Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I noticed a sign for a 50% off closing sale at this Trenholm Plaza jewelry store when I was coming up Trenholm from Decker the other day. I don't believe I have ever been in this store, but it has been there quite a while as a Columbia Star profile indicates this location opened sometime around 2004. I can't find anything online about the closing, but there was this story about a 2013 robbery that I can't ever recall hearing about before.

This closing will bring the count of vacant storefronts on this north wing of the plaza to four by my count.

UPDATE 15 February 2021 -- The closing signs are up:

J. Crew apparently has the distinction of being the first major retailer to file for bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 infestation, and this store at Trenholm Plaza, which was the only Midlands location, closed as a result of that.

ColaDaily has the story, as does WLTX which also points out that this leaves the shopping center with four vacancies.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

The B.L.D. Diner is the follow-on operation in this Trenholm Plaza space to Hooligans (which was a follow-on to Edisto Dairy). The name is an acronym for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, but the one time I went there, they were still ramping up, and started closing during my late lunch.

I presume this closing (which is "until further notice") is due to our old friend COVID-19. I hope they do come back, but Trenholm Plaza has certainly taken some unexpected hits this year, and this is one more.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

As noted by commenter Andrew and others, Stein Mart filed for Chapter 11 on 12 August 2020 and is expected to close most or all of its 281 stores across the country.

This story focuses on the Trenholm Plaza store, pictured above. A list of all of the announced store closings is here.

To the best of my recollection, I have never been inside this store, at least as Stein Mart. It is hard to say after so many years and upfits, but I believe this is the space once occupied by Tapp's Twig, a "smaller than a branch" storefront run by storied local department store Tapp's. If so, I would have been inside a number of times growing up.

Looking at the store closing list, I see the other local store is in Lexington, and I will try to get by before it is gone. In the meantime, the closing sale is already on, so we'll see if this location lasts into September.

(Hat tip to commenter Andew)

What a long, strange tryptophan it's been!

I'm sure you've all seen the video of this sinkhole that errupted on Trenholm Road in front of Mays Park on 14 October. If you haven't the WLTX clip is embedded above.

The State says it was the result of a 16 inch water main breach. As of Sunday 27 October, when I took these pictures, the road was still closed, though work was obviously ongoing.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here's another Fashion Place closing. I don't know anthing about Avenue other than that they sold women's clothes. Perhaps Ross coming to the old Staples location across the plaza was a factor here.

I guess the writing was on the wall after this Staples cut their hours way back recently.

This was probably the Staples I went to most often over the years (with the Devine Street location a close second). In general it seemed to be a well stocked and run store, and I picked up my share of printer paper, hard drives, computer media, headphones, ethernet hubs, pens, post-its and other office and computer paraphernalia. The only knock on it I can think of is one that seems to be general to Staples as a whole: It always seems to take a bit longer to check out than it should.

Although they have posted a closing sign, there is not a sale going on, and the various "inventory" tags inside the store make me think they will be relocating the merchandise to other stores rather than doing a clearance.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

There seemed to be some effort in Columbia to make manhole covers flush with street level.

No more.

According to The State, today was the last day for Gwen Rawls in Trenholm Plaza. Not being a woman or in need of Italian shoes, I was only vaguely aware of this place, but it is in the same wing of the plaza that 32 Degrees was (though about as far away from Rosso as it is possible to get).

It does seem odd to have three storefronts close fairly close together in time like that, but on the other hand, plaza management continues to bring in new businesses like BLD Diner. We'll have to see what happens.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)