Dollar Discount, 220 Knox Abbott Drive (Parkland Plaza): August 2010 8 comments
This Dollar Discount store in Parkland Plaza has been "for sale" for a good while, in fact I almost did a post on it before, but they seemed to be in full operation while looking for a buyer, so never did. Driving by tonight, I saw from the banner that they are explicitly closing now. I've never been in this store, but apparently Dollar Discount is a franchaise concept with 140 stores over all and three other stores in South Carolina (Pageland, Effingham and Sumter). I've always liked this kind of store as it gives you a feeling of power to walk in with $5.00 in your pocket and walk out with actual stuff. It seems I can always find something or other that I need or want, and I'll bet the prices are even better right now. This particular store appears to also run a shipping operation called The Mail Room, possibly taking up the slack when the contract post office in Parkland Pharmacy closed.
Once when my cousin noticed an old sign for the company her father used to work for still up on an old barn out in the country, she went to see the owner to try and buy it for her father's birthday. I was with her, and the old gentleman owning the place was a talkative fellow with lots of interesting stories (he claimed that Jimmy Doolittle wanted his help in setting up the Army Air Corps during WWII, but the letter got lost coming from Washington DC to rural SC..). When we asked what the population of the little community was, he said something like "One hundred ninety, same as when I was born. We always figured it stayed the same since every time a baby was born, a man had to leave town". Something of the sort seems to be holding for Parkland Plaza since Ace Hardware is re-opening, just as this store is closing..
UPDATE 29 Oct 2010 -- well the store is definitely gone now:
though it is still listed on the Parkland Plaza marquee:
UPDATE 10 January 2012 -- As mentioned by commenter Andrew, this is now a Radio Shack:
UPDATE 4 March 2013 -- Finally got around to taking a picture of the new (well, not so new at this point!) location of The Mail Room in Granby Villiage on the Charleston Highway:
8 Responses to 'Dollar Discount, 220 Knox Abbott Drive (Parkland Plaza): August 2010'
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jamie
26 Jul 10 at 7:37 am
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I'm surprised Dollar Discount is a chain. We had one here in my town (Oscoda, Michigan) for a few years in a former supermarket. The store was by far the dirtiest, dingiest dollar store I'd ever seen. After sitting empty a couple years, it's now a much more pleasant thrift shop.
Bobby P.
21 Nov 10 at 12:01 am
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Well, it's a franchaise operation, so it probably depends a lot on the local operator.
ted
21 Nov 10 at 12:52 am
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I saw them doing some work there the past few days...
tonkatoy
5 Aug 11 at 11:03 am
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It looks like it is going to be a Radio Shack soon.
tonkatoy
9 Sep 11 at 8:25 am
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Parlane Plaza's heyday was from the late 50's? through the late 60's maybe, but that when Howard Johnson's restraunt was still there along with Colonial Grocery, DW Grants and others I cant remember now.. but it lost ground in the late 70's to 80's..and doesnt look anything like it used to.
Del
9 Sep 11 at 9:22 am
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it appears that RadioShack is relocating from Airport Suquare (where SC 302 meets 321 and Williams Street) into half of this space...
Andrew
28 Sep 11 at 4:33 pm
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What I remember about Parkland Plaza in my childhood was the Grant's department store; Dodds (dime store); Pic 'N Pay ( I called it "Pig and Pay"); Triangle Pharmacy; The Gamecock (movie theater); The Kingsman; and of course, the bowling alley. I also remember a playground next to that building that used to be Duff's (1980s buffet-style restaurant) but this playground was around in the 60s and 70s, I believe. Playground equipment was metal, of course, with a tall slide that I remember playing on when I was little.
Susan Beverly
4 Aug 20 at 5:34 pm
The problem with this store was they quit selling things for a dollar. You'd be hard pressed to find anything under a dollar in that store, until the closing sale.