Look Inside: The Market - Kiawah Island, SC

The Market
Owner: Kiawah Island

Opened: unknown

Cooperative: none
Location: 5480 Sea Forest Dr, Kiawah Island, SC

Photographed: January 2022

Kiawah Island is an upscale, private resort island and the main attraction is a large golf resort. The only grocery store of any kind within the gates of the island is The Market at Town Center, which is an interesting combination of convenience store and cafeteria. It seems to work quite well for what vacationers and residents are looking for. Plus, for large orders, I'm sure many stop at the Village Market by Harris Teeter just outside Kiawah Island.

This store appears to be owned by the resort, as are all the restaurants (and all the businesses...?) on Kiawah Island. It's also considered to be the most, um, affordable dining option on the island. Other options include The Ocean Room, where a 12oz New York Strip steak will cost you $75.

In the front of the store is some Kiawah Island merchandise, with a few tables of grocery items ranging from nonfood items (like HABA or paper goods) to simple groceries.

This section feels much like a high-end convenience store. I'm fairly certain I saw a Food Club branded product or two, which means they're likely supplied by Alex Lee. Or somebody goes up the street to KJ's and buys what they need...

So funny story about that. I know someone whose grandfather used to own a very small, old fashioned, service grocery store in I think Colorado. The town they were in was small, but also had an A&P. When someone would ask him if he had a product he knew he didn't have, he would say, wait a minute, let me look in the back. He'd go in the back, give his grandson some money and tell him to run out the back door to the A&P and buy the item, then mark it up a few cents and sell it to the customer.

In the back of the building, we have a very nice cafeteria-type food service operation, with pizza, sandwiches, soup, salads, and hot entrees. The food from what I sampled was quite good, and the dining room was surprisingly peaceful (likely due to the fact that, again, I was here off-season)...

And there's also outdoor seating around the building. A very nice little place on a pleasant island! Speaking of that, that describes the next place we're headed, although it's drastically different from this one. Come back tomorrow as we head over to Wadmalaw Island!