Charleston-based ‘c-store’ chain is first business to open in Camp Hall’s retail hub

A Charleston-based convenience store chain is the first retailer to open up and welcome customers at Santee Cooper’s Camp Hall industrial park.

Refuel will be open seven days a week at Avian Commons, the commercial center of the Berkeley County property.

Plans call for small businesses, food stops and other conveniences to serve on-site workers, residents and travelers in the region.

The new Refuel is at 309 Avian Pavilion Lane.

Marty Watson, Santee Cooper’s chief commercial officer, said the opening is a “significant step in the development of Camp Hall.”

“Bringing Refuel to the center of Avian Commons is just the beginning of delivering on our promise of creating a one-of-a-kind commerce park where people, nature and productivity connect,” Watson said. 

Refuel Operating Co. paid the state-owned utility $1.25 million in 2023 for a 1.14-acre parcel within the 6,800-acre former timber tract.

Refuel CEO Mark Jordan said he was pleased to be the first business to open at Avian Commons, and he noted the company “built a remarkably attractive store to compliment what we see as a first-class development.”

Camp Hall as created when Volvo announced in 2015 that it would build its only U.S. manufacturing plant at the site near Ridgeville. Santee Cooper bought the property from MeadWestvaco Corp. for $34.1 million.  

Camp Hall has been marketed as a turnkey industrial development that offers designated parcels with site-ready infrastructure. The project is still under construction but is expected to create 10,000 jobs upon completion. 

Refuel was founded in 2008 as a fuel distributor and convenience store. It now operates more than 200 stores in the Carolinas, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas.