Chipotle plans to open a new location near Coastal Carolina University very soon

A new Chipotle is moving into Conway right off of Highway 501.

General Manager of the Coastal Grande Chipotle, Cameron Diaz, said the tentative opening date is Aug. 31 but that date could be subject to change.

The new Chipotle is located at 2290 Highway 501 East in the Tradewinds plaza along with Food Lion and Egg’s Up Grill.

Diaz said they are looking to hire an entire crew to staff the new location but are also open to transferring existing employees.

In 2018, Diaz said the Chipotle on North King’s highway was closed due to a lack of sales, and since then Chipotle has been wary of opening a new location.

“A couple of years ago, Chipotle took a dive in sales and they wound up closing the one on North Kings Highway and that kinda put a big, bad target on the Myrtle Beach Chipotles back so they were kind of iffy on even opening a new one,” Diaz said.

Diaz said the rise in sales during COVID is what led the company to make plans for a new restaurant in Conway.

She said the Coastal Grande location is struggling to keep up with the heavy volume of tourists and college students, especially since this location is the closest to Coastal Carolina University.

“They realized that the area out in Conway where they are building it is an awesome area that is closer for college students, closer for Conway residents, Galivants Ferry, and Aynor area residents as well,” Diaz said. “So yea definitely the Conway location will take some pressure off the other locations.”