For many years, Keith Ramsey enjoyed watching people savor plates with fried fish, hushpuppies, and coleslaw during the North Carolina Spot Festival along U.S. 17 in Hampstead.
Although the dates are set for a weekend in November, the location for the celebration is unknown right now because of plans for a shopping center where the festival takes place, which is less than a mile south of the U.S. 17/N.C. 210 intersection.
"We're trying to find a new home," said Ramsey, festival chairman. "We got a couple of options, but we don't have anything definitive at this point."
Tanner Postal Commercial Real Estate LLC, a South Florida firm, submitted an application to Pender County officials for the area on the western side of the highway. According to county documents, plans include various retail stores and eating places.
The business is associated with Impeccable Development, a commercial real estate development in the Carolinas. The business was started by Robert Tanner, Amit Seghal, Dr. Jeffrey Postal and Carlos Boozer, a former Duke basketball and NBA star.
Some of the tenants associated with the company include Sheetz, Auto Zone, Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Parker's Kitchen, Popeyes and Starbucks. Although reports surfaced that one of the spots would be a Target, Tanner said he could not confirm anything at this time.
"They will be announced at a later date," Tanner told the StarNews.
A site plan presented to the county does not list Target.
As of late May, there is no indication of a Target on the company's website. However, Popeyes and Freddy's are listed.
A spokesman for Target said the company has no new stores to share.
"At Target, we continuously explore possible locations for new stores," a Target spokesperson stated to StarNews. "We consider a number of factors when evaluating new store opportunities, such as population density, site accessibility and how we can fill a need in the community. We work closely with local leaders to identify locations where we can best serve a neighborhood and offer a convenient and inspiring shopping experience."
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Dealing with the unavoidable
The property is owned by Hampstead Partners, LLC, a Wilmington-based business. Ramsey said organizers had a land use agreement for the festival.
"It's been for sale for years and we knew eventually the day would come that it would sell," he said.
The first festival was held in 1963. It was successful with the help of sponsors providing spot, a popular fish in the area. When it began decades ago, the nonprofit event benefited the fire department and education. In 2022, they donated $20,000 back to schools in eastern Pender County.
Organizers made a website with festival and vendor information with plans to have the festival on Saturday, Nov. 4 and Sunday, Nov. 5. Last year, more than 100 vendors signed up. Along with fish plates, some of the other highlights include live music, a pageant and various other entertainment.
Ramsey said an official location for this year is still up in the air, but he's staying optimistic about the challenge of being in Hampstead, which is seeing growth because of its proximity to Wilmington and the beaches of Topsail Island.
"The problem with us being a Hampstead festival is that everything is selling so fast and being developed so fast in that area," he said. "We were fortunate to have that piece of property that we had for so many years. But people aren't sitting on large vacant tracts of land and saying 'Here, you can use my land.'"
Ramsey has been involved with the festival for about a decade.
"Trust me, it's hard work," he said. "The biggest thing for me is actually giving back to the community."
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Searching for new land
Organizers are now searching for another plot of land in Hampstead or eastern Pender County, which has a strong seafood and fishing heritage. Out of the 42 acres Impeccable Development wants to use, Ramsey said only 7 is probably used for festival activities. Everything else is dedicated to parking.
"If somebody got some land that they'll let us use and call home, it would be greatly appreciated," he said.
But Ramsey will miss the U.S 17 land that organizers and goers called home for a long time.
"It's a major artery through the county," he said about the advantage of being close to U.S. 17. "It's bumper to bumper out there. By the time we get started setting up on Wednesday, people are seeing it, and by Friday afternoon we got inflatables and pretty much everything is ready to go for the next morning. I'm sure it catches people's eyes, and they say, 'Let's go check that out this weekend."
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Reporter Chase Jordan can be reached at [email protected]
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