Oyster bar quietly opens in Myrtle Beach’s Market Common, expanding shopping center’s footprint

Chase Karacostas
·3 min read
1229 Shine, an oyster bar, officially opened in the Market Common on March 7 after a soft launch more than a month earlier.

A new oyster bar quietly joined the growing Market Common shopping center in Myrtle Beach last month.

1229 Shine opened its doors in early February for a soft opening while awaiting finishing touches including patio furniture.

The restaurant is tucked away in a corner of the Market Common yet to be touched by major retail or restaurants. But even with little marketing beyond a vibrant underwater seascape mural, the restaurant is packed almost every night.

The building the restaurant is in belonged to the U.S. Air Force before the military base that is now the Market Common closed.

“This is what makes a new development exciting to us!” Mary Pappas, marketing director for Collected, which owns 1229 Shine, said in an email. “To take a warehouse and turn it into this fresh, new restaurant and create sort of a new area for people to come to was a lot of our motivation and excitement.”

So far, most of the restaurant’s business has come through word of mouth, a manager at 1229 Shine said, but news spreads fast through the tight-knit Market Common neighborhood.

The restaurant greatly expands the Market Common’s seafood offerings. Other businesses in the area offer seafood as part of their menu, but none other than Co Sushi focus on seafood.

“Being in a Coastal area we felt like there was an opening in the current restaurant arena for a fresh oyster bar & eatery,” Pappas said in an email. “Having a go-to place for someone to grab a cocktail + oysters at the bar or a slider + a beer was a part of our vision.”

The menu features three varieties of oysters, appetizers like a cold crab dip and salmon cakes, sandwiches, fried seafood and salads.

1229 Shine joins the Market Common’s back-end in good company. Tidal Creek Brewhouse, open for a little more than a year and a half, started out much the same way, with most of its customers finding out about the business when they walked past or heard about it from friends, owner Dara Liberatore has said.

Tidal Creek is located just down the street from 1229 Shine, on the far side of the Market Common in an area still home to more parking lots than businesses. Like 1229 Shine, Tidal Creek was also converted into a thriving business from an old warehouse.

Many restaurants have struggled to find employees, especially since the pandemic began, but Pappas said that hasn’t been a problem for 1229 Shine.

“We have been super fortunate so far at Shine,” Pappas said in an email. “We think we have found a great team and are continuing to develop and grow.”

The restaurant’s grand opening was Monday, Pappas said. It is now officially open seven days a week 4-10 p.m. with a happy hour Monday-Friday 4-6 p.m. featuring select $5 drinks and discounted appetizers.

This is Collected’s second venture into the Market Common. The company also owns Co Sushi, which has been around for eight years, next door to the shopping center’s movie theater. Collected’s owner, Greg Bauer, has had a home in the Myrtle Beach area for years, Pappas said.

“The first restaurant he opened was in Charleston, SC and felt that its close neighbor, Myrtle Beach, would be a great fit for the next area to develop restaurants in,” Pappas said in an email.

1229 Shine won’t be Bauer’s last stop in the Market Common. Pappas said there are future restaurants planned, with more details to come soon.