SURFSIDE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — A well-known bait-and-tackle shop in Murrells Inlet will be one of the businesses on the new pier under construction in Surfside Beach.

Perry’s Bait & Tackle signed a five-year lease on Thursday, the town said in a news release. The businesses’ shop in Murrells Inlet, which opened in 1954, will remain open.

The owners of the shop, Liam, Aden and Bella, are the youngest owners of a bait shop in South Carolina, according to the shop’s website.

When their mother, Jessica, was killed in 2017, the shop was put into a conservatorship for them, just as she wanted.

Photos courtesy of Surfside Beach

Exactly when the pier will be open to the public has been a source of much discussion in recent months. Officials are still working to finalize an opening date, but Surfside Beach Fire Chief Rob Clemons told News13 last month that the “substantial completion date” had been pushed back to early August. 

There will be multiple businesses on the pier. The town announced in November that Painter’s Homemade Ice Cream, which first opened in 1952 and is well-known along the Grand Strand, had signed a 10-year lease to operate on the pier. It was previously announced that The Surf Diner will also be located on the pier.

The concrete pier has been under construction since December 2020. It replaces the former pier, which was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.

* * *

Dennis Bright is a digital producer at News13. Dennis is a West Virginia native and graduate of Marshall University. He has won copyediting and journalism awards in West Virginia and Ohio. Follow Dennis on Twitter and read more of his work here.