Built on land that was formerly farmed for cabbages, South Windermere Center was the innovative brain child of local attorney ... William Ackerman, who, along with his partners, purchased 120 acres in 1953 and developed the area in a planned manner with housing and shops. Remember, this was new thinking at the time. America was just entering the era of the automobile, and Ackerman believed that he could make his shopping center into a destination that people would drive to. With a little luck and a lot of ingenuity, he convinced a grocery store, a drugstore, and a department store to anchor his vision into reality, and South Windermere Shopping Center quickly became the center of a bustling and blossoming community West of the Ashley. Today, that anchor is still holding fast, with more than 40 local businesses calling South Windermere Shopping Center home. On any given day, the center is filled with people who not only visit to shop, dine, enjoy a service or see a doctor, but also to connect with family, friends, and community. The center has become the beating heart of one of Charleston’s most established communities, and it not only serves to unite it, but to define it, with generations of families making South Windermere a part of their lives. Welcome to West Ashley’s front porch. read more