City: Myrtle Beach, SC

Category: Shopping

Telephone: (843) 444-3200

Description: Broadway at the Beach is the centerpiece of the Burroughs & Chapin Company’s plan for the future of Myrtle Beach. The complex already features more than 100 shops; a live-entertainment theater; a multiscreen IMAX theater; dozens of restaurants, including the Hard Rock Cafe; and a nightclub street named Celebrity Square that features well-known musical acts and signed handprints in cement from more than 30 celebrities, such as Donna Summers, Johnny Mathis, Barry Manilow, and Wayne Newton.Trying to provide an entertainment venue, a restaurant district, a complex of high-energy nightclubs, and a quaint shopping village (complete with the Disney technique of three-quarter-scale building) seemingly would be an unobtainable mixture of tasks, but Burroughs & Chapin is pulling it off well. And despite the initial failure and closure of 30 or more stores, the crowds keep coming—and new merchants keep opening.In 2007, Burroughs & Chapin closed down the much beloved Pavilion Amusement Park (some believe to drive more people to Broadway) and relocated some of the favorite attractions to Broadway at the Beach. The Pavilion Nostalgia Park at the corner of 21st Avenue and US 17 Bypass includes most of the longtime favorites, such as the Herschell-Spillman carousel, the teacup ride, and the German Baden band organ, built in 1900.Do more people visit Broadway at the Beach for the shopping and the restaurants, or is it the huge attractions like Ripley’s Aquarium (see the Attractions chapter) and activities like the Fourth of July and Halloween parties that the management throws? Fortunately, no one has to choose, and there is enough to draw everyone, from the right jeans at Gap to collectibles from Sports Heroes. The shopping is divided into five districts: Caribbean Village, Charleston Boardwalk, New England Village East, New England Village West, and Heroes Harbor. With a range of stores from Kute Kids to Fresh Produce and Victoria’s Secret to Lids, Broadway is a specialty store extravaganza, so be sure to bring your birthday and Christmas present list along. In addition to the shopping, Broadway at the Beach has a fine selection of restaurants that, in addition to the popular seafood theme, also have specialty themes such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, sports and rock stars, movie memorabilia, and race cars. These restaurants also have some of the most popular gift shops around. (Check out the Restaurants chapter for details on the food.)