Despite a few unexpected setbacks that coincided with a January winter storm, the new ABC store in Buxton is on track to be completed by the spring of 2025, with stakeholders hoping for an April opening date.
Fields Scarborough was one of the original planners of the island’s current ABC store at the Osprey Shopping Center in Buxton, which opened to the public in 1987. Current chairman of the Dare County ABC Board, Scarborough says that the new store will help reduce supply shortages for restaurants as well as everyday customers.
“Hatteras Island outdrew the old store years ago,” said Scarborough. “We’ve always had difficulty with the small space. It’s our number three store on the Outer Banks – Nags Head is our number one – and when you add mixed beverage sales [for local restaurants] it’s just too small for the demand.”
Sales from the ABC store primarily go back into the community. 15% of net retail profits go to incorporated towns within the county, while the remainder goes to the Dare County General Fund, with 42.5% earmarked for the Dare County Department of Social Services.
“We’re self-supportive. We give all our money back to the county,” said Scarborough.
The expanded space of the new ABC store in Buxton, which includes ample warehouse space where stockpiles of in-demand brands can be stored, suggests that those profits are going to grow.
The new ABC store is modeled after the current store in Kitty Hawk, and is around 6,000 square feet in area. However, due to Hatteras Island’s routine brushes with high winds and coastal flooding, there are a few differences from the Kitty Hawk design.
The new Buxton store does not have a lightkeeper’s tower, has a regular roof as opposed to a flat roof, and has fewer windows, due to wind-driven rain concerns that could result in extra repairs down the road. The store is also elevated, with storm drains to dispel any pools of water before they can leak into the building.
Finally, there are a few small and almost unnoticeable touches to cater to the Hatteras Island clientele, such as a short sidewalk that connects the ABC Store with the adjacent Dollar General parking lot.
“When Mr. Jennette sold us [the original 1987 ABC store], his daughter had a hair shop on the end, and I’d notice that some of the older ladies who were leaving the hair shop would look both ways to see who’s riding down the road, and if no one was looking, they’d run into liquor store,” said Scarborough. “So people can kind of do the same thing and park at the Dollar General to go to the new store.”
There are still a number of small tasks to tackle before the new store can open to the public.
Now that the structure and parking area is complete, shelves, displays, and the checkout areas are in the process of being installed, as well as a rack system for the warehouse area. A security system will also need to be set up before the store can take deliveries of stock to load the shelves and the warehouse, and there’s a punch list of electrical projects and other small items to finalize, too.
Though not official, project organizers are eyeing a possible April 1 or May 1 opening date. Once open, the 1987 Osprey Shopping Center store – the oldest ABC store on the Outer Banks – will close.
“We had some setbacks with the winter storm, but we are still on schedule to open in April or May, and we’re hoping for April,” said Scarborough.
The Buxton ABC store serves all seven villages from Rodanthe to Hatteras, and currently, there are no plans to add a second store on Hatteras Island, but this is a potential option down the road.
“We’ve looked at a second ABC store in the past, but by the time you staff and employ people, it wasn’t feasible. [The costs] got on the high end,” said Scarborough in an earlier interview. “But it’s not out of the question – it would just be as to where we would put one in the future.”
