Inlet Square Mall Redevelopment in Murrells Inlet: Shops and Holiday Stays

The old Inlet Square Mall no longer works as an enclosed mall. Two big-box stores have opened on Mall Drive, a Chipotle is serving on an outparcel by the Bypass, and an ALDI opened in September a short way up U.S. 17 Bypass in Woodside Village. A Home2 Suites by Hilton beside Belk is now taking reservations for Nov. 19, the week before Thanksgiving.

For Woodlake Village, which sits on Woodlake Drive off the Bypass, the result is a corridor that covers groceries, craft supplies, flooring, a quick lunch, a gym and a place for out-of-town family to sleep. The pieces arrived one at a time over about a year. This holiday season is the first time they are all open, or about to be.

The Mall Turned Into an Errand Center

Inlet Square dates to around 1990, built during the same years Woodlake Village homes were going up. By 2018, according to The Sun News, many of its largest store spaces sat empty and other storefronts had no tenants.

Paramount Development Corporation, which lists the project at 10125 Hwy. 17 Bypass, chose not to refill the corridors. The Post and Courier reported that Paramount's 2023 proposal kept Belk, Planet Fitness and the former Kmart and JCPenney buildings and tore down the connecting spaces between them. Once demolition was finished, the work moved on to stormwater, parking, lighting and other infrastructure.

That decision shapes the site today. Each store has its own front door and parking, so you drive up and walk straight in. Early plans for the old mall had included housing. In April 2025, The Sun News reported that Paramount had no residential plans and had filed no rezoning application, and that the land did not have residential zoning. As things stand, the site is planned as retail, food and lodging.

What You Can Already Drive To

The first new store opened in September 2025, and ALDI followed up the Bypass in September 2026. Here is what is open on and around the site as of late October 2026.

WMBF covered the Floor & Decor grand opening in September 2025, the first sign the plan was moving. Hobby Lobby's newsroom lists its 53,000-square-foot store at 231 Mall Drive as opening April 17, 2026. In February, The Sun News reported that Chipotle was planned for an outparcel near the Bypass. It is now open at 300 Mall Drive, and its location page lists hours of 10:45 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.

ALDI Added the Grocery Run

The mall site handles hobbies, home projects and lunch. Groceries were the missing piece, and they arrived up the Bypass. In March 2026, WMBF reported that ALDI had picked Woodside Village at 4430 Highway 17 Bypass for its first Murrells Inlet store, in the space Badcock Home Furniture used to occupy. That shopping center already had a Chick-fil-A and Luna Mexican Bar & Grill.

The Post and Courier reported that the store opened at 9 a.m. on Sept. 10, next to a Dollar General, and keeps hours of 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The same article lists the chain's other Grand Strand stores in Conway, North Myrtle Beach, Pawleys Island and Surfside Beach. Before September, the nearest ALDI for Woodlake Village households meant a drive south to Pawleys Island or north to Surfside Beach. Now there is one in Murrells Inlet itself.

Together, the two sites cover a typical week of errands along the same Bypass corridor: groceries at ALDI, a stop at Hobby Lobby or Belk, a workout at Planet Fitness, and lunch at Chipotle or Chick-fil-A.

The Hotel Opens in Time for Holiday Guests

The next opening is the one that matters most this season. Home2 Suites by Hilton Murrells Inlet Myrtle Beach Area is going up near Belk. Hilton's own locator lists it as "Coming Soon" and says it is "accepting reservations for November 19, 2026 and beyond." Hilton files the property under its in-room kitchen hotels, so guests can make their own breakfast or warm up leftovers.

Nov. 19 falls one week before Thanksgiving, which is Nov. 26 this year. For a Woodlake Village household expecting family who can't fit in a two- or three-bedroom ranch, that means guests can stay on the same Bypass corridor instead of at a beachfront hotel farther up the strand. A grandchild with a car can get to Chipotle or Hobby Lobby without crossing town.

Paramount is not building the hotel. According to The Sun News, the company sold that parcel, and another owner is handling construction. "Coming Soon" listings can change. If you are booking rooms for relatives, check the hotel's Hilton page again before the holiday.

What Is Still Unnamed

The redevelopment is not finished. Neal Bowers, Paramount's real estate manager, told The Sun News in February that he could not say when the project would be complete because "it's an ongoing thing." He predicted that by summer "a lot of these things will be open," and added, "We're ready for some new stuff." Since then, Hobby Lobby, Chipotle and ALDI have opened. Several other pieces are still open questions:

• The coffee shop. A coffee company is planned next to Chipotle, but Bowers declined to name it.
• Space behind Belk's new facade. Bowers said more spaces will open once the new facade on the north side of the Belk store is complete.
• Open outparcels. Several outparcels are still available for future development, and Paramount was working with other potential businesses, "but nothing I'm ready to announce," Bowers said.
• The former TGI Friday's building. At the end of 2024, El Cerro Grande bought the former TGI Friday's property near the mall and planned to move its Murrells Inlet restaurant there, The Sun News reported. For now, El Cerro's contact page still lists the restaurant at 3167 S Highway 17. Until that changes, go to the Highway 17 address.

The coffee shop is the opening most likely to change a weekday routine. A coffee stop next to Chipotle would give the site a reason to visit in the morning. Right now the corridor's draws are lunch, errands and the gym.

If the old mall site and the new ALDI have changed how you think about where you live, or about where you might move next, I'm glad to talk through how this stretch of Murrells Inlet fits your plans. You can reach me through Brendan Danna. Let's Connect.