Kroger Sav-On, 2500 Decker Boulevard (Decker Mall): April 2000 20 comments
The Kroger Sav-On at Decker Mall was the first Kroger I ever encountered. It opened while I was in high-school, and was really different from the grocery stores I was accustomed to before it arrived.
Firstly, it was quite large. This was before Wal-Mart super centers or anything like that, and I was used to stores the size of a Colonial, Piggly Wiggly or A & P. This store was noticably larger than any of those.
Secondly, it was more diverse. Some of the largeness was due to it having a built-in pharmacy, which none of the other stores did, but a good bit of it was from selling more than food. In the beginning, the place seemed almost like a mini department store to me, where you could never be sure just what you might find. For instance, I got the very first microwave oven I ever bought from the (now also closed) Kroger at Surfside Beach which also dates from this era, and I still recall how bemused I was to have found such a thing at a grocery store.
Thirdly, it was open late. I don't believe this store was ever 24 hours like the Forest & Beltline store, but it was open a good bit later than I was used to, and the idea that I could pop out at 10pm and buy something was very enticing. (Especially as I was starting to drive and then drive at night).
For a long time, this store, and Target carried Decker Mall. Then when the mall began to decline to the point that you either parked near Kroger or near Target because there was nothing interesting in-between, they locked the doors on the mall side of the store and made everyone come in the front. Finally, when the flight from the Decker corridor to Two Notch began and strengthened, both Kroger and Target moved into new stores, Kroger's in Sparkleberry Square, Target's just slightly east of that. I have never fully understood the demographic logic of that. Yes, the area is growing, and a new store there will make money, but it's not like everybody near Decker suddenly died -- the population that was there is still there. Of course, this store doesn't really fit in with Kroger's current look (which is, I admit, quite nice) and would have needed re-working at some point anyway. (I keep expecting the Forest & Beltline store to either close or remodel..)
Interestingly, and somewhat unexpectedly, Decker Mall survived the move of both anchors and continues to live on, mainly on the strength of the DMV, I suspect, but there actually are a few other ongoing operations there as well.
UPDATE 29 March 2010: The clouds were so nice today, I couldn't resist getting and adding some better shots above.
UPDATE 11 March 2011: Updated closing date due to research by commenter Andrew.
20 Responses to 'Kroger Sav-On, 2500 Decker Boulevard (Decker Mall): April 2000'
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PK
30 Mar 10 at 5:16 pm
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I remember the commercial from when the Kroger Sav-On stores opened -
"It's a whole lot more than just one store.
Kroger Save-on."Decker Mall was a pretty neat place when it was new. Sad to see it now.
Cary
2 Apr 10 at 4:47 pm
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I actually live around the corner from here now. Oh how I wish Krogers and Target were still there.
Amanda
7 Jul 10 at 9:00 am
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I used to work at that Kroger around '79 and '80 in what they called the "Lobby", which was sight and sound... radios, watches, tobacco products, etc. The store was divided into a food section and a drug section, and the stockers worked their own sides. There was a deli section, with hot food and seating. We used to go out into the mall to the arcade next door on our breaks. It looks like the building is beginning to deteriorate from the outside. The back side of the store is in terrible condition.
Mitch
10 Dec 10 at 12:45 am
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I am trying to remember what store came first in the old decker mall. Was it richway, then gold circle and lastly target. I am trying to settle a misunderstanding. Whther I am right or wrong, knowing the correct answer would fill in some gaps.
21 Dec 10 at 7:42 am
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That's the way I remember it.
tonkatoy
21 Dec 10 at 8:00 am
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Debby, check this link..
ted
21 Dec 10 at 11:19 am
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I distinctly remember shopping here with my mom as a child. It was very large and the aisles were very wide to me. When it closed my mom went there and got a bunch of stuff for x% off and used her coupons to. I believe she shopped here a lot because they doubled and tripled coupons if I'm not mistaken.
j
28 Apr 12 at 5:37 pm
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I'll never forget buying a pumpkin there around Halloween and the fruit rollup style fruit skins. Ahhh nostalgia...
John W
18 Feb 16 at 11:38 pm
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BTW this was the early 90s when i was around 4 years old...
John W
18 Feb 16 at 11:40 pm
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Oh man, I wish I would have checked out this thread back 6 years ago when PK commented. I too was a cashier at this Kroger from November 92- March 93. I loved it.
Sidney
19 Feb 16 at 1:38 am
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I have lived in Irmo 39 years of my life and I never heard anyone talk about a "Decker Mall". That may be one reason it died out. Nobody I knew ever talked about it. I mean, isn't Columbia Mall very close to there on two notch road? How far down Decker Blvd. is this mall?
Scott
19 Feb 16 at 12:24 pm
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It was exactly like Bush River Mall. Same exact setup.
Sidney
19 Feb 16 at 12:43 pm
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I have a lot of posts involving Decker Mall one way or another, but the ones to start with are probably Decker Mall, Land of Oz, and Richway.
ted
19 Feb 16 at 2:16 pm
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I find that Irmo people tend to shy away from shopping in Northeast Richland (I grew up not far from Irmo myself) and that's very likely a big contributing factor in why Scott is likely unfamiliar with Decker Mall. Several people here have hinted that they aren't inclined to to much shopping outside the section of town they reside in...
I mapped it and the distance from Decker Mall to Columbia Place Mall is approximately 1.2 miles.
Andrew
20 Feb 16 at 3:42 pm
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I agree with Andrew. I live in Irmo and if it were not for the fact that I work on the Northeast side of town I would never do any shopping over there. When I retire, I have no intention of ever crossing Broad River unless I absolutely have to....haha!!
Homer
21 Feb 16 at 2:00 am
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Way back in '09 IrmoJeff posted a link to some pictures of what was left of Bush River Mall after the homeless and vandals tried to ransack and burn the place down. Believe it or not, the link is still active. If you want, check it out here:
http://public.fotki.com/fourlizards/20050811-bush_river_mall/
Homer
21 Feb 16 at 2:29 am
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Yeah I'm the same way now that I'm older. I stay in the Summit and I know it has been a good while since I have been to the Harbison area. There's no need for me to go there.
Sidney
21 Feb 16 at 12:37 pm
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The Richland county sheriff's department has purchased both sides of the building and will renovate into court house, RCSD headquarters and a large community room for town meetings. They expect completion but late 2017.
William
25 Feb 16 at 8:11 am
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I grew up near a Kroger very much like this, and I thought it was the only one of its kind: white, rounded corners, and attached to a micro-mall (about six inline stores). Also had Kroger Sav-On on the signage.
I had to look closely to see that this isn't the old Fairfield Kroger, because it looks identical!
30 years have since passed, and I now work at Kroger HQ in Cincinnati...
Brandan Jones
10 Jan 19 at 8:03 pm
My father actually was part of the management team that opened this Kroger in the 80's. It was only open to midnight for a long while but I know by the time I worked there as a cashier in '92 it had gone 24 hours because I often worked the third shift during the summer.
That entire Decker shopping center was a part of my childhood. I spent so many days in the Aladdin's Castle and Richway/Gold Circle/Target growing up. My sister took dance in the area so I was often dropped off here just to pass the time.