McDonald’s joins Carolina Shores retail buildout near state line

McDonald’s has been folded into a Carolina Shores retail buildout that already includes a Walmart Supercenter, a Publix Supermarket, Chase Bank and 7-Eleven, putting another fast-food employer into one of Brunswick County’s busiest new hiring corridors. The project sits along U.S. 17 near the North Carolina-South Carolina line, where road work, parking lots and a cluster of national brands are reshaping the area into a larger traffic stop for shoppers and commuters.

For McDonald’s workers, the practical news is not just another storefront. A new restaurant usually means construction work first, then a hiring push as the site moves toward opening, with openings for crew team members, shift leaders, opening-team roles and management. McDonald’s says restaurant jobs run from crew to management, and franchise applicants are hired by the local operator rather than McDonald’s USA, which means the pace on pay, schedules and staffing will be set store by store. In a market still shaped by the Fight for $15 push and ongoing minimum-wage fights, that local control matters.

The wage competition around Carolina Shores is likely to be real. Walmart’s plan was approved by the town in June 2024 and called for a 171,000-square-foot store on 25 acres near Emerson Bay Road. Publix had already announced its Carolina Shores store in April 2023, saying it would be about 45,000 square feet and employ roughly 130 people. Add Chase Bank and 7-Eleven to the same corridor, and the same workers who might fill fry station, drive-thru and cashier roles for McDonald’s could also be fielding offers from grocery, fuel and retail employers that need the same kind of dependable hourly labor.

That concentration of openings raises the bigger question of whether the local labor pool can support another major employer. Brunswick County grew 24% between April 1, 2020, and July 1, 2024, adding about 33,000 residents, while Carolina Shores had an estimated population of 5,017 in 2024. The numbers help explain why chains are moving in, but they also suggest operators will have to recruit well beyond the town line if they want enough workers for breakfast shifts, drive-thru peaks and weekend coverage.

Town leaders have said the Economic Development Commission is focused on commercial growth along the U.S. 17 corridor, residential development and mixed-use transition areas. A published Calabash Commons site plan listed the project address as 9800 Ocean Hwy. and the site area at about 20.31 acres, underscoring how large the retail buildout has become and why McDonald’s now sees room to join it.