Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Kids' art studio, Tag It Art closed on 9 January 2015. You can see the classy farewell message here.

Forest Village is the little two-strip plaza that I still think of as the home of The Happy Bookseller though The Happy Cafe now occupies that spot.

(Hat tip to my sister)

I noticed the other week something going on at the Richland Mall Bank Of America, with a dumpster pulled up to the drive-through. This week it is apparent that the drive-through has been closed. I guess it was a bit awkward having an unconnected outbuilding for the tellers, and perhaps even a security issue. At any rate, I believe the Trenholm Plaza branch is now the next closest drive-through.

RIP Leonard Nimoy, one of the greats.

Another day, another Radio Shack.

This is the one in Parkland Plaza in Cayce, and is another casualty of the chain's bankruptcy.

These pictures are from 30 November 2014, so the site has probably changed a good bit by now, but that was when I noticed these nice old brick buildings on Lady Street adjacent to Trustus were being gutted for renovation.

Here is what the City has to say about the project:

February 2014
DESIGN/DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMISSION
DESIGN REVIEW DISTRICT
EVALUATION SHEET
Case # 6

ADDRESS:
522 Lady Street

APPLICANT:
Scott Lambert, architect/agent

TAX MAP REFERENCE: TMS# 08912-05-01

USE OF PROPERTY:
Commercial

REVIEW DISTRICT:
W. Gervais Historic Commercial District/City Center

NATURE OF REQUEST: Request Certificate of Design Approval for exterior
changes and preliminary certification for the Bailey Bill

FINDINGS/COMMENTS:

Very typical of the warehouse district in which it was built, this is a
simple one-story brick building used for warehouse and office purposes
over the years. It has been heavily altered during this time, with
original window openings bricked in and concrete block additions at the
front of the building on Huger Street and a later small brick addition
at the rear of the building. There are no original windows or doors
intact. Still, it is reminiscent of the architecture and original uses
of buildings in the historic district and is one of the few extant
buildings from the time period along Huger Street.

This was originally built in 1926; its original occupant was the Jeff
Hunt Machinery Company which maintained a business at this address for
30 years. The Crane Company followed for a brief period but the
Columbia Cigar and Candy Company acquired the building by 1965 and kept
its business there until 1997.

The plans are to rehabilitate the building for office use,
re-establishing some of the original openings and removing less
sensitive additions from the building. Additionally, a new entry is
proposed on the Lady Street side. As all four sides of this building
are visible from a public right of way, each elevation is discussed and
reviewed below

Here and here is a bit from the architect.

And here is a bit from the construction company.

Read the rest of this entry »

This 8,590 sf warehouse space plus 1,700 sf office building behind the No Name Deli on Marion Street caught my eye a few weeks back.

If you look at the aerial view, you can see it's bigger than this street view would imply:

View Larger Map

The only hit I come up with for this address is North American Service East, which is generic enough that I have no idea what they did (or do if they moved elsewhere).

As commenter Andrew noted, Mrs. C's Laundry, next to Dutch Cleaners in the IGA plaza (which seems to have no name) has shut down.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

Mary & Martha's in Forest Park is closing shop in the coming weeks. The State Reports:

Owner Beverley Tuller has started a liquidation sale to sell most of the items as she prepares to close the shop in March if she can’t sell it first.

“I’ve had a couple of nibbles, but nothing has really panned out yet,” Tuller said of a potential buyer, adding she will keep the store open longer if she has a contract in place to allow for a smooth transition.

Given the above, I'm not exactly sure where the name of the shop comes from, but I have been in there several times. As I recall, I bought a double-boiler, and an apple peeling machine (that worked better than I expected). It's not the kind of place a guy like me needs often, but always a nice option to have when I *do* need it.

This Cayce drycleaner, in what I still think of as the original location of Silver City and next to the former Artsy Fartsy gallery has moved quite a good ways, from here to the old Gooney Birds plaza on Sunset Boulevard.