Young Plantations opens new retail store off I-95

If you’re going

FLORENCE — When you first enter the new Young Plantations retail store, the first thing you notice is the scent of fresh baked goods.
“We are doing something a little different at this flagship store,” owner Tom Coker said. “Since Florence is our headquarters, we felt it important to make this kind of investment in Florence.”
The Young Plantations Outlet is located just up the street from the old store at 551 W. Lucas St., but Coker said the new store is positioned in a better location.
“It’s at least four times larger than the other store,” he said. “That one probably can fit into a corner of this one. What we tried to do at this 7,000-square-foot store is appeal more to local residents than ever before, but we also know that those people coming off the highway want those pecans.”
The new location also houses an ice cream shop and bakery. Veteran restaurateur Benton Dargan, owner and founder of Benton’s Restaurant, will be making fresh items right in front of customers along with special orders and ready-to-cook goods.
“I’ve been in the restaurant business for 25 years, and my favorite thing to do is breads and cakes,” Dargan said. “I’ll be baking things daily, and they’ll be the same baked goods that we had (at Benton’s).”
Coker said he prided himself in having a large variety of Southern-based products with many of them being made in South Carolina. Some of those items include Southern Sunset Tea, Low Country Cheddar Biscuits, Gullah Gourmet brand foods from Charleston, Wholly Cow Ice Cream from Charleston and Island Coffee from Ravenel.
The store opened Friday, but will have its official grand opening at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Coker and Dargan both agreed that business was better than expected during the past few days.
“I started baking Saturday, and we sold everything I made, and that included chocolate cake, banana nut cake and my famous Kahlua cake,” Dargan said. He said he also will be baking sour cream pound cakes, pecan pie muffins, sweet potato cinnamon rolls, pecan pies and cheese biscuits.
“We’ve been presently surprised with the response thus far to the new building,” Coker said. “We get a lot of people from throughout the country and probably 75 percent of sales are during the holiday when people come traveling through. We moved the store closer to the highway because of this, and so far it’s turned out to be a good idea.”
Coker acquired the retail and catalog business of Young Plantations three years ago. In that time, he’s opened a year-round store in Fort Mill and seasonal stores in Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach. He said he hopes the Florence store will be a catalyst for similar locations.

If you’re going

What: Young Plantations’ Florence flagship store grand opening

When: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. All products in the store will be 20 percent off regular price

Where: 2005 Babar Lane at U.S. 52, Florence