Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

You'll recall that we discussed the announcement a few months back about how Sears & Kmart have announced a round of store closings which largely left South Carolina stores (except for Sumter) untouched.

Well, I was recently in Fernandina Beach, and found that their Kmart is one of the ones which got the ax. The store is on Sadler Road, which is the first major connector between 8th Street (the bridge road onto the island) and the beach, an area which is in general doing *quite* well, with lots of new upscale shops (both there and on the other side of the bridge).

When I was growing up, Fernandina was still quite a small town, and this would have been a major blow. Now there is a Wal-Mart a few blocks away, and Target within a mile.

The store is still open for now, and while the inventory is starting to hollow out and the vacant space to spread (as in the Dutch Square Kmart) there is still while until the final days when the fixtures start to go..

UPDATE 10 October 2012 -- As these pictures from 5 August 2012 show, the place is closed and all the logos and branding is gone:

UPDATE 7 October 2019: Add map icon, update tags.

UPDATE 22 December 2021 -- The main part of this store is now a Bealls, and has been for a good while. The garden center part of the store is now an Eat The Frog Fitness, which is new within the past year:

This State story from 29 January 2012 says that Bath & Body Works

[I]s in the process of closing as its lease expires.

Which makes me fairly comfortable listing the closing date as 31 January 2012.

I've never stepped into a Bath & Body Works, as I don't have a lot of requirements for a bath other than soap, but I always had an impression that it was kind of a scrappy chain since the only two I was aware of were this one in Richland Mall and one in Inlet Square Mall in Murrells Inlet. Neither mall could be called prime real estate, but the stores hung in there for years.

The Richland Mall store was at the edge of the food court (which is down to one restaurant) and just past the old S & S Cafeteria.

Luckily, there are alternatives:

Scrappin' Creations is a scrap-booking operation that had a store at the Village At Sandhill right next to J.C. Penny. When I went by last week, it appeared that the place may now be a police office, or at least there was some sort of sign in there about police. (I didn't look real close because it would be awkward sticking my nose against the window and taking pictures if there were police in there looking out at me..)

Scrappin' Creations itself is still around and organizing events and trips. Their blog is here and they have a Facebook page as well.

(Hat tip to commenter Elizabeth)

(The pictures aren't that great -- I was shooting ISO 3200, when I could have gotten by with 1600 or even 800).

The State says that this Abercrombie & Fitch in Columbiana Mall shuttered on 14 January 2012 as part of a bad-economy driven process that has already closed the King Street store in Charleston, and will close the Greenville store this weekend (28 January 2012). [The Myrtle Beach store in Coastal Grand Mall will remain open for now].

A&F is not a store I've ever entered, though I was pretty sure they sell clothes, and a glance at their web site confirms that. The only association I have with the name is an old joke/shaggy-dog-story that I heard parts of in the 70s that ended with

You can call me X, you can call me Y, but you doesn't has to call me Abercrombie!

Apparently the mall will make good this loss when a store called Love Culture opens this summer. This is another clothing store, but apparently for women only. The current tagline on their site

On the hunt for cute clothes!

and the two somewhat campy, retro graphics suggest a fairly young demo.

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Well, this little Harden Street storefront has had more activity over the years than I was really aware of.

I vaguely recall Leon's Bookstore and think I went in there once or twice, though I can't recall actually buying anything. It seems that Leon was a last name, not a first name and technically has an acute accent over the 'o'. This record from the Secretary of State's office indicates that the store set up shop (or filed papers at any rate) in December of 1989, and dissolved through forfeiture in November of 1994.

I know nothing about Moxie Gift Gallery other than it comes up in google searches for "631-C Harden"

The Oops Company is a catalog clothing store which apparently moved to 601 Harden Street, and is still there. I figured from the name that it was a factory-seconds store, but that appears not to be the case.

Finally, the current vacancy is due to the closing of Five Points Nails and Spa. According to The Columbia Star they filed for a zoning variance on 8 September 2009, giving them a run of a bit over two years in this spot.

(Hat tip to commenter Mike D)

Hardcore Tennis was a tennis stringing and apparel store in the old Ben & Jerry's location on Devine Street. The building as a whole (2901 Devine Street) has had quite a few turnovers in recent years, including the aforementioned ice cream shop, Birds On A Wire, and Simply Savory.

Judging by their web site (which has lots of good pictures), Hardcore was the Columbia branch of a still existing Atlanta operation. This 20 December 2011 blog post mentions the closing of the Columbia store, but says local stringing will still be available into April.

Of course, I still think if you want fun game with racquets and a net, badminton is the way to go.

(Hat tip to commenter south mauldin)

I'm not sure what Disorderly Conduct was. Google seems to think it was either a gift shop or a hookah lounge (or the arrest of a USC football player). I suppose if you combine those you would get something like a head shop (any mention of "hemp" always points in that direction as well..). At any rate, it was entirely off my radar though I must have seen it numerous times.

I hope the neon peace sign finds a good home, that looks as though it would be nice.

(Hat tip to commenter Mike D)

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I don't know how I suffered this mental lapse, but somehow I convinced myself that on the day after Christmas, the Christmas rush would be over, and it would once more be safe to hit the Harbison area. Bad call!

I came up Harbison from Saint Andrews Road, and that wasn't so bad. Neither was getting into the circle for Columbiana Centre. Getting out was the hard part. It took me half an hour to merge into the counterclockwise outbound traffic and work my way to the Columbiana Drive exit. In between arriving and leaving, the mall itself was as packed as I've ever seen any mall. I guess I have been "spoiled" by the nearly empty expanses of Richland Mall, Columbia Mall and Dutch Square. I guess that makes Columbiana Centre Columbia's success story, but it doesn't make me want to go there again any time soon..

At any rate, Payless Shoe Source were in their final few days and were selling everything down to the store fixtures in preparation for clothing store Forever 21 to expand into their spot. In years past, it's always seemed to me that shoe stores are the most over-representated category in malls, but perhaps that's now changing.

UPDATE 27 February 2019: Add tags and map icon.

(Hat tip to commenter Dustin)