Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I wrote about this rather distinctive building back in 2018 when Cromer's moved out. At the time, Cogdill, whose building it was, were still there, though The State suggested they had been trying to move since the 2016 timeframe.

Now the whole building is vacant, and apparently being gutted in both "suites". I am unable to find any details about what happened to Cogdill. They still have a Facebook, but there have been no posts since February of 2020 (about the time the pandemic got going), and their web site now redirects to what seems to be an Asian firm of some sort.

I was driving by this weekend, and noticed that the S-Mart convenience store & gas station on the Southwest corner of Blossom & Huger was closed. I didn't notice until I was sitting at the light, so I didn't have a chance to park and look around, but from the pile of dirt and scuff marks, it looks like they have already taken out the tanks.

Normally I would expect something to go into this high-traffic spot quickly, but I proved to be wrong about the catty-cornered lot with the former Columbia Antique Mall / Chic Antique & Co., which closed in 2016. That struck me as a prime site, but now six years later, the space is still vacant.

When I go traveling on my own dime, I usually like to stay in Holiday Inn Express locations. There are some exceptions, such as Fernandina where another chain is just much better located, but in general they have reasonable prices, safety & comfort.

As such, I had noticed this hotel at Taylor & Huger from time to time as someplace I might have stayed if I were visiting Columbia for some reason rather than living here, but I had not noticed until commenter Alan mentioned it that they had reflagged as Fairfield Inn & Suites.

(Hat tip to commenter Alan)

There is a much better picture of this building in the LoopNet listing. I had gone looking for Copper Horse (not sure I found it..) so these pictures were a bit of an afterthought.

I'm not sure exactly when Prestige Marble closed, but they listed (without an address) in the phonebook until the February 2018 volume, so I'll say 2017.

The left side of this building is currently the Andrew Yang presidential campaign headquarters for South Carolina (or maybe just for Columbia). Presumably that will last through the February 2020 primary.

I did not know that a consignment shop had gone into the Cromer's location until commenter JamesR mentioned that it had closed. Looking at the web site which is still up for now, it seems to have been several steps up from Goodwill.

This is an interesting looking building and I wonder what it was built for. I'm guessing not for Cogdill since they are not in this front section at all.

(Hat tip to commenter JamesR)

Well, it's official, Cromer's has made the move from Huger to North Main. I was in this, Huger Street, location once several years ago to purchase a helium baloon kit, and it seemed fairly nice to me -- certainly better than the Bluff Road location I was at for the same reason several years before.

I tried to get some pictures of the new location, but the ongoing road construction on North Main had a steam shovel completely blocking the entrance to the new building -- the tenants can't have been too happy about that. For that reason, I can't confirm that there are no monkeys. You'll have to check yourself.

UPDATE 30 October 2023 -- Updating tags and adding map icon.

I never went to this place often, but at one time it was on my regular rounds, and I probably stopped by two or three times a year. I realized though when commenter Justin mentioned the place was closing that it had probably been twenty years since my last visit.

In the event, I found it pretty much as I remembered it. The place is divided into two buildings, the one on the north side of the property has an "ice house" look, while the one on the south side may have been a small warehouse. Each building is divided into individually curated stalls, thus the fairly common "antique mall" format. I hadn't recalled a stall with what looked to be pretty much every issue of Playboy ever published, but there was one, as well as a 40's era Rockola jukebox I would dearly love to have had I the space and the cash, along with several old kitchen ranges about which I could say the same.

Walking through, I was also given a few instances to reflect on how much life, or at least my life, has changed. At one time, I would probably have examined every 33 & 45 in the stacks, and probably would have found some to take home. Now: a) Who has the time? & b) What would I do with them? I do have a turntable, but realistically it's easier to find the song online and pay $0.99 for it rather than spend 20 minutes futzing with the turntable and CD recorder. The same largely goes for old books.

I didn't see any notice posted to the effect of "We lost our lease", or "We're retiring" to explain the upcoming closure, but I would guess that this lot, which for years was out of the way, and down-at-the-heels, is now a pretty valuable property with the recent opening of apartments in the Palmetto Compress Warehouse and the Carolina Collegiate FCU location.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

UPDATE 6 April 2017 -- As reported in the comments, this place has been razed. At the time of these pictures, it was the South building only. They are reportedly both gone now:

These pictures are from 30 November 2014, so the site has probably changed a good bit by now, but that was when I noticed these nice old brick buildings on Lady Street adjacent to Trustus were being gutted for renovation.

Here is what the City has to say about the project:

Here and here is a bit from the architect.

And here is a bit from the construction company.

When I was around 10, I semi-inherited a bunch of darkroom equipment, and drove the guys at Jackson Cameras to distraction with all my questions, and my mother to distraction with all the chemical stains (still there today) on her kitchen countertops. Given that, and the number of film cameras I have salted away in storage somewhere (including a Kodak 616 format box camera that worked the last time I tried it..), I always figured I would drop by film haven The F-Stop Camera Shop someday. I noted when it moved here from Five Points, and somehow still didn't get around to it.

Hard to believe I haven't been in a darkroom since 1976..

UPDATE 12 September 2012: Added two pictures of the place in operation that I forgot to copy over.

Here's one I've had on my hard drive for a while. This little building is on the west side of Huger Street, just north of the railroad tracks, and just across the street from The Dog Shack.

LoopNet says the property is still available. Interestingly, Google turns it up as an address for Bath Fiter Of Columbia, but I haven't put that in the post title because the building pictured there is clearly not 401 Huger..

S. L. Munson is apprently a metalworking tool company. I have to admit I never even heard of the road they moved to, Old Dairy Drive, but apparently it parallels Bluff Road.