Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

As reported by The State this venerable hotel at the corner of Main & Lady Streets will be converted into a upscale condo called The Palms with 54 "resort-style" units. They will also have a view of what is apparently the only pool on Main Street.

Given that the article talks about the developer struggling to find financing for the project for several years, and the fact that the Rodeway Inn is listed in the Feb 2011 phonebook, I can only guess that the developer owned the property and continued to run it as a hotel until things came together. I admit to being surprised how long it lasted as a mid-to-lower-mid market motel in an area that if it gets anyone (after all who in the general population wants to visit Columbia and stay on Main Street?) would get high-roller business and government connected types.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

UPDATE 26 May 2012: Here's a State article on the opening of The Palms.

UPDATE 9 October 2024: Add map icon, update tags.

I found a number of different names for this building at the corner of North Main and Belleview Circle. As they all seem to relate to jobs or contracting, I have to wonder if at one time or another it was operating under several monikers simultaneously.

The street sign, which I would assume represents the most recent operation reads

North Main Street Construction Office
(LJ, Inc. General Contractors) (City of Columbia SC)

This sounds like the City hired LJ on an official basis, especially since the city seal is present. Perhaps it had something to do with the North Main Street roadwork of the past few years.

I was having lunch at Panera in Sandhill Saturday when I heard someone in an adjacent booth talking about a clothing store that had closed shop recently. I didn't catch the name, but when I stepped outside I saw that it must have been Talbots on the other side of the street that sparked the conversation.

As I hate shopping for clothes in general, and am even more clueless about women's clothes, I really had no mental picture of where Talbots fit on the retail map. A bit of googling however revealed that it is a somewhat upscale chain largely for women over 30, and has been struggling financially for a while now.

There 's an old story, probably apocryphal, about a feed company that hired a top ad agency to design a campaign to sell its dog food. The ads were brilliant, won awards and everyone loved them, but sales plummeted. The company finally hired a troubleshooter who investigated and issued a succinct report: "The dogs don't like the dog food".

The Wall Street Journal gives as delicate a version of that quote as I have ever heard in the words of Talbots's CEO:

The predominant factors impacting our results were an inconsistent customer response to our merchandise assortments..

The article also goes on to posit a lose/lose situation:

The apparel retailer has been trying to freshen the look of its merchandise and broaden its appeal beyond its core audience of older women. But the approach may be turning them off while also not bringing in new customers.

Other papers speculate that the chain may be heading for a takeover, and mention that it is closing 110 of its 568 stores.

Talbots had three stores in the Columbia area. This one, one on Forest Drive and one on Saint Andrews Road. I drove by the Forest Drive store this evening and it is still there. I have not been by the Irmo location.

I was at Schlotzsky's on Parklane having lunch today when a guy came in looking for the DMV. Naturally, I sent him across Two Notch to Decker Mall: D'oh!

I realized my mistake as I drove down O'Neil Court just a little later, and saw that the DMV had relocated to the old Pro Golf of Columbia location in The Shops of O'Neil Court.

I suspect this has something to do with the purchase of Decker Mall by Richland County, though I would have expected the two different levels of government to work out a deal of some sort for the space.

Well, Blue Sky Gallery isn't actually closed yet, but it's already in the news and I took the pictures when I went looking for Mary...

Unless you have a special interest in art, or have a friend who's an artist, Blue Sky is probably the only Columbia artist you can think of and his work has been prominently displayed around town for ages. The first Blue Sky piece I can remember is still my favorite (and probably the favorite of many Columbians): the Road-Runner-ish Trompe-l'œil Tunnel Vision.

The same parking lot off of Taylor Street has his other best known work, which people either love or hate: the giant fire hydrant. Personally, I like it.

The State article says (or implies) that he and his wife are closing the gallery to concentrate on international sales, though at 72 I wouldn't be surprised if he just wants to retire.

(Hat tip to commenter Mike D)

Well, Summer is back, and the Free Times' Best of Columbia poll is here again!

I'm not sure how they pick their categories, but once again local blogs are going up against WIStv.com, which is somewhat akin to The S.S. Minnow going up against The Starship Enterprise (Kirk's, not Picard's!)...

Still, if you like columbiaclosings.com, don't hesitate to vote in category "6": Best Local Website or Blog - News. Put in a good word for your favorite shops, restaurants, hangouts parks etc as well.

I had not really been aware of Mary, a small women's clothing store in Five Points until commenter Mike D pointed out that it had closed.

It's an interestingly non-descript name for a store, not even a possessive as in Mary's. For that matter, the sign is nearly impossible to see for the trees during the summer months.

It appears that another clothing store, the neighboring Wish at 719 Saluda Avenue is ready to move up the street into the old Mary location soon.

(Hat tip to commenter Mike D.)

The LoopNet listing for this building describes it as having one space availabile. The realtor listing which I found and lost in a thunderstom crash described it as "vacant". I'm not sure if that means the Council has moved or closed shop. There appears to be a sign taped to the door that I should have gone and looked at, but I somehow missed noticing that while I was over there.

(Hat tip to commenter tonkatoy)

UPDATE 23 June 2011: Added South Carolina Employement Security Commision to the post title based on comments by Bo & tonkatoy.

I seem to end up taking Pinestraw to Fontaine to I-20 quite a bit, and would notice this little book and gift shop from time to time as I started angling for the left turn lane. A while ago I noticed that I wasn't noticing it..

The property is sandwiched between Satchel Ford and Two Notch just past Mr. Muffler and semi-across from Rogers Car Stereo in a hilly lot that is a little hard to get in and out of. I took a closer shot somewhere, and will add it when it turns up, but my memory is that Suite-D is the far right slot in the building.

I did a closing for this building a while back starting as Antonio's Restaurant and going through a number of different nightclubs and strip clubs.

At the time I made that post, the building seemed to be operating as Club Ego (despite the Studio 54 sign still being up). Since that time, Club Ego apparently shut down, and Club Colorz opened and shut.

I'm putting the closing date for Club Colorz as December 2010 because the flyers posted by the door talk about Christmas events (though I am not nearly hip enough to understand the contests being described), but not New Years events.

The building still has power, and is lighted nightly, so I presume there will be a new club by and by.

UPDATE 4 September 2011 -- It's now Laguna Sports Bar: