Columbia Closings   What’s not in Columbia anymore

Fashion's Unlimited was the follow-on operation in this building to S & K Menswear. I had noticed it several times driving through the area, but had never managed to get pictures to update the S & K post until quite recently.

When I posted them, commenter Andrew mentioned that he thought Fashion's Unlimited was already itself gone despite the prominent "Now Open" banner, so next time I was in the area, I stopped to make a closer check.

According to the door sign, it turns out that Fashion's Unlimited has moved into Dutch Square and that this building is now on the market again. Given the length of time that the old Sounds Familiar storefront has stayed vacant, I don't expect any quick turnaround.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

All I know about Curves is that it is a franchaised gym for women. I do rather like the idea the name suggests: that being fit isn't the same thing as being a bony stick.

Colonial Village, the little strip across from Dutch Square on the way to I-126, has never really seemed to thrive. To me it seems like it should be a good location, but the only thing of note that has lasted over there is The Melting Pot.

My memory is that in the original layout of Dutch Square, there were two stores in the actual mall building which had no access to the mall interior: Jackson Camera and Baskin-Robbins.

Why this was, I don't know. A camera store, even a smaller one (but more than a film drop-off) could easily draw foot traffic inside the mall as well as any number of other specialized stores that had inside access, and there were other fast-food operations inside, such as Orange Julias, Chick-Fil-A and lunch counters at Edkerd's and Woolworth's.

At any rate, Baskin-Robbins soldiered on with its odd location for a good number of years until around 1996. I noticed some activity in the store recently (first picture), and it turns out that it is to be reopened (or perhaps already is) as a barber shop.

UPDATE 9 September 2011: Commenter Weston points out I was wrong about the 96-ish closing date, I've changed it to something less specific (Late 90s/Early 2000s) for now.

While the Queenstown name rather intrigued me, with its New Zealand connection, everything I ever heard about the place led me to believe that it was way too seafood for me. I do seem to remember it getting rather good reviews though, and thus was a little surprised when I drove by a week or two ago and noticed that it was gone. Judging from their sign, the new operation Mayflower Bistro (just given as Mayflower in the phonebook) also seems seafood heavy for my tastes.

Before Queenstown this spot was Fatz Cafe ("Our secret sauce? Mayonaise!") a totally generic or worse place that I have never been able to warm up to despite its SC origins.

This little strip mall, Colonial Villiage across Bush River Road from Dutch Square and on the access road (Colonial Life Boulevard [which used to have a different name, I think]) for I-126 has never really seemed to thrive with about the only constant being the stalwart Melting Pot fondue restaurant.

UPDATE 20 July 2011: Added Garfield's to the post title based on the comments.

(Commenter Andrew sent in a link to a much better map [above], than the scan of the handout at the mall I originally used [below], and the numbers are the same, so I'm adding it).

Well, I finally had a chance to go looking in some old City Directories for information about Dutch Square. I was looking at about 5 year intervals, and only had time to get up to 1997 before the library closed, so rather than a "Dutch Square: Then & Now" post, this is a "Dutch Square: Then & Then" one.

The 1971 directory is the first one to list Dutch Square, but notice that it uses completely different suite numbers than the later listings I have here. And all the City Directory listings use different suite numbers than Dutch Square itself uses on its current handout map.

In any event, it's not always possible to do a complete mapping of the old numbers to the current floor-plan as there has been a good bit of remodeling over the years (for example, the Woolco space being broken up), and some of the old exterior-only slots like Jackson Camera and Baskin Robbins don't seem to be pictured on the current map. That said, here is a mapping of some of the City Directory to Map numbers that I'm pretty sure of:

1971:

1977:

1982:

1987:

1992:

1997:

UPDATE 17 June 2011: Added the leaseplan map from a link provided by commenter Andrew.

UPDATE 21 June 2011: Added [at top] an artist's conception of the original Dutch Square from an old Chamber of Commerce promotional book.

Radio Shack has been at Dutch Square since the mall opened, though not always in this location. I'm a bit hazy on the old layout, but think the original site was a bit further up the hill towards Tapp's. At any rate, as reported by commenter Andrew some time ago, they have now relocated this store from Dutch Square to the new Wal-Mart plaza, Bush River Village.

I believe this pull-out leaves The Rogue hair stylist as the only store which has been in the mall from the beginning.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

This vacancy is in the little strip mall across the street from Dutch Square, and just north of Palmetto Fine Cleaners.

You can see that the marquee is kept water-tight by reversing a sign for Integrity Tax & Bookkeeping. As far as I can tell, they are still around at 1230 Broad River Road (and in this year's phonebook) after having moved to another Broad River Road location in-between. I'm not sure when they would have been here, but it was probably a good while ago as googling for 1724 turns up Arch Paging instead. I think they have been gone a good while as well though, as in the phonebooks I have available at home, they are listed in the Feb 1997 one, but not the Feb 2007 edition. Of course, it's probably not a coincidence that the pager market essentially disappeared during that interval..

Palmetto Fine Cleaners was on the East side of Broad River Road, more or less across from Dutch Square and Boozer Shopping Center (though not exactly across from either). It's the outbuilding of a little strip mall there, and has a really nice logo, and interesting facade. It appears to have been an orderly closing, with stored clothes passed on to another cleaner.

They also had a location on Sunset Boulevard.

Gabby's Pizza replaced D'Avino's Pizzaeria (which closed in September 2009) in the little doorless corner spot across from the former Chick-Fil-A. On the face of it, this seems like one of the better spots in Dutch Square, as it sits just down from the movie theaters so that you could grab a slice before your show, but in practice apparently no so much.

While I don't know this for a fact, the name "Gabby's" is unusual enough when associated with pizza that I'm sure this outfit was connected with Gabby's Pizza & Buffet which recently closed at Fashion Place on Decker Boulevard.

(Hat tip to commenter Kc)

Boardwalk Plaza was an odd little shopping center down the hill from Dutch Square on Bush River Road. At this point, my memories of the place are very hazy (for instance, I distinctly remember a Book Dispensary location there which I cannot verify in any directory..). However, my memory is that the "boardwalk" part of the name came from the fact that the "plaza" was really a bunch of trailers which sat above street level and so were connected with a wooden walkway rather than concrete sidewalks.

None of these pictures are actually the Boardwalk site. As far as I can tell, the address 1023 no longer exists on Bush River Road. The last block before I-26 is 900, with the Days Inn / Comfort Inn at 911 Bush River Road apparently being the last building before I-26. That leads me to think that I-26 coming through blew away the 1000 block. However, my memory is that I-26 was completed well before 1984.. Also, I used to walk to Boardwalk from Dutch Square, and thought it was closer than that.

Anyway, the 1973 City Directory, only listed one business at 1023 Bush RIver Road: Ray C. Parker Package Stores, Inc.

By the next year, while 1023 had no shopping center name attached to it, the sole listing for Ray C. Parker Package Stores, Inc. had expanded to:

Ray C. Parker Package Stores, Inc.
Bicycle Center of Columbia
Etc Bath & Boudoir
Leaf 'n 'petal
Trulas-West
Whit-Ash Furnishings
World Of Sounds & Sights Inc

In the 1975 City Directory, 1023 Bush River road is first identified by the name Boardwalk Plaza and has building numbers identified. It had the following tenants:

Ray C. Parker Package Stores, Inc.
3) Leaf & Petal
4) Orange Owl gifts
5) World Of Sound & Sights Inc
World Of Turquoise & Imports
7) Vacant
8) Bicycle Center
10)Aquarium Pools Of Columbia
The Different Drummer ("joke products")
12) Vacant
15) Dutchbrook Interiors
16) Dan Dee Toys & Gifts
17) Vacant
18) Design Studio Inc

By 1979, the City Directory indicates a nearly total turnover:

1) Ray C. Parker Package Stores, Inc.
2) Cheap Joe's Jeans & Sportswear
4) The Final Touch
5) Vacant
6) Adams Tailor & Alterations Shop
7) Underwater Works Ltd
8) Muldrows Bar-B-Que
10) Muldrows (Overflow)
11) Vamps
12) Vacant
13) Vacant
14) Shamrock Hair Design
15) Rosco Recreation Store
16) Vacant
17) Bum's Shirt Factory Outlet
18) Korner Keg
19) Celsios Foam Insulation

1984 is the last City Directory to have an entry for Boardwalk Plaza at this point, the founding store, Ray C. Parker was gone. The tenant list was:

1) Vacant
2) Bum's Bummers shirt outlet
4) Wise Floor Covering Inc
5) Vacant
6) Adams Tailoring & Alteration Shop
7) Underwater Works Limited
8) Vacant
10) Columbia Shaver & Appliance Service
11) Vacant
12) Sims Music
13) Columbia Flag & Banner
14) Shamrock Hair Cutters
15) Direct Mailing Service
16) Vacant
17) Vacant
18) State Farm Insurance
19) Quick Print Center
The Frame Shop

I would have still been living in Columbia at this point, prior to taking a job in North Carolina in September of 1985, so you would think I would have some memory of the place closing and being torn down, but apart from radio ads for Bum's Bummers it was apparently totally off my radar screen..

UPDATE 15 March 2011: Folks, I am able to present this major picture update courtesy of one of the owners of Bum's Bummers, Barbara Summers, and the good offices of her son Lane. All these photos are property of Barbara Summers, and I use them with her kind permission. (I see in "preview" it turned out a bit confusing -- the captions for a set of pictures come after those pictures). [D'Oh! Had "Lane" as daughter rather than son -- fixed!]

Here's the plaza sign. At this point, the plaza's original entrance had been blocked off by construction of the motel that would replace the plaza.

Here are various views of the old plaza itself, already in somewhat of a disassembled state in some of the shots.

Here is Barbara herself standing on the boardwalk which gave the plaza its name.

Here is Bum's Bummers getting ready to go to 2700 Broad River Road.

Bum's is on the move, heading out then crossing I-20 moving north. Note the "Coming Soon" sign -- no kidding! Finally touchdown at the new location. (Also note the classic look Rush's in the background of two shots).

Here are Bum's and Shamrock in their new location.

Here's some notices of the move. (Note the Broad River Road Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.)

Business resumes after the move.

Construction starts on the permanent buildings at 2700 Broad River