The Clusters of Whitehall, 300 Saint Andrews Road: 2007-ish (Reflagged) 29 comments
When the sun is just right, you can look at the "tower" at the north-west corner of St Andrews Center and almost read the outlines of the lettering that has been taken down from the top. If you actually could read it, it would say The Clusters of Whitehall.
The way I remember it, at one time, The Clusters of Whitehall was a very tony place. It seemed to me that many of the shops had radio ads on the old WIS radio, and when the announcer would sonorously intone "...located in The Clusters of Whitehall", it sounded as though he might as well be saying "...located on Rodeo Drive".
Times change and areas go up and down. Saint Andrews Road as a whole has certainly seen better times, and The Clusters were really convienient neither to I-20 nor I-26 as traffic in the area increased and more stop-lights were added. By the 1980s, The Clusters were in decline.
I'm not really sure of the original store roster (we rarely went to that side of town at all) but I think they had a Fresh Market as sort of an upscale anchor. This report says that as of December 2000, The Clusters were only 55% occupied and that a new call center and Tuesday Morning would bring them up to 94% occupied. It also gives a partial list of former stores: Heavenly Ham, Nocturnal Home Diagnostics, Gregory's To Go, Gold Leaf Gallery and Avant Gardener.
After that, google turns up another hit for the property being sold to Ziff Properties Inc in April 2006. There is another story from The State that was widely linked, but is no longer generally available. There is enough text left in the google hit, however, to say that by May 18 2008, the place was being referred to as "the former Clusters of Whitehall", leading me to guess that the new name St Andrews Center was probably coined in 2007. Currently while the place doesn't appear in any terminal distress, it is obviously now a lower rent type operation than before with correspondingly lower expectations for the quality of tenants and level of occupancy.
Finally, I was always confused about The Cloisters of Whitehall vs The Clusters of Whitehall. I haven't made a deep study of the matter, but my googling for this post suggests that the Cloisters is a real-estate subdivision in the area while the Clusters was the mall.
UPDATE 27 January 2023: Adding tags & map icon, adding the full street address in the post title.
29 Responses to 'The Clusters of Whitehall, 300 Saint Andrews Road: 2007-ish (Reflagged)'
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Brian
29 May 09 at 7:11 am
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They did have a Fresh Market from about 1986-1991.
Dave
29 May 09 at 7:21 am
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This strip mall was a couple miles from my house growing up, and an "easier" bike ride to be reached from Whitehall than Seven Oaks Shopping Center. There was a Giant Food World there in the mid to early 80's, which then turned into a Fresh Market. The Fresh Market lasted through the early 90's, because my girlfriend lived in the apts. next to it, and I remember going over there. I could write much about this place, but I remember a pet shop there, where they had Oscars that I used to confuse w/ piranhas, and "Bike World," where I purchased my first "real" ten speed. There was also a Revco,Roger's Brothers and that outdoor furniture shop that moved to Trenholm Plaza. Gregory's moved to Friarsgate, although we have not been in a while, but you might still be able to get that Greek salad!
Jonathan
29 May 09 at 8:09 am
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Johnathan - Thanks for the info on Gregory's. Where in Friarsgate?
Brian
29 May 09 at 9:31 am
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Sorry to get your hopes up. I just realized it's "Joe's to Go," not "Gregory's to Go.!" I'm really sorry.
Jonathan
29 May 09 at 9:42 am
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No problem, Google wasn't turning up anything current for "Gregory's to Go" so that's why I asked.
Joe's to Go's is pretty good sometimes too though...I put them about on the level with Steak-Out but they have other things too (like wings).
Brian
29 May 09 at 10:21 am
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I would look for Sticky Fingers Harbison to be closing anyday.
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Lulabelle's on Bower Pkwy Harbison has finally closed. I am not surprised they did not make it the full 1 year. Another sign a restaurant is going to close - a non restaurant person (Lexington County Council member) open a restaurant and show peole how to do it right. I have seen doctors, lawyers, etc.. (people with money to burn) open places to show how its done only to make the "Columbia Closings" list in under a year.
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Brian- Sticky Fingers has already bitten the dust.
Tom
30 May 09 at 9:45 am
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The Clusters of Whitehall opened I think back in 1969 or 1970. It was mainly for those of us that lived in WhiteHall, Challedon, St. Andrews Rd and other neighborhoods near the place. It was a rather jumping place when it first opened. The only stores I remember that were there originally was Dodd's, White Cross Drug Store, and I think Winn-Dixie but not sure. I dont remember what other stores were there due to it was 40 years ago or there of.
I was 10 or 11 at the time..and all I was interested in were what the new Hotwheels cars were.Del
30 May 09 at 11:09 am
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I think the name of the telemarketing company currently is called "Teleperformance". It may have changed though. Regardless, I believe they just finished remodeling, and have pretty much taken over the entire main building.
J.P.
30 May 09 at 3:00 pm
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i'm pretty sure the guy that owned "Gregory's" actually moved to Raleigh, NC.
if i remember correctly that was the place that had their pizzas as "buy one get one free"?
Michael
30 May 09 at 3:12 pm
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Good old Dodds 5 and Dime. I remember spending my allowance money on cheap toys made in Hong Kong. I bought a "mood ring" there as well as several 45's there (That's a vinyl record for you young people). I think it became a Revco drugstore sometime later. One of my first jobs was at Giant Food World. I don't think I lasted there too long. The pet shop was memorable and had a good assortment of pets. It's a real shame to see the demise of this mall and the St. Andrews area in general. There are still some gems in this area though. I think the Columbia's best new Mexican Restaurant just opened, Mi Tierra (in the old Little Mexico). Also Cecilia's and Zorbas in Seven Oaks Shopping Center are good restaurants. Harbor Freight and Tuesday Morning are fun places to visit.
John
30 May 09 at 11:04 pm
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Another memorable place in there was the bicycle shop. I grew up in Whitehall and in the early to mid 80's used to ride my bike up there a good bit.
Richard L
6 Jan 10 at 5:26 pm
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Bike Town. I got my first ten speed "Saxon" from there. Funny how you go back and see what you've posted seven months before and it's almost the same thing, without realizing it, although I got the name wrong in the May post. I was going to talk about the Oscars again!
Jonathan
6 Jan 10 at 5:33 pm
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Yep - Bike Town was it. :) I'm hoping to sometime see a write up on some of the old stuff in front of and Seven Oaks shopping center like Penny's Hamburgers, the German Restraunt / hotel that burned down, the standalone arcade that used to be there. Also of note to me was Cussin' Bills out by 26 and St. Andrews road.
Richard L
6 Jan 10 at 6:08 pm
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Yes, the Cloisters of Whitehall is a collection of townhomes at the 90 degree curve where Tram Rd. ends and Bush River Rd. starts. I can still see the little Cloisters sign along Bush River Rd. on Google Street View.
2 Mar 10 at 1:40 pm
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FWIW, I used to work at the pet store there in the 70's; The Aquarium and Pet Shop.
Sean Lally
Sean
3 Mar 10 at 3:33 pm
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How many remember the name of the "Drug" store that was originally at the Clusters of Whitehall when it first opened... anyone? It was called White Cross.
Del
3 Mar 10 at 5:21 pm
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The cloisters area used to be the Whitehall swim and racquet club for us lucky people that lived in Whitehall, it had a huge swimming pool a HIGH diving board !! and a regular diving board, and tennis court,,, the pool is still there for the apartments. thanx tedd for this website,, brings back awesome memories
budd
2 Jun 10 at 12:59 am
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This place, which I still think of as Clusters of Whitehall is acutally called St. Andrews Center
I remember the Gregory's to Go that others mentioned and even recall doing there with my mom one time to pick something up and wearing some tiger slippers I had at the time and a someone else complimented me on them...
My mom is a big fan of Tuesday Morning and enjoys the variety of deals she finds from time to time at said store.
At Tram & St. Andrews Road on the side opposite St. Mary's Episcopal Church is the neighborhood called Whitehall which also borders into Seven Oaks Park...
I don't remember The Fresh Market very well but my brother used to ride his bike to it and get their key lime tarts...
Back in the 90s, if you look at the site plan ) I've linked earlier, here's what my memory says was where
100: Tuesday Morning ** moved into their current spot ≈1999-2003, but not 100% sure when **
* Gregory's to Go was in the rectangular area towards the top of the file *
70: fmr. The Fresh Market...it's one of my pipe dreams to have Columbia get another Fresh Market
50: Revco (moved to 100 Outlet Pointe Blvd. and became CVS at the time of CVS's buyout in 1997)
160: Grand Computers*, Obama Campaign Headquarters
* Grand Computers, after a stint at 4350 St. Andrews Road (The Shoppes at St. Andrews) is now open on US#1 Lexington in the same shopping center as Antonia's and is within 0.25 miles of Lexington High School.Andrew
4 Jun 11 at 10:53 pm
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Is Whitehall TV still open across the street?
JBL
5 Jun 11 at 12:47 am
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Iy appears to be going somehow but the tiems I pass it it appears as if nobody's home
Andrew
5 Jun 11 at 11:47 pm
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Drug emporium (sp?) use to be there also.
kathy
25 Jun 11 at 3:33 pm
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Wasn't there a clothing store in Clusters called Glad Rags owned by Mrs. Hallinan? It carried teen clothing. Groovy stuff.
Gert
27 Apr 13 at 10:38 pm
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Teleperformance used to be Calltech, where I briefly worked Helldesk for their BellSouth DSL account. They were also contracted to do Teleschool for Bob Jones U homeschool program.
SJeffcoat
18 May 13 at 12:43 pm
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My family owned Gregory’s To Go and started it in 1989 in the Clusters of Whitehall. We had BOGO free pizza, St. Louis style BBQ Ribs, Seven Layer Lasagna, BBQ Chicken, and our famous Greek Salads and Breadsticks. My dad, Lee, mom Teddy, brother Gregory and I were the owner operators until we sold it in 1994. We moved to Michigan for another business opportunity. I left there and moved to Chapel Hill, NC and now own a couple of New York Pizzerias in Durham, NC. Dad passed away in 2006 and mom passed a year ago. Those were great times for us at Gregory’s To Go, and we loved our faithful devoted customers who supported our family business. So glad you all have memories of our restaurant. I remember when they added the second building across the way around 1991. The center wasn’t at all in decline at that time. In fact, it was growing especially when Tuesday Morning came into their space.
Elia
30 Dec 19 at 12:13 am
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Does anyone remember the name of the candy store that opened sometime in the 80's?
Amy Henderson
20 Mar 21 at 3:06 pm
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I remember going to the Ice Cream Shop (ironically called The Ice Cream Shoppe) there while my mom got a perm at the beauty salon there. Also remember buying a hamster at the pet shop there. He lived to be almost 6 years old. Most hamsters live 2-3 years.
Mike M.
27 Mar 21 at 9:34 pm
I forgot all about "Gregory's to go" until I saw it in this post, but I remember they had really good food at one time. Seems like they had an excellent greek salad IIRC.