Personal Injury Attorney in Conway, SC.

CONWAY, SC—A South Carolina city is celebrating after marking a major tourism milestone.

Conway City Administrator Adam Emrick told the city council on Monday that 2.8 million people visited downtown Conway last year.

“To put the number of 2.8 million into perspective, Hilton Head annually welcomes 2.5 million people,” he said.

“My optimistic but not unrealistic prediction for 2026 is that we're going to be very close to that 3 million number this year,” Emrick continued.

He also reminded council meeting attendees of his 2025 goal of 2 million visitors during the year.

“When I said that, I was being optimistic, but I was not being unrealistic,” he said.

The achievement of 2.8 million visitors exceeded his prediction “by 800,000 people. That is an increase of 15.7%,” he noted.

Conway decorates for several holidays, including Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day.

In recent years, they’ve sought to expand their Halloween decorating endeavors, even changing the city’s name for the season to the “City of Halloween.”

The city also marked a tourism achievement last year, with 450,000 people coming through downtown Conway in October alone.

Conway’s decorations, particularly for Halloween, get more extravagant each year—and the decorating budget has increased to account for it.

Emrick said the city is now spending about $225,000 a year for holiday decorating.

“And we entirely pay for the holidays out of our hospitality fee collection, which is a point-of-sale collection at restaurants and prepared food. So, we don't spend any property tax revenue. We don't spend any other tax revenue,” he explained in an interview last year.

Since ramping up holiday décor, Emrick said “we have seen our collections in just the downtown increase 20% year over year each year. And we're expecting another year like that.”

CONWAY, SC (WMBF) - serving the community since 1962, and for the first time, it

Donzelle’s Restaurant has been serving the community since 1962, and for the first time, it will not be open in the new year.

Regular customers expressed shock at the news of the closure.

“You know you feel at home when you’re here,” said Branden Bessant, a regular at Donzelle’s Restaurant.

The closure has been devastating for regulars who learned their go-to spot will be no more next week. Customers said they will miss more than just the food.

“I wanna cry right now, we miss this place,” said Andrea Larson. “We’re gonna miss this place. These people put out the most incredible pork you’ve ever had. Roast pork, and their country vegetables, and they have all good food here.”

Larson said she and her family have driven over from Myrtle Beach every week to eat at Donzelle’s for about 10 years.

She said she is distraught over what they will do going forward.

“Nowadays things are getting so impersonal in the area, and to be honest with you, there’s nowhere around here that’ll be as comfortable as this has been over the last 50 years,” said regular Darrell Langston.

The sense of family at the restaurant is what is hitting regulars the hardest. Donzelle’s Restaurant owner Marley Crotts said there are multiple reasons for closing, such as relocation and retirements, but she will certainly miss everyone.

“When you walk through these doors, you’re family, you’re part of the Dickerson family, and that’s the way it’s been since 1962, and to think about the lack of social interaction that I’m gonna face on a daily basis is kinda unfathomable to be honest,” said Donzelle’s Restaurant owner Marley Crotts. “It’s unreal, it’s like a dream I wanna wake up from.”

Crotts said this is not the end of Donzelle’s story.

She fully intends to bring the restaurant back in some capacity in the future, but for now, a break is needed.

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HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - A gas station near Conway is being considered lucky, as customers are seeing wins after playing the lottery.

Days before Christmas, it was announced that a Palmetto Cash 5 ticket with the jackpot numbers was sold from Quick Stop 2921 Highway 701 North.

The jackpot prize for the ticket was $814,000, and the ticket itself cost the customer $2.

“I never like, expect someone gonna hit the big jackpot from my store,” said manager of the Quick Stop Sonny Pregebedi.

He said this is the first jackpot sold from the store in the months he has worked there.

“We are so so so happy,” Pregebedi said. “And I hope we gonna sell another jackpot in 2026.”

Since the word got out about the store selling a jackpot ticket, Pregebedi said more people have been coming to buy lottery tickets.

“They keep coming to get the lottery,” Pregebedi said. “And my lottery selling, you know, that is like the-- my salaries keep going more and more and I’m so happy about it.”

And some say they may start giving it a try.

“But yeah definitely have to come in here and get a lotto ticket right,” said Damion Colon, a customer.

Though the winning ticket prize was hundreds of thousands of dollars, others say they too have gotten lucky playing at the store.

“I have won here the most on scratch offs and I do think this gas station is lucky,” said Michael Lupo, a part time employee at Quick Stop and someone who plays the lottery.

Pregebedi also said people have won up to $2,000 playing $10-20 scratch off cards.

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It appears that Conway may be the scene of another holiday movie.

Yes, in case you didn’t know, the Horry County city has been the setting for at least two previous Christmas films, and now there may be a third.

A sign was posted downtown Dec. 5, 2025, alerting those who may be in Conway that filming was in progress for a motion picture titled “Christmas Persuasion.” Film crews could be seen in the downtown area last week, and those who asked were told that the film was for the Hallmark Channel.

A message left for Hallmark was not returned by publication.

When asked if there was a movie filming in Conway, city spokesperson June Wood didn’t confirm the filming, but did write in an email that she did not have “any information regarding the filming company or movie name.”

The Horry County city has long been known for its seasonal decorations, including Christmas, turning downtown into a dreamy, holiday wonderland with twinkling lights, a carnival and plenty of small-town charm.

Some local residents will appear as extras in the film. A call went out earlier this month recruiting those who wanted to be in the film.

It is unclear when the film will be finished or broadcast. Crews were still filming Friday and Saturday in Conway, which is about 15 miles from Myrtle Beach.

Other movies set in Conway include “Christmas in Conway,” a 2013 Hallmark film. Although it is set in Conway, the movie was actually filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, and it’s about a man who loves his sick wife so much that he wants to give her one last Christmas gift before she passes away. So he decides to build her a Ferris wheel in their backyard to relive the moment when he proposed.

It stars Mary-Louise Parker, Mandy Moore and Andy Garcia.

“Christmas in Carolina” is a holiday romance about a career-driven woman, Elle, who has given up on love and Christmas until she meets Wesley, who invites her to his hometown in South Carolina. She ends up falling in love and finds the spirit of Christmas again.

Wesley’s hometown is never mentioned in the 2020 movie, but in the movie, the characters were filmed at recognizable Conway locations, including having lunch at the Rivertown Bistro and a nighttime stroll along the Riverwalk.

CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — Work on reforming the Coastal Centre Shopping Center is ongoing, and there's a better sense of what retailers will fill key spaces.

Conceptual plans submitted to the city show RISE Partners' plans to add the following stores to the site:

This comes as Conway is listed as one of the fastest-growing areas in South Carolina. Over the last 20-plus years, between 2000 and 2023, the population of Conway increased by 15,263.

A US Census Bureau population report shows in 2010, the population was 17,378. In 2020, that number sat at 25,125, and in 2023, the number grew to 27,985.

On the project page from their website, RISE said it's redeveloping the 230,000 square foot space with hopes of seeing tenants in and operating by the end of 2026.

The commercial real estate firm announced it had purchased the property in October 2024.

ABC 15 reached out to Conway's public information officer asking about the economic impact of this project for the city, what parties were involved in making the decision for developing this property and if there are any tax incentives for companies looking to come to the mall.

In an email, Woods said:

“The City looks forward to this property developing. We don’t have any other comments related to the development at this time.”

The latest plans offer some insight about where stores will be located in the redeveloped mall.

The Parker's Kitchen is replacing a vape shop that had been across 501 from Walgreens, and the Walmart market will go in the back corner of the mall next to Burlington, behind the KFC and McDonald's.

Belk is listed in the plans to stay in its current location. It has already been joined by The Barndo Co., a barndominium firm bringing custom homes to the area.

There is no specific location for the Chipotle, but the plans show four structures situated along Church Street that are currently vacant or parking.

While the concept plans show that these plans were submitted to the city in August, the city's construction service department reports permits are "in review" or active for several parcels on the space between Cottage Lane, 16th Avenue and Church Street.