‘We would go bankrupt.’ SC town’s new beach rental monopoly might kill a local business

Claire and Derek Calhoun envisioned their North Myrtle Beach rental service as a perfect nest egg once he retired from the military.

Their Cherry Grove Beach Gear offers everything from umbrellas and strollers to brightly colored boogie boards — and until this week, customers could opt to have their items set up and ready for use once they arrived at the ocean.

A recent change to North Myrtle Beach’s longstanding commerce rules means only the city or a franchised vendor can set up rental equipment on the sand. Without express permission from City Hall, private companies like the Calhouns’ lose that opportunity — a convenience that many of their customers use.

Claire Calhoun said they twice asked the city for an agreement — first being rejected in 2020 and then ignored since making a second ask last month. She said installing rental gear for beachgoers is a significant part of Cherry Grove’s success.

“I’m just disappointed that our city government, who I had a lot of respect for in the past, who I’ve spoken incredibly highly of and have been great people up to this point, I’m just disappointed in the way this handled,” she said.

The company has used its Facebook page in recent days as a sounding board, with nearly 100 comments since June 28 from Cherry Grove Beach Gear customers supporting its business.

City leaders say rentals are an essential revenue stream that help keep taxes down and pay for lifeguards and beach patrols. In the 2022 budget, officials allocated $2.6 million in expected profits from umbrella and chair rentals, with an additional $10,000 from food and drink purchases.

Customers can rent umbrellas through the city for $30 a day each. It costs $20 for chairs. Weekly rates are between $80 and $120, while seasonal prices — Memorial Day through Labor Day — are $900 for residents and $1,800 for visitors.

“If private businesses are allowed to engage in concessions operations on the beach, it erodes the funding the source the city uses to provide these vital services,” the city said in a June 30 statement on its website. “This service helps to fund annual recurring costs associated with beach safety and the maintenance, nourishment, and cleaning of our beaches.”

Derek Calhoun disagrees.

“It’s not a city’s job to generate income. It is not a city’s job to quell a small business through bullying, threats and underhandedness because they are seen as a threat” to revenue, he told the City Council in a June 22 letter posted to the company’s social media. “After 20 years of service to my country, I just want to continue serving by being a business owner in this community and create and enjoyable experience for its visitors.”

Private commerce on the city’s beaches has been regulated since 1990, when officials first required vendors to obtain a franchise agreement.

Since then, the rules have been adjusted several times, most recently in 2010 when authorized hours, placement and size of shading devices and removal of equipment was written into the law.

City spokesman Donald Graham was not immediately available for comment, but North Myrtle Beach says on its website the most recent changes “does not stop a business owner from renting or selling beach wares online or off the beach.

“It does mean businesses cannot set those beach wares up on the beach. Business owners and managers are more than welcome to make financial arrangements and drop off the items at a home, a rental, or at one of the beach accesses.”

Cherry Grove Beach Gear, which refers any same-day requests to the city, has reservations booked through mid-September. Refunding all those orders because of the installation ban would financially ruin the company, Calhoun said.

“We would personally go bankrupt if we had to refund that money for rentals,” she said.