Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I took some daytime pictures of this site, but the sun was against me from the side I was on, and they didn't come out well at all.

Anyway, this building comes up here from time to time, and I've been meaning to do a post on it. The only prior history I knew was Miami Subs Grill which was there at least until 1998. I don't know why i never stopped there. Partly I think because I was living out of town at the time Miami was in business, and I didn't want to take a chance on a place I didn't know versus hitting my known good spots and partly because the name just didn't grab me. When I think "Miami", sandwiches aren't really part of the image that comes to mind, and if I did have to guess at a Miami sandwich specialty, I would have guessed some sort of pressed Cuban sandwich -- subs didn't really enter into it, so it was sort of like seeing a place called New Jersey Grits.

Splendid China was the next tenant, and has been there for quite a while now. Driving by at lunchtime today, it appeared they were doing an excellent business.

Commenter Jimmy provides the D'Lites and Vision Center parts of the building's pre-Miami history, which I don't recall at all.

(Hat tip, obviously, to commenter Jimmy.)

UPDATE 9 July 2010: Added "Salisbury" to "Vision Center" in the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 8 October 2025: Update tags and add map icon. Add State article from commenter Midnight Rambler.

Commenter Midnight Rambler sends this articl from The State on 17 January 1986:

Well, it appears the North Main Deli is no more. I never stopped there, and don't know a lot about the place, but from the sign on their door, it appears to be another casualty of the times. I believe the former Cici's Pizza from Decker is moving in next door, so I guess it's lose one, win one for this block of Main.

As a total aside, does anyone know if "North Main" is an official name? If you live on this section of Main Street, do you get your mail as "XXXX North Main Street", or just "XXXX Main Street"? I've seen it both ways, and I never know how to list the correct addresses in post titles and the alphabetical list.

(Hat tip to commenter Marsha.)

Get out there and hold some truths to be self evident!

And grill some hot dogs.

This is vacation phase 1, probably no posting for several days.

Well, this is interesting. I wrote about this building before under the mistaken impression that it was part of the old Quality Inn / Travelodge Suites property at 1539 Horseshoe Drive. As it turns out, I was wrong. This building was a totally seperate operation, and was just a typical office building.

Except that it turns out that one of the offices was used by the infamous 3 Hebrew Boys investment scam operation. In fact, according to this affidavit, two of the 3HB were actually arrested at this location.

Of course what got me to revisit this location and google the address was the fact that as I was driving by recently, I saw that it had almost totally burned down. Apparently this happened on 26 April, and here is what the appointed receiver for 3HB has to say about it:

On April 26, 2010 at approximately 1:00 pm, Richland County firefighters responded to a smoke alarm signal received from the office building located at 1529 Horseshoe Drive, Columbia, SC. The building is presently titled in the name of Daniel Development Group , LLC and was once used as the headquarters for Capital Consortium Group, LLC, a business among others that is referred to as the "Three Hebrew Boys". The building has been under the control of the Receiver since October 2007. The building and all contents therein were completely destroyed by the fire and has unofficially been determined to be a total loss. All computers and documents have been stored off-site since the Receiver took possession of the building in October 2007. The building was being managed by a reputable property management company, fully insured and continuously monitored by a security company. The Receiver will make a claim immediately with the Hartford Insurance Company for the full value of the building with the insurance proceeds going to the benefit of the victims.

Of course not everybody has gotten the news, and the building is still listed for sale on Loopnet.

There's an older picture there, and here are my pix from the other post I mentioned, which still have all the legal verbiage posted on the doors:

Read the rest of this entry »

"Your Host From Coast-to-Coast"

I went looking for this building on Knox Abbott last year, and as far as I can tell, there is nothing at that address now. The postcard certainly makes what appears to be a rather nondescript building look impressive by adding a sharp car and elegant model, even if there is perhaps a touch too much of "the old South" in the pose chosen.

My experience with Holiday Inns over the years has been mixed. I currently seek out the Holiday Inn Express sites, which seem to be uniformly good. The "regular" HIs can be a mixed bag. The one I used to go to quite often in DC invariably had the freeze/bake thermostat system, and at least once seemed to have gotten the cold and hot water pipes running to my room backwards (though luckily, hot was at best "tepid" in that case).

I've never been in The Bohemian though some of the merchandise I could see through the windows on Sunday looked kind of interesting. The vibe of Devine Street is rather distinct from the rest of Columbia, and somehow, since the days of taking piano lessons at Haven's music and talking to Herman the bird at The Aquarium & Pet Shop I haven't really spent much shopping there.

At any rate, it appears The Bohemian has found new digs about half a block towards the Capitol from its former location at 2736/2738 Devine to its new one at 2720 Devine.

This distinctive building is on Beltline between Rosewood and Devine Street. I don't know if they were the original tenant, but for many years it was an office supply store. I never went there myself, as I was living out of town for most of the time between when I started using "office equipment" (essentially printers in my case) and when I started buying supplies online. I'm pretty sure my sister did find a ribbon for the antique Brother "Diablo 630 compatible!" daisy-wheel printer I set her up with. Those things had a really unique machine-gun type staccato sound they made as the wheel spun and the solenoid hammerd the letters onto the page. I found the fan-fold paper feed almost impossible to adjust correctly such that it wouldn't gradually mangle the paper..

Anyway, the place was in the 1998 phonebook, but I believe Dollar General has been there pretty much for most of this century.

This storefront on Parklane across from K-Mart, started as a Chappy's Fish & Chips, but after that, I don't believe there was ever another restaurant in it, and the place took an automotive turn, a trajectory which it is still more or less on. Given the number of car lots that have come and gone along the Two Notch Corridor over the years, and the way title-loan places pop up everywhere, I wonder if turning cars into money isn't a more stable business model than turning money into cars..

Here's another recent vacancy in Boozer Shopping Center. I don't know if it's just coincidence, but there were a number of storefronts that moved out at more or less the same time, including The Book Dispensary, Gift's of Love and this one, Ron Grahams Allergy Center.

I don't know much about the place, but the full name is Ron Graham Allergy & Air Quality Center Inc, they can help you filtering all the allergens from your home air, and they are now out in Lexington on Sunset Drive near the Target and McAlister's Deli.

This move leaves Boozer at least three storefronts to replace on the north side of the center.