Kirby Croft Florist, 3508 Main Street: March 2009 9 comments
I think I've been in florists to send condolence flowers more often than for any other reason which is not a pleasant association. I've never done that in Columbia as far as I can remember though, and so was never in Kirby Croft According to the archived version of the their website, the company started in 1947. That's a 63 year run, which is something the family can be proud of.
The sign on the front door leaves some hope for the future, but apparently not in this location as the building is up for sale. It's a very ineresting building too, with the bay window and the house-like main section. It's almost exactly across the street from former KFC and not too far from the old Varsity, Kershaw Tires and the old Eckerd's. I'm afraid this section of Main has seen better times.
(Hat tip to commenter Jim)
9 Responses to 'Kirby Croft Florist, 3508 Main Street: March 2009'
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bud
9 Apr 10 at 10:23 am
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bud -- no doubt your family knew the folks who ran Johnson's Music Store. ?
Dennis
9 Apr 10 at 1:46 pm
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I used to go to Johnson music in the early 90s. Everything was made of gold according to his prices.
ChiefDanGeorge
10 Apr 10 at 5:48 am
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Bud, IIRC, there is a picture of that gas station in the book "Eau Claire memories." The RCPL has a copy.
jamie
12 Apr 10 at 6:59 am
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jamie,
I went to the library and looked up the photograph in Eau Claire Memories. The picture of Johnny's Sinclair at 3601 Main, is the same building that my dad would later convert into our family business in 1964. The photo in the book was probably taken sometime in the 1950s.
bud
12 Apr 10 at 12:14 pm
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BTW, the same book has a good photo of the Kirby Croft business as it looked in the 1950s (I think). It was taken during a snow storm. Funny how we have so many photographs of the Columbia area during snow events.
bud
12 Apr 10 at 12:16 pm
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"Regroup on Deck 15 - DON'T LET THEM TOUCH YOU!"
Jason
16 Apr 10 at 5:42 am
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Looks like this place is now for sale as a foreclosure.
tonkatoy
3 Dec 12 at 11:57 am
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We are the people who loved and cared for this place. Juanita Claire Kirby and William Howard Croft started the Florist in 1947 shortly before their marriage. Juanita was a Columbia native and a graduate of Columbia High School and the University of South Carolina where she played basketball and studied business. Her parents, Harold and Ethel Kirby, owned a home about a block further up Main St. that had been at times a boarding house as well as the location of the family's earlier business "Kirby's Potato Chips." Bill and "Nita" raised three children and three grandchildren in the florist making it a true family business and as much a home as anything else for us.
A Croft
18 Aug 16 at 9:21 am
This really brings back memories. In Ted's third photo of Kirby Croft you can just see an auto parts store, an Auto Zone I think. In that location my dad ran a small family business from about 1964-1986 called the TFX. It was a combination gas station, beer store and liquor store. Sadly we have no pictures of the TFX. If by chance anyone knows where I might find a photograph of that part of Main Street taken during that period I'd love to have a copy.
As for the Kirby Croft, my parents knew the family quite well and we did business with each other. This business will be missed.