A rumor has been floating around for sometime McAlister’s Deli will take the spot of the closed Pepper’s Deli on Market Street in Baxter Village. As it turns out, McAlister’s Deli has announced on their website they will be opening soon in Fort Mill, SC – Baxter Village.

The Fort Mil Times and Rock Hill Herald reported Thursday McAlister’s Deli after renovations, will open mid July2012.  The article also confirmed McAlister’s had tried to buy Peppers Deli for quite some time but could never come to terms. Clear Springs Development, leasing company and developer for Baxter Village,  had lease offer from another restaurant but could not take leasing action due to legal issues surrounding Peppers Deli. Obviously, the legal issue has been resolved. (link to Fort Mil Times Story).

It will be nice to see the vacant space on Market Street in Baxter Village filled with an operating business. We are seeing signs of positive growth in our area with new businesses opening. Another restaurant has a planned opening later this month in Tega Cay called Carlos Cafe, see our post Carlos Cafe Coming to Teg Cay 

Who’s This Local Celebrity Dancer or Sports Player?

The local middle school sports program funding was cut by the Fort Mill School board when the economy headed south a couple years ago. Parents formed a district wide school booster organization (FMSDAB) to raise money and keep middle school sports in the schools. One of the major funding activities by the middle school booster program is a Dancing with the Stars style fundraiser.

Dancing with the Stars Fort Mill is this Saturday 4/28/12 at the Tega Cay Glennon Center beginning at 6pm. Six local celebrity dancers 

• Dee Christopher, principal at Fort Mill High School
• Stafany Holmes, local restaurateur and school sports fundraiser
• Lucas McFadden, anchor/producer for CN2 News
• Patti Mercer, former Mrs. South Carolina
• Alison Rauch, reporter and photographer for CN2 News
• Jeff Schaefer, former major league baseball player

and their professional dance insturctore/partners have been practicing dance routines since February to compete this Saturday. Money is raised by dancers soliciting votes in the form of donations, selling show tickets, and sponsorships. Dancer fundraising totals will be factored into their scores when its time Saturday night to select a winner.

Dinner tickets are sold out but a limited amount of Show Only tickets are still available to purchase on line at www.fortmillathletics.org/dancingwiththestars/tickets/  at a price of $50 each (donation).

If you would like to make an online donation to a specific dancer go to www.fortmillathletics.org/dancingwiththestars/

Carlos “Cuban” Café on Cheery Road in Rock Hill has closed but the restaurant is moving and reopening in Tega Cay at the Stonecrest Shopping center of Hwy 160. An article in the Herald today states Carlos Café is closing and moving to Tega Cay because the restaurant ran out of space at their location in Rock Hill.

The Restaurants’ Facebook page describes the restaurant as

“Family owned Cuban Restaurant, Carlos Cafe, was created to give the Carolinas’ palette an authentic taste of Cuba! Cuban food is a fusion of flavorful spices of Spanish, African and Caribbean cuisines. The owners of Carlos Cafe are bringing a piece of Cuba’s heritage, flavors and culture with their small eatery in a big way! Inspired by Cuba…Made in the U.S.A.”

Some of the items on their menu are; Roast Chicken, Cuban Beef Hash, Sliders (Cuban Burgers – Fritas), Yuengs and Wings,Cuban Pizzas, Cuban Sandwich, Steak Sandwich…more

Their Facebook photo post yesterday said

It is with bitter-sweet emotions that we announce the closing of Carlos Cafe in the Love’s Plaza in Rock Hill, SC. Our last day of operation is today, Thursday, 4/12/2012. We take with us fond and wonderful memories and we feel blessed and grateful for the warm welcome and support we received from our customers in the last four years. The Carlos Cafe family thanks you from the bottom of our hearts.

The good news is that on the early part of May 2012, we will be opening and relocating Carlos Cafe Cuban Cuisine Restaurant to the Tega Cay/Fort Mill area, and this new space will feature the best aspects of our previous space with some new elements to surprise our customers!

The new and improved Carlos Cafe has a much larger dining area with a full service bar, as well as an outdoor seating area to enjoy your Cuban meals, drinks and cigars. The new space will afford us the opportunity to provide events such as live music, DJ’s, open mic and Kareoke nights, salsa lessons, dancing and much more. We will be open seven days and serving our traditional Cuban cuisine as well as adding a few new Florida treats…

Carlos Cafe Facebook Page Link

The new Carlos Cafe Cuban Cuisine Restaurant is currently being upfitted and it is located in the Stonecrest Shopping Plaza by the Super-Walmart on Hwy 160 and the address is 1135 Stonecrest Blvd., Tega Cay, SC 29708.

” Haben Sie Hunger”

Did you know there is a German deli located on Hwy 160 in Fort Mill? I just had a deli sandwich called the Tavern Special at the Bavaria Deli which is located in the Fort Mill Gateway Commons on Hwy 160. It was a great sandwich! The sandwich consisted of a roll with prosciutto, lettuce, mozzarella cheese, tomato, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt/pepper for $4.95.

The Bavaria Deli claims to be a German Specialties store with meats, sausages, cold cuts, cheese, krauts, mustard’s, pickles, jams, honey, tea, coffee deserts and more. It’s a German butcher-shop and a great lunch take out shop. You’ll also find larger meals like German meatballs, stuffed pork chops, goulash soup, stuffed pot roast and more. And if you like Bratwurst, this is the place to come. They also cater.

The Bavaria Deli opened in July 2011 and is owned by Anna & Stephan Stamm originally from Germany. Oddly enough when I asked some of the neighboring businesses how long had the deli been open, the repsone was a few months. I have been to the Gateway Commons several times the past year and I have not noticed the deli. I believe Stickland’s was in the space before the deli. I am glad I finally took notice of the deli and stopped in to try a sandwich.

Here are a few reviews listed on Yelp!

“This is a GEM! Tucked away in a shopping center, most people would drive by without even considering going inside. What a mistake!”

“INCREDIBLE! Great quality and selection. I cannot pronounce most of it but it is all great.”

The Bavaria Deli is open Tuesday – Saturday 9am -6pm.at 2000 Hwy 160 West – Fort Mill, SC 29708. Find them on the web at bavariadeli.net

“Auf Wiedersehen!”

Several news sources including the Rock Hill Herald reported this week, Novant Health will hire 150 people to work in their Fort Mill data processing facility to support their new medical records system. Novant claims the new medical records system will create a better record link system between their physicians offices, hospitals, labs, and billing offices.

The new Fort Mill positions (primarily IT) are expected to be filled by mid March. For job openings at Novant see their website at www.novanthealthcareers.org or www.mctinc.com/novant/.  If you don’t recognize the name Novant, they operate Presbyterian Hospitals in our area.

On November 1, College Board released their 2nd annual AP (Advance Placement Program) District Honor Roll. The Honor roll recognized 367 U.S. and Canada public school districts that simultaneously achieved increases in access to AP® courses for a broader number of students and also maintained or improved the rate at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam. The Second Annual AP Honor Roll is made up of only those school districts that are simultaneously expanding opportunity and improving performance.

The Fort Mill School District has achieved the AP Honor Roll for years 2011 and 2012. The Fort Mill School District is one of 2 South Carolina school districts that made the honor roll. Laurens County School District is the other South Carolina school district on the honor roll

College Board was founded in 1900 and is a not-for-profit membership organization committed to excellence and equity in education and connects students to college success and opportunity. College Board is well known for their SAT college entrance exam.

I saw a post on Toys For Joy’s Facebook wall today that they are in need of more toys. Toys For Joy is a Fort Mill SC Toy drive program by Kelly Lavallee. November 29th and 30th are registration days for recipients  to receive toys and Kelly’s post indicates she is seeing heavy registration of children needing  assistance for Christmas Toys this year.

The Toy distribution day is Sat., Dec. 10, 2011: 9-11am at LifePointe Christian Church on 2266 Deerfield Dr. Fort Mill, SC 29715.  On  the 10th, not only do parents receive the gifts for children, but parents and children also enjoy free food and refreshments! Kids enjoy a visit from the Chick-fil-A cow, bounce house fun, face painting, Christmas crafts and more!

Toys For Joy NEEDS Toy Sponsors and Volunteers for distribution day set up and the event. For more informtion go to Toys For Joy Website or email at ToysForJoyFM@yahoo.com.

The following are “Angel” pick up points and toy drop off points:

1. Chick-fil-A Baxter:
Address: 1600 Hwy 160, Fort Mill SC, 29708
Phone: (803) 578-4030 (Closed on Sundays)

2. Del Taco, Rock Hill:
Address: 2476 Cherry Rd., Rock Hill, SC
Phone: (803) 980-7151

3. Lifepointe Christian Church:
(Beside Knights’ Stadium in Fort Mill.)
Address: 2266 Deerfield Dr., Fort Mill, SC 29715
Phone:  (803) 802-8500

4. USA Tire and Auto Care:
Address: 100 Fort Mill Square.  Just off Doby’s Bridge Road/Tom Hall St.
Phone: (803) 548-2055

WCNC reporter Tony Burbeck’s story on Nov 15th, 2011 has confirmed our story back in September 2010  (Is Publix Grocery Coming To Fort Mill SC)  that Publix’s grocery will build a 49,000 sq ft store on the corner of Pleasant Rd and Gold Hill Rd in the Fort Mill Township near Tega Cay  SC (York County).

Publix also announced it will build a store on Hwy 521 near Dolby’s Bridge Rd in Indian Land in Lancaster County SC.  

With the new grocery stores opening in late 2012 or early 2013, comes approximately 100 jobs for each store. See Reporter Burbeck’s video story below.

Pendleton Village Shopping Center across form Baxter Village is seeing new life besides Lowes Home Improvement. Baxter Bunch Playhouse opened its doors on Monday 11/14/2011.

The Playhouse  leased 9,129 sq ft of retail space at the Pendleton Village Shopping Center, 1504 Carolina Place Dr,  next to Lowes Home Improvement on Hwy 160 and I 77 in Fort Mill SC. Their slogan is “Where Fun and Good Health Collide!” and offers programs like:

• Kid Fitness Classes
• Art Lessons
• Birthday Parties
• School field trips
• Healthy Living tips
• Adult/Teen fitness
• Childhood obesity initiative

They are open M-Thursday 10 to 7:30 Weekdays , 9 to 8 on Fridays and Saturdays, and Noon to 6 on Sundays.

Children 3-12 are $9.95

See their Facebook Page  and Twitter Post:

Baxter’s Bunch PlayhouseBaxter’s Bunch Playhouse is NOW OPEN! Come see us today from 10-7:30! 22 hours ago · 8 likes · 0 comments

Here is a  great reason to consider moving to Fort Mill SC. Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA) has once again received an award from the Charlotte Business Journal as one of the “Best Places to Work” in the Charlotte area.

Just so you know, Fort Mill SC is just minutes south of Charlotte and considered part of the Charlotte Metro. Continental Tire moved its headquarters to Lancaster County SC (Near Fort Mill SC) in March of 2009. For more info, see our post about the Continental Tire HQ move. 

CTA was recognized as the ninth best place to work in the greater Charlotte area. The award recognizes companies with benefits, policies and practices that are among the area’s best. The annual evaluation of the work environment is based on employee surveys, conducted by a third party. CTA was also ranked as the ninth Best Place to Work in the Large Business category by the Charlotte Business Journal in 2010.

So why is Continental Tire a great place to work? According to Continental Tire’s press release:

“Continental Tire the Americas is a great place to work because of our people,” said Jochen Etzel, Chief Executive Officer, CTA. “The fact that we have been recognized for this prestigious award two years in a row, and that this award is based on employee feedback, makes this recognition very special.”

“We’ve worked hard to create a work environment that values employees’ contributions and provides them with outstanding careers at Continental,” Etzel said. “In addition, our business continues to grow, and we are very excited about welcoming new employees to our headquarters over the next several years.”

CTA’s headquarters in Lancaster County is home to nearly 400 employees. The building opened in 2009. Due to the significant growth in the CTA business, Continental has been hiring additional employees at a steady pace.

On October 6, 2011, CTA announced an investment of more than $4 million to expand its Lancaster County, S.C. headquarters. The investment will provide for a 16,000 square foot addition to the headquarters location, bringing the total size of the building to 91,000 square feet. The investment also includes the creation of 80 new jobs over the next four years.

Last Tuesday night, the Fort Mill School Board voted to delay the opening of the new elementary school number 8 (Gold Hill Rd near Tega Cay) until 2014. See an earlier post about FM elementary school 8 planned to open 2o12.

The board also voted to move up the opening of the 9th elementary school near the Massey community on Doby’s Bridge Road to the same year 2014.

The Board’s sited reason for the open date changes are:

1. Cost saving advantages on construction and opening the 2 new schools at the same time.
2. Although there is an enrollment freeze at Gold Hill Elementary and and soon to be Orchard Park, there is still room at other Fort mill Elementary schools. The district wants to maximize the space at all schools and not open a new school before it is needed. Of course this means some new elementary students may have to go to a school that is in another part of town for a while. Fort Mill School District’s current elementary school facility capacity is 6,300. The district is currently at 5106 Students.
3. Redraw the district lines once for the simultaneous opening of the 2 new schools rather then twice in separate years.

Looking for Fall Festival Fun in the Fort Mill area? There are several Fall Festivals to take part in this weekend and next.

Ann Springs Close Greenway and Springs Farm Fall Festival & Corn Maze

Horse rides, hay rides, kids hay mazes, pedal carts, kayaking and canoeing, arts and crafts, and more

Oct 28 Fri 6-10PM, Oct 29 Saturday 10am-10pm, Oct 30 Sunday 1pm-6pm – Click for more info

Tega Cay Fall Festival

Bands, hay rides, arts and crafts on display, Kids zones (jump rides), food

Tega Cay Golf and Conference Center Oct 29 Saturday 10am-6pm Click for more info

Fort Mill Fall Festival

Trick or Treat down Main Street, music, costume contests and more.

Oct 31 Monday 5pm-7pm

Baxter Village 11th Annual Fall Festival & Market Day

Hay rides, moon bounces, slides, food, music, shopping, games, estimated 160 boths, and more

Nov 5th, Saturday 12pm-6pm

Update 11/14/11 – Tenders has closed

Here are some tweets about the closing…

PDQ Restaurant in Gray Stone Crossing Shopping Center in Tega Cay (Hwy 160 between Dam Rd and Stonecrest Blvd) has changed its name to Tenders Fresh Food. PDQ or now Tenders, opened last September 2010 with a fresh food concept and menu consisting of hand-breaded chicken tenders, chicken and turkey sandwiches (prepared grilled or crispy), hand-cut fresh fries, fresh squeezed lemonade, milkshakes and a variety of salads. See last years post What-is-the-pdq-fresh-food-fast-restaurant-in-tega-cay.

On A October 9 2011 press release, Tenders Fresh Food located in Cornelius, NC, is pleased to announce that its current sister location in Tega Cay, SC, will be taking on the same name and corporate culture dedicated to community service.

Why the name change? According to President of Operations Steve Erickson, Tenders had a difficult time branding itself and finding their identity as PDQ or “People Dedicated to Quality.”, “The problem was that people couldn’t figure out who we were. The local citizens confused PDQ with other restaurant concepts and our name was not indicative of what we specialize in.” This change, along with the emphasis on community contribution in the form of fundraising, full-service catering and providing healthy lunches to local schools, is what the Company believes will help them flourish.

Tenders in Tega Cay offers employee appreciation discounts for other great local Companies, frequently do fundraising nights for local schools, charities and churches, and offer healthier catering options including: grilled tenders, raw vegetables, salads and fruits.

Congratulations goes out to the the Fort Mill High School Marching Band for a job well done. The FMHS Band On Saturday October 15, won every award that they could in Akron Ohio including the winner and Regional BOA Champion.

The Oct 15th 2011 Akron Bands Of America completion consisted of 22 bands competing from 8 states. This is the first time the Fort Mill Band has won 1st place at the  BOA Regional Championship. The previous highest finish was 2nd place. 

The Fort Mill HS Band buses arrived back in Fort Mill Sunday evening as were greeted by an escorted by the local fire and police department.  At the FMHS school, parents and supporters gathered to cheer on the students for their achievement. Read more at the bands website at bands-of-america-akron-regional-results.

Fort Mill School District Central Office is moving next Spring 2012. A new construction notice sign was installed Wednesday signalling the start of the interior construction process for the new Fort Mill School District Central Office.

The new offices will be located at 2229 Deerfield Drive in the same development area (Gold Hill Commons) as the current Knights baseball stadium.

View Larger Map

The are two exiting “shell” office buildings with a combine square footage of  34,000 on 2.92 acres. The FMSD purchased the buildings May 2011 for approx 3.380 million (per York County online tax info). The construction work will be primarily focused on the interior of the office buildings with a hope to move in during the Spring break period next spring.

From York County SC Online GIS

Next to the new central office, work should begin in about a month on a new school bus transportation facility to house and maintain approx 150 school buses.  Read the Jan 2011 FMSD press release with information on these 2 land acquisition projects and a new  Middle School next to Pleasant Knoll Elementary School.  FMSD-News-Release-January-2011-Land-Acquisition

A certified letter was mailed by DHEC to all 3 Fort Mill hospital applicants today. The letter said,

“It is the decision of this Department that a Certificate of Need be issued to Carolinas Medical Center –Fort Mill for the construction of a 64 bed general acute care hospital to be located in York County SC.”

The letter went on to say CMC has best met all of the criteria in the community need documentation.

My question is, is this their final answer?

If you remember, DHEC awarded the Fort Mill Hospital need to Piedmont Medical Center in 2006. See my Jan 2008 post about the hospital war.  Two-New-Hospitals-In-Fort-Mill?  Both CMC and Presbyterian Hospital appealed the decision and last year DHEC reopened the Certificate of Need process for a second time with a different decision announced today.

The DHEC decision becomes final 15 days after the notice period. If the decision is not appealed again, CMS will begin plans to build new 64 bed hospital on 20 acres in the southwest corner of 1-77 and Sutton road exit 83.

More details at the DHEC site

Good news for parent. School summer is officially over August 17, 2011. The Fort Mill School District starts back to school Wednesday 17th. The 2011-2012 has been finalized and you can download it here =>2011-2012 FMSD final approved Feb 15 2011.

Many of the elementary meet the teacher and middle school open houses are Monday August 15. The new Banks Trail Middle school is official open this year. Banks trail has a slightly different open house schedule see at Fort Mill School.

If your kids are taking the bus, the district has a bus transpartation page at Bus Information.

We wish all of the Fort Mill Students a successful and rewarding 2011-2012 school year!

Good news for the Fort Mill Township, Red Ventures plans to hire 500 people before the end of 2011. The Fort Mill SC based Red Ventures is holding a Sales Job Fair  Thursday, August 18th, 10am – 1pm & 6pm – 7pm at thier headquarters at 1101 521 Corporate Center Drive Fort Mill, SC 29707.

Red Ventures is anticipating a large turn out so time slots have been set up in which you can register for via their website at www.redventures.com/events.Although The August 18th Job Fair is centered on filling sales positions, Red Ventures plans to hire across all areas of the company in the next several months.See open positions in Fort Mill at www.redventures.com/careers-corp

Red Ventures is a direct marketing company who specialize in marrying online marketing, telephone sales, and designing technology infrastructure to support their marketing efforts for clients.

Wednesday May 4th 2011 is the official kick off of this years South Carolina Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill. There are 4 days worth of events in Fort Mill. Below is the schedule of planned events:

Wednesday May 4, 2011 – South Carolina Strawberry Festival GOLF TOURNAMENT. Registration begins at 8AM – Shotgun start at 9:30AM then Buffet lunch, award presentation.

Thursday May 5, 2011 – South Carolina Strawberry Festival PAGEANT, 7-9PM, Teen Division (13-18), Miss Division (19-29), Mrs. Division (Married, 21-56).

Friday May 6, 2011 – South Carolina Strawberry FESTIVAL at Walter Y. Elisha Park is 6-11PM The Strawberry JaM! which includes:

• Bands – See Band Line Up
• Food & Beverage Vendors
• Arts & Crafts Vendors
• Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company Kids Zone and more!
• Meet the Strawberry Queens

Saturday – May 7, 2011

5K Run – Anne Springs Close Greenway Gerald T. Parks Memorial Foundation 5K starts 8AM, 5K Walk/Run to benefit Dorn VA Medical Hospital.

South Carolina Strawberry FESTIVAL at Walter Y. Elisha Park, 11AM-9PM The Strawberry Jam!

• Bands – See Band Line Up
• Food & Beverage Vendors
• Arts & Crafts Vendors
• Rock Hill Coca-Cola Bottling Company Kids Zone
• Piedmont Medical Center Healthy Hometown
• Meet & greet with The Strawberry Queens
• Recipe Contest
• Ice Cream Eating Contests
• Strawberry Pie Eating Contests
• Petting Zoo
• Hay Rides
• Pig Races
• Car Show 10 am – 5 pm at Calhoun Street Park
• Fireworks @ 8:45PM

And to help raise money for Fort Mill Middle School Sports, The boosters are having a Corn Hole Tournament both Friday and Saturday. See their website to register http://www.fortmillathletics.org/fundraisers/corn-hole-tournament/

Last Thursday March 24th, 2011, Toronto based Mood Media announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Muzak Holdings LLC (“Muzak”), a privately-held company based in Fort Mill SC, for 345 million.

Muzak, which started in 1934 playing phonograph records for hotels and restaurants, currently delivers its product to subscribers over satellite radio. Muzak relocated to Fort Mill SC in 2000 from Seattle. The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2009 and then successfully emerged from bankruptcy last year after restructuring its debt.

Mood Media uses an Internet-based delivery system and operates an international in-store media and music retail business with an extensive geographic footprint and a broad client base including several multinational blue chip organizations.

So will Mood Media shut down the Fort Mill Headquarters after the acquisition is estimated to be approved in the 2nd quarter? Lorne Abony, CEO & Chairman of Mood Media Corporation, said:

“Over the past five years, Mood Media has transformed the in-store media industry by offering unparalleled innovation and convenience to our customers across the world. We now have the opportunity to extend this legacy to a world-recognized brand and create a truly global leader with U.S. headquarters in the Charlotte area.”

The Mood Media Press Release further said:

“Mood Media intends to maintain a significant presence in the Charlotte, North Carolina area, with its U.S. headquarters in Fort Mill, South Carolina.”

The comments seem to be positive for Fort Mill based Muzak employees. Time will tell how many jobs will actually remain in Fort Mill after the acquisition transition.