Island, the Charlotte native built a career styling professional athletes. Today, she brings that same personalized approach to the women who have made Kiawah their retreat from the demands of executive life. CEOs, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders gather at her intimate dinner parties, where loyal customers trade boardroom conversations for evenings of fashion, friendship, and community.
As a confidant and connector, Hanks plays a special role in these women’s lives. “I love when I see them out at Freshfields after meeting at one of my dinners and discover they’ve become close friends,” Hanks says.
That sense of community is what sets Freshfields Village apart from other retail destinations. More than a collection of boutiques and restaurants, the open-air gathering place serves as Kiawah’s front porch. Throughout the year, neighbors and visitors convene for concerts on the green, movie nights, farmers markets, and holiday celebrations. Families return summer after summer, while locals mark the changing seasons there together.
Instrumental to that spirit of community are Loren and Amy Beadle. The Chicago natives count themselves among the pioneers who first opened storefronts at Freshfields Village in 2005. After Loren retired early, the Beadles saw an opportunity for a second career in the quiet Lowcountry community. That career began with the opening of SeaCoast Sports and Outfitters, a two-story adventure gear store, and grew to include FortyEight – Wine Bar & Kitchen, FortyEight – Reserve Room, Kiawah Spirits, and Kiawah Wines.
Just as remarkable as the businesses they’ve built is the team that’s grown with them. In an industry known for constant turnover, many of their employees have stayed for years, creating the kind of lasting relationships that keep shoppers returning. “We have managers who worked for us during college, got their degree from Clemson or from USC or from College of Charleston, and now work for us full-time as salaried managers,” Loren says.
It’s a similar story at GDC Home, where the family legacy spans three generations. Catharine Gregory’s ninety-two-year-old grandmother founded the interior design and home furnishings store in 1978. The business was later passed to Gregory’s parents, and today she serves as manager of operations, overseeing the Freshfields Village location—one of the shopping center’s original tenants when it opened twenty years ago. “Freshfields is such a special place,” Gregory says. “We have customers we first worked with years ago who still stop by just to say hello and catch up.”
Whether clients are furnishing a newly purchased Kiawah Island vacation home or downsizing to a retirement community like Seafields, Gregory says the relationships often extend well beyond a single design project. “We become part of their lives,” she says. “It’s about helping people create a home, but it’s also about being part of this community.”
Adding to the appeal of the retail community are the restaurants that keep shoppers happily sated after the bags are full. One such stop is Café Eugenia, which Bea Shaffer Young opened after helping grow the Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit brand alongside founder Carrie Morey. Already a favorite for thoughtfully prepared breakfasts, lunches, and coffee, it recently expanded into a sun-filled adjoining space that can accommodate classes, tastings, and other communal events.
For Young, the greatest reward has been the loyal customers who have championed Café Eugenia from the very beginning. “I have a wonderful community of regulars who have been my cheerleaders since day one,” she says. They have also become de facto advisers: When they asked for espresso, she added it. When they wanted breakfast sandwiches, those joined the menu, too. “It’s become even more than I imagined,” she says of the café.
To get a taste of that unique communal spirit for yourself, plan your own visit to Kiawah’s Freshfields Village.
Explore Freshfields Village at freshfieldsvillage.com