Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I don't know anything about Varns Drug Store other than it was listed in Walsh's Columbia South Carolina City Directory for 1907-08, had "E H Varn" listed as the proprietor and is not there now.

Thai On Gervais was obviously many iterations after Varns. I know they listed in the phonebook from (at least) February 2007 through February 2011, but not in Feburary 2012. Given that, and the current state of the space, I think they must have closed sometime in 2011.

Traffic was heavy enough that I could not step into Gervais Street to get a good frontal shot of this place, but you can see from the sidewalk and side views that it has sort of a "work is being done" look. I did not see any permits or indications as to what is next here however.

UPDATE 11 June 2012: Commenter Larry casts doubt on this actually being Thai On Gervais, at least within the time period suggested by the phonebook. I will try to check the city directories next time I am at the library, but for now I am leaving it. (Varn's I am more confident about).

UPDATE 20 June 2012: After consulting city directories at the RCPL, I can say that from (at least) 1960 through 1970, this space (actually 926-930) was Safran's Antique Galleries. After that, it was apparently vacant for a good while. In 1995, it was listed as Arcade Auction (Charlton Hall Overflow) and from 1995 to (at least) 2000, it was I. Pickney Simons Gallery. That seems to have been the last tenant. No city directory lists Thai On Gervais, but that is definitely in phonebooks..

Well, here's another Fred's closing, this one on the other side of town from the Sunset Boulevard store. Notice how both stores have a big roadside sandwich board saying "This Location Only!". I did not see any "X Days Left" sign, so I'm not sure how much longer this store will be open.

The Fred's strip mall, Fashion Place, at the corner of Decker Boulevard and Trenholm Road Extension is no stranger to closings, having shown up here for Cici's Pizza, Gabby's Pizza, Phar-Mor, Superpetz, and The Italian Oven.

UPDATE 12 July 2012 -- Gone! Don't know what the duct-work issue is..

Cerino's was one of those places that opened and closed while I was living out of town. It was also located in such an odd place (a historic house well away form any other restaurants or retail) that I would always forget about it. I remember that I would be in town for the weekend, be driving around, see the place and think Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that -- I'll have to try it some time, and then promptly forgot it again.

I'm not sure when the place closed, I know it's listed in the Feburary 1997 phonebook, but not in the February 2008 one. Currently the building is a law office.

(Hat tips to commenters Robert Sproul & badger)

Now all the voices were fading, each on his own trajectory, some to Mars, others into farthest space. And Hollis himself… He looked down. He, of all the others, was going back to Earth alone.

“So long.”

“Take it easy.”

“So long, Hollis.” That was Applegate.

The many good-bys. The short farewells. And now the great loose brain was disintegrating. The components of the brain which had worked so beautifully and efficiently in the skull case of the rocket ship firing through space were dying one by one; the meaning of their life together was falling apart. And as a body dies when the brain ceases functioning, so the spirit of the ship and their long time together and what they meant to one another was dying. Applegate was now no more than a finger blown from the parent body, no longer to be despised and worked against. The brain was exploded, and the senseless, useless fragments of it were far scattered. The voices faded and now all of space was silent. Hollis was alone, falling.

They were all alone. Their voices had died like echoes of the words of God spoken and vibrating in the starred deep. There went the captain to the Moon; there Stone with the meteor swarm; there Stimson; there Applegate toward Pluto; there Smith and Turner and Underwood and all the rest, the shards of the kaleidoscope that had formed a thinking pattern for so long, hurled apart.

And I? thought Hollis. What can I do? Is there anything I can do now to make up for a terrible and empty life? If only I could do one good thing to make up for the meanness I collected all these years and didn’t even know was in me! But there’s no one here but myself, and how can you do good all alone? You can’t. Tomorrow night I’ll hit Earth s atmosphere.

I’ll burn, he thought, and be scattered in ashes all over the continental lands. I’ll be put to use. Just a little bit, but ashes are ashes and they’ll add to the land.

He fell swiftly, like a bullet, like a pebble, like an iron weight, objective, objective all of the time now, not sad or happy or anything, but only wishing he could do a good thing now that everything was gone, a good thing for just himself to know about.

When I hit the atmosphere, I’ll burn like a meteor.

“I wonder,” he said, “if anyone’ll see me?”

The small boy on the country road looked up and screamed. “Look, Mom, look! A falling star!”

The blazing white star fell down the sky of dusk in Illinois. “Make a wish,” said his mother. “Make a wish.”

Needless to say, his was not a "terrible and empty life".

As of the February 2010 phonebook, Palmetto Fine Cleaners had four locations listed while in the 2011 phonebook there were none. I've done one of the Broad River Road locations, but this one caught my eye last week while I was heading to lunch at Grecian Gardens (and to take some pictures of the Sunset Boulevard Fred's location).

I have to say it's an attractive little shop -- I like the Palmetto logo, both on the marquee and the back wall, and the little flower archway is a nice touch (though I'm not sure how it fit in originally).

I'll also note that when I did the closing on Burnette's Cleaners at the other end of this plaza (but with the same 2250 address) I said in error that Palmetto had been in its spot. That's what relying on googling a street address (and not driving the full length of a strip mall) will get you.

But I got mine yesterday!

Since I reviewed their 50th Anniversary Tour show in Atlanta, I've been waiting for the accompanying album That's Why God Made the Radio.

I am happy to report that it is a "real" Beach Boy's album, much moreso than 1992's lackluster and Brian-less Summer in Paradise which heretofore had been the group's swan-song. The songs are all new, and Brian is fully involved. Is every one a gem? No, but that's never been the case even on Pet Sounds.

If you don't want to risk the whole album, splurge $0.99 for the incredibly catchy Isn't It Time or The Private Life Of Bill And Sue.

Well, it's unclear to me exactly when the hammer finally dropped, but all the remaining private businesses are now out of Decker Mall. I decided to stop by last week, and found that once I was inside, the only occupied space was the Dentsville Magistrate's office, and that most of the mall is now cordoned off by wire fencing in advance of the place being remodeled to house a bunch of Richland County Government offices.

I've written in various places about Decker Mall tenants, and thus in passing about the mall itself, but I've never done an entry for the mall per se.

In the beginning, Decker and Bush River malls were twins, with both being laid out as a strip anchored on one end by Richway (with the distinctive triangles on top) and on the other end by Kroger. The only real difference was that Bush River had a multiplex and Decker did not.

I'm not sure when Decker Mall opened, but it was definitely while I was in High School, probably around 1977. At the time, Columbia Mall was thriving, and just a few blocks away, so from the get-go, Decker had to find a different focus. With a discount store as one anchor, and a grocery as the other, the stores in the interior between the two tended to be smaller national chains, local chains, and one-off locals. Apart from clothing and other stores that didn't catch my teenage eye at all, I can recall Gateway Books, Flipside Records & Tapes, and my favorite, The Land of Oz video arcade.

After the Richway chain folded, Gold Circle took that anchor spot, and then when they folded, Target moved in. As far as I could tell, they always did a good business, but at some point a general mania struck Decker Boulevard businesses and they all begain a flight to Nort East Two Notch Road regardless whether there was still a customer base at the original location. When both Target and Kroger joined the flight, the writing was not only on the wall for Decker Mall (that wall had been scribbled for years..) but now it was etched in.

A number of local businesses that didn't rely on foot traffic held on there for years, but the last is now gone, and the next phase of life for the mall, if not *as* a mall is about to begin.

I have gone through a number of old city directories at the RCPL and have come of with this list of tenants for various years:

1977:

Does not list a mall at 2500, just Richway Stores.

1978:

• Decker Mall Shopping Center
• Richway Inc
• Richway Auto Center
• Ann & Andy Fashions
• Fashion Bug of Bush River Inc
• Dipper Dan Ice Cream Shop
• The Peanut Shack
• Country Corner gift shop
• Reflections
• Fayva Shoes
• Good Health Food & Nutrition
• Jenkins Flower Botique Inc
• Manufacturings Outlet Shoes
• Land of Oz
• The News Room (restaurant & lounge)
• Command Performance
• Yummy Yogurt
• Flipside Records & Tapes
• Kroger Sav On Food & Drugs

1979:

• Decker Mall Shopping Center
• Richway Inc
• Richway Auto cener
• Fashion Bug of Bush River Inc
• Country Corner
• Reflections (men's clothes)
• Gateway Books
• Fayva Shoes
• Jenkins Flowers & Bride's Place
• Manufactures [sic] Outlet Stores (shoes & clothes)
• Land of Oz
• Command Performance
• Harvey's Warehouse (stereo equipment wholesale)
• Flipside Records & Tapes
• Kroger Sav On Food & Drugs
• Kroger Sav On Pharmacy

1983:

• Decker Mall Shopping Center
• Richway Inc
• Richway Auto Center
• Arnold's Formal Wear
• Four Seasons
• Mill Fabrics
• The Micro Shop
• The Shoe Tree
• Land Of Oz
• Command Performance
• Flipside Records & Tapes
• Kroger Sav-On Food & Drugs
• Video Ventures
• Melody Music Center
• Olan Mills Inc
• Rush's Fast Foods

1988:

• Cola Magic & Customs Shop (theatrical supplies & equipment)
• Decker Mall Shopping Center
• Gold Circle
• Four Seasons
• China City
• Command Performance
• Kroger Sav-On Food & Drugs
• Stone Works Home of The Dirt Cheap Mine (jewelery specialty)
• Melody Music Center
• First Federal of South Carolina (in Kroger?)
• Olan Mills Inc
• Rush's Fast Foods
• State Department of Highways & Public Transportation
• Columbia Magic & Costume Shop
• Magic & Miracles Productions
• Pettit William H Agency (talent agency)
• Expert Alterations & Fine Mending

1993:

• Target
• China City
• Kroger Sav-On Food & Drugs
• First Savings Of South Carolina (in Kroger?)
• Rush's Fast Foods
• State Department of Highways & Public Transportation
• Expert Alterations & Fine Mending

1998:

• Branch Banking & Trust Co (in Kroger? in Target?)
• Carolina First Corporation (where?)
• China City of Columbia
• Expert Alterations
• Kroger Drugs
• Rush's Food Systems
• Target Store

2003:

• Healthy Home Foods Inc
• Legends Security & Sound
• Little China Buffet
• Pup's Barber Shop Express
• Rush's
• Special Occasions (catering)
• Expert Alterations
• Precisely Yours (beauty salon)
• Changing Faces (beauty salon)
• New Life World Ministries

2008:

• Arcadia Self Storage
• Legends Security & Sound
• Little China Buffet
• Division of Motor Vehicles
• Nunies Mini Stand (convenience)
• Richland County Magistrate
• Rush's
• Special Occasions
• D & T Fashions
• Expert Alterations
• Changing Phaces (beauty salon)
• New Life World Ministries

2011:

• Extra Space Storage
• Shekinah Glory Family Care (childcare)
• Special Occasions (banquet rooms)
• Legends Security & Sound
• Division of Motor Vehicles
• Richland County Magistrate
• Expert Alterations
• New Look New U (beauty salon)
• Rush's

Note that some time between 1988 and 1993, the mall offices stop being listed, so perhaps the mall as a corporate entitiy was gone by that point. Note also that Rush's and China City/Little China are outparcels.

Here is Sky City's writeup on Decker Mall, and following are pictures and links from my other Decker Mall posts.

My post discussing the county purchase.

Kroger:

DMV:

Land of Oz:

Richway / Gold Circle / Target:

I know I have some other Decker Mall pictures around, and I will add those as I find them.

Read the rest of this entry »

When The State announced Good Wood's closing back in February, I have to admit that my immediate thought was to wonder what would become of the streetside rocking chair of which I have always been fond. The chair, the gull-wing lights and the cut-out lettering on the Harrison Road fence all give the place a distinctive and appealing look.

The State article is interesting in that it, once again, points to demographic problems for businesses in the Forest Acres area. I suppose I can understand it in the case of a furniture store, as the biggest market for furniture is young families setting up, but it still seems to me that the Richland Mall area ought to be able to tap into the generally financially comfortable suburban residents.

Apparently the store was to close its doors Saturday 2 June, but the closing sale has extended to "Make an offer Monday" on 4 June, so you still have a day left to buy the rocker.

Read the rest of this entry »

As I've mentioned before, I have a soft spot for Fred's though the Columbia stores were all somewhat out of my way. I'm starting to think though that for whatever reason, perhaps because Dollar General got here first, Columbia simply isn't a Fred's town.

Glancing at Google News for Fred's stories makes it appear that the chain is in pretty good shape overall, but when this and the Decker store join the Cedar Terrace store on the closed ledger, half of the Columbia locations will have gone under.

This will be a big blow for Sunset Court (love that marquee), which has already recently lost Wood Zone.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

This Kmart, accessible from Fort Jackson Boulevard, Devine Street, Crowson Road and Wildcat Road has been there for my entire, remembered, life (it is technically a little younger than I am), and was a place I went many times with my Mother over the years (though probably not as many times as to the Two Notch store). In the beginning, the left side of the Kmart building was occupied by a Big Star grocery and then by an Old America Store. Finally, in the throes of the last good idea the chain had, Kmart converted to a Big-K format store and expanded into the old grocery space. This status-quo lasted a good number of years, but recently there have been signs of malaise like closing and trying to rent out the auto service bays.

I want to like Kmart as I have good childhood memories of the place, but their current strategy seems to be to not have a strategy, other than, perhaps, closing stores when Wal Mart opens nearby. Now, I'm not saying I know what a successful stragegy for them would be, but good heavens, they have to try *something*! Go 24 hours, get Martha Stewart back, co-brand with The Food Channel, open in-store bowling alleys -- something!

And hire some staff, yes, that's expensive, but if you're in a "bet the company" situation (and you are, whether you think of it that way or not) you've got to make shopping easy. The last time I stopped at this store, I was in a bit of a hurry and found my item quickly, but it was in a locked display case with nobody in the department. The staff I could find in other departments were very friendly, but couldn't leave their area and nobody ever showed up who could make the sale before I had to go -- so they didn't make that sale, and I'm not sure they can afford to not make sales.

Anyway, as of Memorial Day, the place was not completely picked clean and still had some reasonable looking bargins. I noticed in particular, that if you need some alkaline batteries, now is the time to get your "Die Hard" AAA, AA 9V & Cs (didn't see any Ds).

UPDATE 6 June 2012 -- And, it's gone!

UPDATE 11 June 2012 -- Pix from 7 June. The Devine Street roadside sign is gone, and the marquee sign is about to go:

UPDATE 14 June 2012: Added full 7 June 2012 photoset.

UPDATE 20 June 2012 -- As these pictures from 8 June show, all the signage is now gone (also added full 8 June photoset below):

Photosets:

Photoset 7 June 2012

Photoset 8 June 2012

UPDATE 7 October 2019: Add map icon, update tags.