welcome!
Back in 1953, attorney William Ackerman, along with a couple of partners, bought a 120-acre parcel minutes from downtown that became South Windermere Center, one of Charleston's first planned communities.
Given its central location coupled with substantial post-war suburban growth, Ackerman believed that he could turn the former cabbage fields into a shopping destination. With a little luck and a lot of ingenuity, he convinced a grocery store, a drugstore, and a department store to serve as anchors. South Windermere Center quickly evolved into a bustling community West of the Ashley.
South Windermere Center
is the state’s oldest shopping center in continuous existence.
Many will recall with fondness some of Charleston’s favorite merchants once located here including, among others, Piggy Wiggly, Harris Drugs, Belk, Radio Shack, Hugeleys Office Supplies, Bookbag, Turky’s Towing, The Cinema, Ye Olde Fashioned Ice Cream, Open House, Louis Tannebaum Menswear, LeRoy’s Jewelers, Mr. Don’s Shoes, Jacobs Photo, and Med Deli.
Today some 40 businesses (most of them locally owned!) call South Windermere Center home. On any given day, the Center is filled with people who not only visit to shop, dine, or enjoy a service, but also to connect with family and friends. South Windermere Center has established itself as one of Charleston’s most beloved communities, and it not only serves to unite it, but to define it, with generations of patrons making South Windermere a part of their daily lives.
Welcome to West Ashley’s front porch.
