Behind the Menu: Are franchises on the rise on the Grand Strand?

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — As more restaurants open on the Grand Strand, some of them might be familiar because they are franchises.

One of them, Voodoo Brewing Company, opened at Broadway at the Beach in May, and like other franchises, it is not going to be the restaurant’s only location on the Grand Strand.

“What really intrigued me was that I could be my own boss after being in the military for so long, taking orders from other people,” owner Todd Pinkler said. “I was like let me try something different.”

Pinkler said this is the first time he has owned and operated a business in the hospitality industry. The decision to go the franchise route was a big one.

“That’s what kind of drew us to Voodoo Brewing Company, is that although it is a franchise you get to put your own spin on it,” he said. “So every store is a little different, from the décor, the layout and everything else.”

Pinkler said he bought the rights to three stores.

“The locations we are looking at is from North Myrtle Beach all the way down to Charleston,” Pinkler said. “We have six years to build those stores out.”

However, right now, the focus is serving the restaurant’s well-known brews at the beach.

Kathleen Pingelski. who owns Bowled in Surfside Beach, also wanted to open something beyond the average fast-food chain.

“There was something lacking, Pingelski said. “We were looking for smoothies, fruit bowls,  pitya bowls or acais bowls, salads, etc.”

Bowled, which opened last fall, is the first business of its kind to operate outside of the state of New York.

“What really got me excited about this franchise is its kind of a start-up franchise, so I don’t have rigid, rigid requirements,” she said.

The Surfside Beach location is the first of four Pingelski plans to open. The next one will be on Coastal Carolina University’s campus in Conway, happening in the next couple of months. She also hopes to open in the Barefoot Landing area of North Myrtle Beach in March. The fourth location is still to be determined.

Also having a storefront in both the South and North Strand is Nothing Bundt Cakes. District Regional Manager Chevon Bacot said business has been a success since opening and that the community is beyond excited to not have to commute to big cities to find this delicacy.

“We were actually very, very shocked at the amount of people that came in, and they still continue to come, and we want to be able to continue to spread the joy,” Bacot said.

There are plans for expansion to go more inland and open a store in Florence.

Bacot said that while they might be a popular franchise, it’s not your corporate business feel.

“It’s that family feel, even though we have the expansion from North Myrtle Beach to Surfside being our jurisdiction,” she said. But it’s a mom-and-pop. We care about what you are coming to spend your money on and what you are going to break bread over your table with your family.”

News 13 asked some of these businesses if they had noticed an uptick in franchises coming to the area. The answer was “yes,” but they also said they think there’s a variety and that none dish out the same product as they do.

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Adriana Cotero is News13’s weekend evening anchor and a morning reporter. She joined the team in July 2023 after working in the island of Guam. Adriana is from Saline, Michigan, and graduated from Central Michigan University. Follow Adriana on Facebook , X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram and read more of her work here .

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