If you're thinking Myrtle Beach is just for, well going to the beach, think again. The area has become a shopping "Mecca" for bargain hunters, and offers a variety, from massive outlet malls to themed shopping villages to upscale boutiques. Nearly every major clothing, department, and dry-goods store has an outlet here, including Saks, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers, so is it any wonder that so many people come here just to shop?

The original outlet mall, Waccamaw Pottery on U. S. Highway 501 just west of the Intracoastal Waterway, was an innovation in the late 1980's. A massive warehouse filled with house wares at great prices, it drew shoppers from all over the region. Today, it's called Waccamaw Factory Shoppes and offers an indoor mall-type atmosphere for such stores as Burlington Brands, Dress Barn and Easy Spirit. Most of the action, however, has moved farther west on U. S. 501 and north on U. S. 17 to the sprawling Tanger Outlets. Offering such name brand stores as Liz Claiborne, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, and Banana Republic, the Tanger Outlet centers give the cliche "shop 'til you drop" new meaning.

Of course, it wouldn't be the beach without beach shops and there are plenty of them all along the coast. These neon trimmed, candy colored buildings are filled to the brim with swim suits, beach chairs, rafts, umbrellas, towels, flip flops, souvenirs, sunglasses, sun screen, and lots of shell jewelry. It seems like every city block has a Wings, Waves, Eagles or Pacific and prices are competitive.

With so many stores and so little time, it's probably best to break your options down by geographical area. It may take you several trips to cover the 60 miles of shopping on the Grand Strand, but here's a start.

Calabash and Little River
A trip to the Grand Strand isn't complete without a visit to Callahan's of Calabash. A nautical but nice shopping village in the heart of Calabash, North Carolina, Callahan's offers three shops in one; Calabash Nautical Gifts, Pea Landing Mercantile and St. Nick's Nacks Christmas Shop. They have over 35,000 square feet of gifts, souvenirs, confections, home and garden items and one of the best assortments of Christmas ornaments around.

Just south of Callahan's is Ragpatch Row, the location of one of the area's long time staples, Victoria's Ragpatch. Victoria's carries top line women's clothing and accessories. Other shops in the Row include the Mole Hole gift shop, Art Plus Gallery and Caffe Latte, a casual restaurant.

Continue south on Beach Drive and you'll cross the state line into Little River, South Carolina. Here you'll find Toby's World Gifts. Located in a circa-1912 two storey building, Toby's World is filled with gifts, collectibles, home decor items, gourmet foods and more. The old time atmosphere takes you back to beach days gone by.

North Myrtle Beach
Main Street and Ocean Boulevard are where you'll find unique shops in North Myrtle Beach. Shag clubs and ice cream shops abound in a small town atmosphere, and you'll enjoy browsing in the many locally owned boutiques. Cameron Diego at the Galleria offers casual style clothing and home accent pieces, while Hope Taylor & Company has names such as Brighton and Tommy Bahama and offers original art, Waterford crystal and gifts for men.

Back on U. S. Highway 17 you'll find Barefoot Landing, one of the area's major shopping, dining and attractions venues. Built around a 27-acre freshwater lake, and adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway, Barefoot Landing offers shoppers a collection of more than 100 retail shops as well as activities to amuse the non-shoppers in your group. Here you'll find the Alabama Theater, the House of Blues, and Alligator Adventure as well as Dress Barn, Easy Spirit, White House/Black Market, and the Leather Outlet, along with dozens of boutiques and specialty shops.

Myrtle Beach
Billing itself the place "where Myrtle Beach comes to life," Broadway at the Beach is an attraction in itself. Located just off U. S. Highway 17, it offers 350 acres of shops, restaurants, nightlife, and attractions. With over 100 specialty shops set in themed areas such as the Charleston Boardwalk and the Caribbean Village, Broadway is home to such stores as Victoria's Secret, Harley Davidson, and Build-a-Bear Workshop. Here, too, you'll find the New Orleans style night club district known as Celebrity Square, Myrtle Waves Water Park, Ripley's Aquarium and much more.

Coastal Grand Mall is located off U. S. 17 Bypass just north of the Myrtle Beach Airport, and has over 130 stores including Belk, Dillard's, Sears, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Bed Bath & Beyond. The newest jewel in the Grand Strand shopping crown is Market Common. Billing itself as the new "downtown" of Myrtle Beach, this upscale shopping venue offers name brand retail stores, offices and town homes within a beach ball toss of Ocean Boulevard's beaches and nightlife.

With hundreds of individual shops, mini-malls and shopping plazas to choose from, you can't possibly cover them all, but do try to include this Myrtle Beach icon. The Gay Dolphin on North Ocean Boulevard at 9th Avenue has been a Grand Strand institution for more than 50 years. It boasts over 60,000 items from post cards to collectibles, and is divided into "coves" that are actually small shopping areas within the larger store offering specific items. The Collector's Cove offers Hummel figurines, clowns, gnomes and more. Other coves offer toys, golf items and nautical gifts. The Gay Dolphin takes up a city block from Ocean Boulevard to the oceanfront and is a little piece of Myrtle Beach nostalgia in itself.

Whether you're shopping for gifts to take back home, or for designer labels at bargain prices, you're sure to find what you're looking for. As they say, shopping is Grand on the Strand.

Myrtle Beach Shopping: From Outlet Malls to Upscale Boutiques, copyright 2008, Pamela Watson. No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without written permission from the author.