GREENVILLE, S.C. — Kudzu Bakery & Market, a South Carolina bakery brand with roots in Georgetown, is expanding into the Upstate with a new store on Greenville’s Laurens Road, according to reports from the Post and Courier, the Upstate Business Journal and The State.
The bakery will occupy 1536 Laurens Road, the former home of Master’s Mark Dry Cleaners, the Upstate Business Journal reported. The Post and Courier said the site sits across the street from The Radio Room music venue. The company announced the move on Instagram, writing, “We are beyond excited to announce that Kudzu Bakery & Market is heading to Greenville!” The store is expected to open in summer 2027; no exact date has been set, and the reports did not include a job count, building size or renovation budget.
The Greenville shop will be run by Kristi Gibbs and Kim McMurry, who own Kudzu’s Columbia location, according to The State. The pair began their business partnership in 2015 with Pelican’s SnoBalls, a shaved-ice business, and now own four of those shops, the newspaper reported. In an email to the Post and Courier, the owners said their Columbia store, which opened five years ago, has done very well and that moving into a new market felt like the logical next step. They said the Greenville location will follow the Columbia model, selling pastries, breads, other baked goods and gifts.
Joey and Stacy Rabon opened the original Kudzu on Front Street in downtown Georgetown in 1989, The State reported. The brand has since grown to locations in Litchfield, Mount Pleasant and Columbia, plus a store in Charlotte, North Carolina. The owners told the Post and Courier the bakery has become a “household name” among customers at its other stores. Beyond cookies, pies and cakes, the shops carry kitchen items and themed gifts, the Upstate Business Journal said.
The announcement adds to a busy stretch for neighborhood retail on Laurens Road. Earlier this month, the Post and Courier reported that a home goods store had opened on the same road, part of a wider run of new restaurant, grocery and specialty-retail announcements the paper has covered across Greenville this fall.
For commercial real estate professionals, the deal is a reminder that small, older single-tenant buildings on established corridors remain a practical entry point for regional brands. A former dry cleaner offers street frontage and an existing neighborhood customer base, and converting it to a bakery and gift shop is a modest example of adaptive reuse. When a concept with a following in the Lowcountry, Midlands and Charlotte picks Greenville as its next market, it also points to continued demand for small-format retail space along close-in corridors like Laurens Road.
Sources: Upstate Business Journal, Post and Courier, The State
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