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Archive for the ‘Columbiana Centre’ tag

Gap, 100 Columbiana Circle Suite 1230: 24 January 2023   4 comments

Posted at 10:58 pm in closing

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The Gap location in Columbiana Centre closed this week, leaving the brand with no locations in the Midlands.

Here is The State on the story, and The Post & Courier weighs in here. In particular, the P&C story mentions the mall shooting, about which I had already forgotten, which took place in the corridor outside the store -- I don't know if that were a factor in the closing as the chain has plenty of problems overall, but it can't have helped.

(Hat tip to commenter Lone Wolf)

Written by ted on January 26th, 2023

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American Deli, Columbiana Centre: January 2019   1 comment

Posted at 11:01 pm in closing

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American Deli replaced Burger King in this slot in the Columbiana Centre food court sometime around October of 2017. I'm guessing that it probably closed at the start of January 2019, as that would be a logical month/year boundry for a lease, and commenter Matthew Benjmain reported it closed as of 11 January 2019.

It looks like there are two remaining American Deli locations in the Midlands, one on Garners Ferry Road, and one on Decker Boulevard.

(Hat tip to commenter Matthew Benjmain)

Written by ted on February 6th, 2019

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Nestle Toll House Cafe, Columbiana Centre: Summer 2017   no comments

Posted at 10:26 pm in closing

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I noticed on my last trip to Columbiana to get a picture of the American Deli setup that across the food court, Nestle Toll House cafe was closed.

I don't think they are doing a revamp as the one at Sandhill did as they are no longer listed on the mall web site. It's been a while since I've stopped at at Toll House, but my experience has always been that the cookies are quite good.

Written by ted on October 12th, 2017

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Burger King, Columbiana Centre: Summer 2017   12 comments

Posted at 11:26 pm in closing

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As mentioned several times in Have Your Say, the Burger King at Columbiana Mall is closed "temporarily". There's not any explanation on the sign making that claim, and apparently it has been several months. Ordinarily after such a length of time, I might write off the sign as wishful thinking, but in this case the equipment clearly has not been stripped, so who knows.

Almost as soon as I got inside to take this picture, somebody pulled the fire alarm, and everybody headed for the exits.

(Hat tip to commenter Deb)

UPDATE 9 October 2017 -- As mentioned in the comments this spot is setting up to be an American Deli so I'm taking the "temporary" off the post title:

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UPDATE 6 February 2019: Change the location from "Columbiana Mall" to "Columbiana Centre". Add location icon.

Banana Republic, 100 Columbiana Circle: May 2017   4 comments

Posted at 12:11 am in closing

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I did not realize it, but Banana Republic is a sub-brand of The Gap and apparently both are in trouble. Though I have not found any news of a bankruptcy for the firm, they pulled out of the U.K. and have struggled with badly declining sales, leading to a number of store closures:

As consumer shopping habits have moved increasingly online, Banana Republic has struggled to carve out its niche to drive customers through the door. The biggest problem for the brand is its lack of clear, unique identity -- coupled with the rise of fast-fashion competitors like H&M, Zara, and Forever 21, said New York-based retail consultant, Bob Phibbs, CEO of Retail Doctor.

“The reality is no one has figured out who they are,” he said. “Gap is [a] forgettable brand, and that spills over to Banana Republic...they need to cut the number of SKUs, cut the number of employees, and justify why I should pay $90 for a shirt with something compelling and interesting.”

As an added tidbit, while I was googling around for Banana Republic, I came on the news that Gymboree may go Chapter 11 and close 350 stores. Brutal times in retail indeed.

(Hat tip to commenter Em)

Written by ted on May 19th, 2017

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Bebe, 100 Columbiana Circle Suite 1068:   no comments

Posted at 12:15 am in closing

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Based on news from commenter Jason, I went out to Columbiana Centre to get some pictures of Bebe. By the time I got there, I found it already closed and with a mall promotional display in the windows.

Bebe is the latest retail casualty in a year that has been pretty brutal. Their original plan was to close only 28 stores, but in the event, they ended up deciding to close all 168 by the end of May 2017. According to this list, the Columbiana store was the only one in South Carolina.

So I guess the old question, "Bebe or not tobe?" is now answered..

Written by ted on May 11th, 2017

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Williams Sonoma, Columbiana Centre: 16 January 2017   1 comment

Posted at 12:23 am in closing

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I think there was, or is, a Williams Sonoma on King Street in Charleston, and every now and then when I was in town and walking the shops district, I would drop in to see all the neat stuff that would never fit into my non-cooking lifestyle. I think I may have browsed this store too once, though my visits to Columbiana Mall are passing rare.

According to The State this was not a surprise closing, at least to mall management. They also mention that the Market Commons store in Myrtle Beach was closing as well. I'm unsure if that says more about Williams Sonoma or Market Commons which has struggled in recent years. Normally if a company is in trouble there will be some press about it, but all I see is a Motley Fool article citing a stock price fall.

According to the linked State article about the storefront

there’s a plan in place for what we hope to be a huge surprise in 2018

On the one hand, that sounds upbeat, on the other hand, 1 year+ is a long time for a slot to stay empty.

Written by ted on February 6th, 2017

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Sears, Columbiana Centre, 100 Columbiana Circle: Early March 2014   29 comments

Posted at 1:33 am in closing

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Well, it's old news now, but Sears at Columbiana Centre is closing, and today was the first time I was able to get out that way to get some shots. I'm going ahead with a pretty-well-in-advance closing to give us a landing page to talk about it, and because it's pretty big news. Hopfully I will get inside shots for an update at some point. Certainly the pre-printed closeout signs in these exterior shots are pretty familiar to us all by now (blurry or not..).

It appears that Belk will be taking over some, though not all of this space.

Frankly, given how hollowed-out the Columbia Mall store is at this point, I expected it to go first.

UPDATE 11 February 2014 -- Here are some interior pix from 9 February:

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UPDATE 29 Februayr 2020: Add tags, address, map icon.

Written by ted on February 3rd, 2014

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Payless Shoe Source, Columbiana Centre: 31 December 2011   25 comments

Posted at 11:44 pm in closing

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)

Spinnaker's Restaurant, Columbiana Centre: mid-2000s   17 comments

Posted at 12:42 am in closing

Spinnaker's was at one time a fairly popular casual dining restaurant along the lines of Bennigan's or TGI Friday's. To differentiate themselves from the casual pack, they had two branding gimmicks.

First, they would generally locate as part of a mall rather than in a free-standing building, and second, they would bake the complimentary table bread in a glazed terra-cotta flower pot and bring it still in the hot pot to your table.

When I started working in Augusta, Regency Mall was already on the way down, and Augusta Mall was in its prime with a Spinnaker's on the Rich's side of the mall. On the Grand Strand, Spinnaker's had locations at both Briarcliff Mall (now Myrtle Beach Mall) and Inlet Square. In fact, I blame the loss of Spinnaker's at Inlet Square for the start of that unhappy mall's long (and continuing) downward spiral as the space was never re-leased.

The Inlet Square closing was the first one I noticed for Spinnaker's, and my memory is that it was fairly early on, perhaps in the early 90s. After that, it seemed as though every time I drove by a former location, it was gone. I believe the Briarcliff location closed next, followed by the Augusta one. According to The State's archives, this location at Columbiana Centre was open as recently as November 2001. At least one location was open as recently as November 2009 (picture also here). I'm thinking that one lived on as a legacy on the strength of the local operators as I can't seem to find any corporate site for the chain.

While I don't know why Spinnaker's went into decline, I can only say that I personally found it rather average. In particular, I recall two things: The French Onion Soup was chicken based rather than beef based, making it distinctly sub-standard in my opinion, and the Flower Pot Bread was a better concept than actuality as it tended to stick to the pot giving you a mangled loaf when you tried to get it out and was actually a very bland and uninspired recipie.

Until quite recently, the interior mall corridor at Columbia Centre still had the doors into the vacant Spinnaker's space. Within the last year, they have covered the whole facade over with a mural of a walking girl sporting Rapunzel hair and vending machines.

UPDATE 2 March 2010 -- Here's the empty Spinnaker's spot in Inlet Square Mall in Murrells Inlet:

UPDATE 26 march 2010: Changed closing date to "mid-2000s" based on comments.

UPDATE 9 October 2017 -- Finally a new restaurant! This spot is now a Red Robin:

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