Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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Well, it's back today to the trailer strip-mall on Two Notch across from the K-Mart.

I'm pretty sure this trailer was a number of things over the years, but the one sure hit I'm currently pulling up is for All American Title Loans, Inc..

According to these public notices from 2005 it was definitely still in business then, and I think it lasted a number of years after that, but I'm away from my old phonebooks right now, so I'll just put the closing date as "late 2000s".

There is an interesting little strip mall on Two Notch Road in Dentsville just east of the intersection with Decker Boulevard.

Somewhat like the old Boardwalk Plaza on Bush River Road, this strip is made up of trailers and prefab utility buildings rather than permanent structures. In the case of Boardwalk it was because they always thought new I-26 construction would interfere with the space. In this case, I don't know the reason, but I've always assumed that building codes (and perhaps good construction methods in themselves) don't allow permanent buildings to be built so close to the elevated railbed which carries trains up to the trestle over Decker Boulevard.

At any rate, for whatever the reason, this trailer housed a barber shop for many years. I actually went there three or four times over the years when I would really need a cut, and missed the hours at my regular barbers'.

Although the sign doesn't mention it, the old phonebook listings make clear that you could learn your trade there as well as getting your hair cut.

This Dentsville mattress store is listed in the February 2011 phonebook (along with one on Augusta Road), but neither is in the February 2012 phonebook.

Meanwhile, there are lots of spare mattresses at the Ramada Inn.

I almost forgot to get pictures of this McDonalds at High Point On Decker which has been closed the last month or so for a complete remodel/rebuild. In fact, I did forget until it is already open again for drive-through traffic. The dining room should be re-opened in the next few weeks.

I notice that the Chick-Fil-A down the street by Decker Mall is being remodeled as well.

I kind of screwed up the pre-closing pictures of Continental Bar & Grill by splitting them between the closings for Zorba's and Patrones (largely because I forgot about Patrones, I think..). Anyway, most of them are duplicated above, along with shots from 11 July 2012 confirming that the place is definitely now defunct (something that apparently happened quickly enough to keep the patio umbrellas from being bussed..)

I don't know anything about this incarnation of the old Captain's Kitchen building other than it was a Mexican restaurant and lounge apparently run by and for Mexican expats, and that it didn't last too long.

UPDATE 26 September 2013 -- Well, *something* is happening here:

Books Revisited was the follow-on operation to the Two Notch location of The Book Dispensary, and occupied the same space in Tillman's Plaza near the Two Notch K-Mart. I believe they also used all the shelving, counter and other fixtures left over from The Book Dispensary so the shops looked very similar.

In the event, I only stopped by Books Revisited once. I browsed the Science Fiction section, and picked up a couple of Berserker books by Fred Saberhagen who had at the time just recently passed away. The staff was friendly, and the place was comfortable: well lighted and not cramped -- there used to be some real dives I surfed for used books in. So why didn't I go back? Well, I certainly hadn't ruled out doing so, but I think it's the old story of internet disintermediation and getting what you want vs serendipity and getting what you didn't know you wanted. As things stand now, I can probably get any paperback that pops into my head for a few cents on Amazon (though it will cost more to have it shipped..) rather than looking around town in the hopes I might find it, and I find that as I get older, I seem to have less and less time and interest in plowing through stock. It used to be that I would go to Woolworth's and check every LP in the cut-out bin, or check every book in the Science Fiction and Humor sections at The Book Dispensary or The Paperback Exchange or George's. I found a lot of treasures that way, and wouldn't take any of those hours back, but I'm just not willing to do it anymore. And I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect, unfortunately for places like this, that a lot of other people aren't either.

(Hat tip to commenter Brandi)

This little building, across from the Sphinx station and obviously a family home at one time, has been on Decker for many years. I think that in the 1970s it was one of that street's many massage parlors (or "massage" parlors), but I can't verify that without a trip to the library. At any rate, the tailoring shop was there from the mid 2000s at least, until earlier this year, when the touch changed from "magic" to "professional" and it became Pro Touch Tax & Accounting Services.

Well, here's another Fred's closing, this one on the other side of town from the Sunset Boulevard store. Notice how both stores have a big roadside sandwich board saying "This Location Only!". I did not see any "X Days Left" sign, so I'm not sure how much longer this store will be open.

The Fred's strip mall, Fashion Place, at the corner of Decker Boulevard and Trenholm Road Extension is no stranger to closings, having shown up here for Cici's Pizza, Gabby's Pizza, Phar-Mor, Superpetz, and The Italian Oven.

UPDATE 12 July 2012 -- Gone! Don't know what the duct-work issue is..

Well, it's unclear to me exactly when the hammer finally dropped, but all the remaining private businesses are now out of Decker Mall. I decided to stop by last week, and found that once I was inside, the only occupied space was the Dentsville Magistrate's office, and that most of the mall is now cordoned off by wire fencing in advance of the place being remodeled to house a bunch of Richland County Government offices.

I've written in various places about Decker Mall tenants, and thus in passing about the mall itself, but I've never done an entry for the mall per se.

In the beginning, Decker and Bush River malls were twins, with both being laid out as a strip anchored on one end by Richway (with the distinctive triangles on top) and on the other end by Kroger. The only real difference was that Bush River had a multiplex and Decker did not.

I'm not sure when Decker Mall opened, but it was definitely while I was in High School, probably around 1977. At the time, Columbia Mall was thriving, and just a few blocks away, so from the get-go, Decker had to find a different focus. With a discount store as one anchor, and a grocery as the other, the stores in the interior between the two tended to be smaller national chains, local chains, and one-off locals. Apart from clothing and other stores that didn't catch my teenage eye at all, I can recall Gateway Books, Flipside Records & Tapes, and my favorite, The Land of Oz video arcade.

After the Richway chain folded, Gold Circle took that anchor spot, and then when they folded, Target moved in. As far as I could tell, they always did a good business, but at some point a general mania struck Decker Boulevard businesses and they all begain a flight to Nort East Two Notch Road regardless whether there was still a customer base at the original location. When both Target and Kroger joined the flight, the writing was not only on the wall for Decker Mall (that wall had been scribbled for years..) but now it was etched in.

A number of local businesses that didn't rely on foot traffic held on there for years, but the last is now gone, and the next phase of life for the mall, if not *as* a mall is about to begin.

I have gone through a number of old city directories at the RCPL and have come of with this list of tenants for various years:

1977:

Does not list a mall at 2500, just Richway Stores.

1978:

• Decker Mall Shopping Center
• Richway Inc
• Richway Auto Center
• Ann & Andy Fashions
• Fashion Bug of Bush River Inc
• Dipper Dan Ice Cream Shop
• The Peanut Shack
• Country Corner gift shop
• Reflections
• Fayva Shoes
• Good Health Food & Nutrition
• Jenkins Flower Botique Inc
• Manufacturings Outlet Shoes
• Land of Oz
• The News Room (restaurant & lounge)
• Command Performance
• Yummy Yogurt
• Flipside Records & Tapes
• Kroger Sav On Food & Drugs

1979:

• Decker Mall Shopping Center
• Richway Inc
• Richway Auto cener
• Fashion Bug of Bush River Inc
• Country Corner
• Reflections (men's clothes)
• Gateway Books
• Fayva Shoes
• Jenkins Flowers & Bride's Place
• Manufactures [sic] Outlet Stores (shoes & clothes)
• Land of Oz
• Command Performance
• Harvey's Warehouse (stereo equipment wholesale)
• Flipside Records & Tapes
• Kroger Sav On Food & Drugs
• Kroger Sav On Pharmacy

1983:

• Decker Mall Shopping Center
• Richway Inc
• Richway Auto Center
• Arnold's Formal Wear
• Four Seasons
• Mill Fabrics
• The Micro Shop
• The Shoe Tree
• Land Of Oz
• Command Performance
• Flipside Records & Tapes
• Kroger Sav-On Food & Drugs
• Video Ventures
• Melody Music Center
• Olan Mills Inc
• Rush's Fast Foods

1988:

• Cola Magic & Customs Shop (theatrical supplies & equipment)
• Decker Mall Shopping Center
• Gold Circle
• Four Seasons
• China City
• Command Performance
• Kroger Sav-On Food & Drugs
• Stone Works Home of The Dirt Cheap Mine (jewelery specialty)
• Melody Music Center
• First Federal of South Carolina (in Kroger?)
• Olan Mills Inc
• Rush's Fast Foods
• State Department of Highways & Public Transportation
• Columbia Magic & Costume Shop
• Magic & Miracles Productions
• Pettit William H Agency (talent agency)
• Expert Alterations & Fine Mending

1993:

• Target
• China City
• Kroger Sav-On Food & Drugs
• First Savings Of South Carolina (in Kroger?)
• Rush's Fast Foods
• State Department of Highways & Public Transportation
• Expert Alterations & Fine Mending

1998:

• Branch Banking & Trust Co (in Kroger? in Target?)
• Carolina First Corporation (where?)
• China City of Columbia
• Expert Alterations
• Kroger Drugs
• Rush's Food Systems
• Target Store

2003:

• Healthy Home Foods Inc
• Legends Security & Sound
• Little China Buffet
• Pup's Barber Shop Express
• Rush's
• Special Occasions (catering)
• Expert Alterations
• Precisely Yours (beauty salon)
• Changing Faces (beauty salon)
• New Life World Ministries

2008:

• Arcadia Self Storage
• Legends Security & Sound
• Little China Buffet
• Division of Motor Vehicles
• Nunies Mini Stand (convenience)
• Richland County Magistrate
• Rush's
• Special Occasions
• D & T Fashions
• Expert Alterations
• Changing Phaces (beauty salon)
• New Life World Ministries

2011:

• Extra Space Storage
• Shekinah Glory Family Care (childcare)
• Special Occasions (banquet rooms)
• Legends Security & Sound
• Division of Motor Vehicles
• Richland County Magistrate
• Expert Alterations
• New Look New U (beauty salon)
• Rush's

Note that some time between 1988 and 1993, the mall offices stop being listed, so perhaps the mall as a corporate entitiy was gone by that point. Note also that Rush's and China City/Little China are outparcels.

Here is Sky City's writeup on Decker Mall, and following are pictures and links from my other Decker Mall posts.

My post discussing the county purchase.

Kroger:

DMV:

Land of Oz:

Richway / Gold Circle / Target:

I know I have some other Decker Mall pictures around, and I will add those as I find them.

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