Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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)

Here's another old-school five and dime type operation on Main Street, right next to Silver's.

I'm not sure I ever went into McCrory's. Certainly it was already in decline when I was growing up, and for that type of retail, we were more likely to go to Woolworth's at Richland Mall, Dodd's at Forest Lake or Rose's at Trenholm Plaza.

My memory is that it did survive up to my college years in the early 1980s, and that it then tried to morph into a Family Dollar type operation which did not last long.

This Loopnet listing is interesting in that it has an optimistic artist's rendition of the building converted into

Renovated 31,000 SF of Class A office space for sale or lease. Suites available from 1,500 SF to 30,000 SF.

That is slated for 2011, but I don't think I've ever seen work going on at the site, and it looks rather sad right now with all the plywood.

UPDATE 19 March 2010: Added Revco Drugs to the post title based on the comments (and verified in the 1998 phonebook).

UPDATE 21 September 2012 -- These pictures from 12 January 2012 show work on the site:

Stuffy's was a sandwich shop in the University Corner retail block at Main & Devine streets, across the street from the old Towers dorms (now the new Honor's Dorms).

This picture was taken recently walking up the hill on Devine Street from Assembly Street, and is of the back side of the Stuffy's building. (The front side sign is gone). I might have walked up on the landing to get a better shot, but just as I had finished taking this one, someone walked out onto the landing to take a smoke-break. I presume this was one of the servers from Al-Amir, which now occupies the 629 Main Street space. For some reason, I neglected to get a new picture of the front, but you can see the space (rather poorly) at the University Corner link above.

I have to admit that I never ate at Stuffy's. I'm not sure why except that while I was in college I was on the "meal ticket" plan which put me at The Russell House and Capstone more often than anywhere else. Also, the sandwich I want is rarely exactly what's on a menu-board. From google, it appears that there are still Stuffy's open in Richmond Virginia. This is the only web page I could find. It's not very good, but it is good enough to confirm that the Main Street Stuffy's was in the same chain -- I can remember that guy-eating-a-sandwich from the Columbia ads.

UPDATE 27 December 2012: Corespondent wblood1 sends this 1980 picture of Stuffy's and The Big Bird. You can also see a bit of the demolished 7-11 on the left:

This Dunkin' Donuts storefront, to go into the old Capitol Cafe site, was announced with more than a bit of fanfare in The State on 24 June 2008.

Since that's about a year and a half ago, and since there has been no apparent work done at the site since the sign went up, I think it's fair to conclude that this is not going to happen..

UPDATE 26 Jan 2011 -- Well, all the Dunkin' branding is gone, and work has progressed. It's got some fancy looking hanging lights in there, but whenever I tried to get a closer look at what was going on inside, I got dripped all over from some sort of overhead leak:

I'm not really sure when this KFC closed, but the property looks so distressed that I'm putting it in the early 2000s rather than the last couple of years. I've never been a fan of chicken (or any other bird, come to that), so I have no standing to criticize the chain, but I always felt it was rather pusillanimous to change the official name from Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC: You sell fried chicken! Stand up for it! (I also didn't like the commercials with the animated Colonel -- I remember the real Colonel in commercials, and it seems disrespectful of your founder to make a cartoon out of him now that he's gone..).

The only other thing I have to say about KFC in general is that every time I see the "Livers & Gizzards" signage up, I think 'Lewis Grizzard'.

It seems a bit odd that there seems to be no attempt to sell the property, or at least I saw no "For Sale" signs in evidence.

UPDATE 7 Jan 2010: Comments say I was wrong about the closing period, so I have changed the post title date from 'early 2000s' to 'late 2000s'.

UPDATE 30 January 2016 -- It's now China Wing Basket:

I think I vaguely remember the Varsity Restaurant being open, but never ate there. It was apparently a fixture in Columbia for decades. The old building is in sad disrepair, and seems to have been remodelled several times, judging by this postcard shot at flikr.

The 1970 Yellow Pages ad pitches the pizza, so I guess they were trying to stay current in a changing world -- that certainly wouldn't have been on the menu in 1935. There is currently a Varsity D Jasz restaurnt nearby the old Varsity (at 1212 Sunset Drive, almost at the corner of North Main and Sunset), but I have no idea if its related to the old one at all. It appears to be a small lunch-counter type operation.

UPDATE 6 Feb 2013 -- It looks as though somebody started renovations on the old Varsity building, but didn't get too far before the city stopped them:

UPDATE 13 July 2014 -- final days (pix from 10 November 2013):

UPDATE 15 July 2014 Buh-bye! (pix from 5 April 2014):

The Wade Hampton Hotel was a fixture across from The Capitol when I was growing up, although I don't believe I ever set foot inside. The place had a "I was built in the 1940s" look which is enhanced by the marquee shown in one picture identifying the place rather antiquely as Hotel Wade Hampton rather than The Wade Hampton Hotel.

There was a restaurant inside the hotel called Maxim's which I have an ad for somewhere that I have not got around to scanning. It was to the effect that 5 Million Frenchmen are going to the wrong Maxim's!.

By the 70s, the hotel was on a downward slide as national chains built newer properties in more convienient locations as downtown lost its pull and the Interstates came through. By the time I started college at USC in 1980, the hotel had gone under and was being leased by the University as dormitory space much in much the same fashion as Benedict's ill-fated leasing of the old Quality Inn. I don't know if similar safety considerations in the aging building brought that situation to an end or if USC just built sufficient new space (I think Bates came online about that time), but at any rate the arrangement was terminated, and nothing took its place, so the building was finally demolished in the early 80s. I think it was an early morning implosion, which I missed since I am not a morning person, but I could be wrong.

The hotel's place on the block was taken by the AT&T building (or whatever it is called now) and a new building just going up. (Was there something else there in between WH and the crooked looking glass building?)

The views from the Capitol steps are interesting. I had totally forgotten that there was parking in front of the Capitol. Also, the Colonial Life / American Sentinel / WOLO building is really hanging in there isn't it?

Finally google turns up this. This is largely a nostalgia site but lest the retro-spectacle lenses get too rosy, there's a lot to be said for the present as well.

UPDATE 8 Sept 2010: Added Wade Hampton matchbook scan.

UPDATE 25 October 2021: Add full street address to post title. Update tags. Change expired link to wayback machine link. Add map icon.

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Here's another Eckerd's that didn't survive into the Rite Aid era. This one is at the intersection of North Main and Sunset Drive and is now a Family Dollar. Not related to the store, but I've always disliked this intersection because just after it crosses Main, Sunset narrows to one lane with very little warning. I move into the left lane before crossing, but it seems as though someone always gets caught by surprise and wants to merge suddenly into my lane.

UPDATE 10 August 2020: Add map icon, update tags.

The original location on Rosewood Drive:

The final location on Main Street:

I've already done one post on this storefront which was the former home of Tio's Mexican Restaurant before its move to Sumter street.

Before Tio's, however, 928 Main Street was the home of The Basil Pot vegetarian restaurant. There may have been other vegetarian places in Columbia, but The Basil Pot was the most prominent. The place was founded in 1973 by Basil Garzia and was originally on Rosewood Drive before moving to Main Street. I don't know the exact year it closed, but one 2007 Free Times article mentions that it was "more than 3 years ago".

I could easily be a vegetarian if I didn't like meat. However, while I enjoy many meatless dishes, going to an actual vegetarian restaurant is something I've never done. I guess that's because I've always had the feeling that while I might go there (if I actually went) to enjoy a meal, the rest of the patrons might be there for deep philosophical reasons which it would annoy me to hear them discuss. Yep, I'm shallow.

I really can't think of a vegetarian restaurant in Columbia after the passing of The Basil Pot, though the new tenant Which Wich can make a decent veggie sandwich..

UPDATE 17 Nov 08: Thanks to commenter Dennis for the black and white picture of the original Basil Pot (and staff) on Rosewood!

UPDATE 21 December 2023: Fixed bad linke for Basil Garzia article, update tags, add the Rosewood street address & add map icon for the Main Street location.