Archive for the ‘computers’ tag
Mr. PC, 201 Harbison Boulevard: 2021 no comments
Mr. PC has several area locations. This one was on the upper part of Harbison in a little strip housing a Jimmy Johns. Mr. PC itself was around the bottom corner on a lower level and not very visible from the street or parking lot. It was kind of an unpleasant rainy day, so I didn't get out to get any closeup pictures, but you can just about read the logo if you imagine the railings aren't there. In the event I went there with a broken no-name android tablet from one of my neices, but there was no way to get parts for something like that, and she would be better off with something more mainstream.
Computer Renaissance, 4435 Hardscrabble Road: 2015-ish 2 comments
Computer Renaissance was a franchaised chain of refurbished computer stores. I know there was one in Agusta when I worked there, there was one in Harbison, and then there was this one, now a tattoo studio, on Hardscrabble Road when I came back to Columbia.
My memory is that I bought two computers here, both desktop systems, one to replace a box of my sister's that had suffered motherboard failure, and one for myself about which I'm blanking on what finally happened to it. Anyway, they were both fine, and the staff was helpful.
I said up top "Computer Renaissance was", and I think that's correct. There is still a web site, but it has not been updated since 2010, and is like a visit to another age. However, I was able to find from it that the staff from the Hardscrabble store have moved on to Bristeeri Technologies which seems to be located in Elgin.
Family Video / Firehouse Subs / DigitalDoc, 4546 Hardscrabble Road: 17 May 2020 (etc) 10 comments
Nexrill Computer Store, 1104 12th Street: 2017 no comments
I'm not sure when this Cayce computer store closed, but Firefox says the security certificate for their web site expired in 2017 so I'm going to go with that.
I like the latticework on this brick building. I'm guessing it probably dates from the '50s or '60s.
L2 Technologies, 1219 Wayne Street: Summer 2015 1 comment
I was not familiar with this place, but apparently this store was the only Apple authorized repair location in town.
My experience as a computer guy is that Mac stuff is great until it stops working, then it's a real pain to get working again. Granted this impression comes mainly from the software side where everything was so "easy to use" that there were never any diagnostic knobs to tweak, but there you go..
Commenter Matt reports a new Apple repair location on Taylor Street.
(Hat tip to commenter James R)
Radio Shack, 1318 Bush River Road Suite D3: Spring 2015 2 comments
Here is the Radio Shack in the Wal Mart complex at the old Bush River Mall site.
I see this storefront has already attracted another business: Laptops For Less. It's a little odd that the Radio Shack marquee is still up there. Usually a chain which is still in some form of existence wants their logo off of former locations. And there *are* still some open stores though the present continued existence of RS as an entity is pretty tenuous at the moment.
Technesis, 536 Meeting Street: November 2014 2 comments
I was unaware of Technesis on Meeting Street, but commenter Frank notes:
Technesis at 536 Meeting St in West Columbia has closed.
This was the followup operation to Microprice around 2010.
The owner sold the customers to another IT company out of Charlotte and closed the doors.
It is nice that the customers were taken care of in the closing.
(Hat tip to commenter Frank)
Computer Repair & Sales, 7362 Two Notch Road: Fall 2014 no comments
Here's another vacant storefront in Tillman's Plaza on Two Notch. I happened to glace across the street as I was at Kinko's, printing some documents and noticed it was gone.
Shell PC & Networking Solutions, LLC, 1314-B Leesburg Road: 2010 1 comment
Here's a vacant little Leesburg Plaza storefront. It's not too clear initially what it was:
So let's take that sign and equalize it:
And then flip it:
OK then -- based on phonebooks, it looks like Shell PC & Networking Solutions probably closed shop in 2010.
Typewriter Exchange, 2218 Two Notch Road: 2013 6 comments
I would never go back to one, but there is something magical about a typewriter: the rhythm of the keys, the ding of the bell, the tactile sensation of the platten ratchet advancing while you slap the carriage back over.. Even the smell of one is distinctive, a unique combination of metal, stale air, oil and ink. And for something ubiquitous so recently there are few other things (the phonograph is one..) that illustrate the generational divide so clearly. Set a high school student in front of a typewriter today, and you might as well have supplied a blank cuneiform tablet and chisels.
The Typewriter Exchange had been on Two Notch for as long as I can remember, probably going back into the '60s. I often wondered in recent years how they continued on, but a look through their window suggested they had moved into computer repair as typewriters became paperweights. Although the building had been up for sale since at least 2010, the business continued until recently, but last time I drove by, I noticed the place is now a church.
UPDATE 29 April 2014 -- Here is the place today as Fruit Of The Spirit Love Ministry: