It’s like that eight-year-old pair of Birkenstocks you’ll wear with just about anything in your closet. Doesn’t matter that they’re a little beat up, or that you might have a different pair or 10 on the shelf that would go better with those new khakis. Those shoes just feel right.

And that’s probably the best analogy I can use to describe my first up-close experience with The Market Common.

Except it’s not worn-out. It’s brand-spanking-new.

It’s already popular, as evidenced by the crowds that defied the rainy weather and flocked there the first few days after last week’s soft opening.

It’s unfamiliar, and unlike anything else you’ve seen along Ocean Boulevard or throughout Myrtle Beach.

But you know what? Like that pair of your most comfortable shoes, it just feels right.

To me, it doesn’t scream commercialism. It just says, “Hey, you can hang here any time … (more pics after the jump)

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The South Carolina Department of Insurance has heard you. Now, let’s see if the homeowners insurance industry follows suit.

With last week’s announcement by state Director of Insurance Scott Richardson that South Carolina’s coastal “wind pool” territory will be expanded yet again, another important step has been taken in restoring a sense of order to the ongoing issue of skyrocketing homeowners insurance premiums.

In the short term, the measure will provide immediate relief for property owners whose wind and hail damage coverage has either been cancelled or prohibitively restricted in recent months by their private insurance providers. For the longer haul, the move has been praised by many local officials as a pragmatic approach that will provide incentive for private insurers to restore such coverage to the area, with renewed availability and competition ultimately driving costs down to more reasonable levels.

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First things first: our heartfelt congratulations to everyone involved with the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” project in the Myrtle Beach area this past week. From the show’s producers and workers to the businesses that donated materials to the hundreds of dedicated volunteers who banded together on behalf of a deserving family in need, it was truly a magical experience.

OK. Now, a question:

What’s next?

As cynical or sarcastic as I can be from time to time, that’s really not my intent when I ask this. Nor am I trying, in any way, to minimize the wonderful deed done here. I guess this is less a question and more a challenge – to seize a unique opportunity that this experience leaves us, long after the ABC production crews have moved on to the next project.

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