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Family-owned men’s store on Main Street will close after nearly 100 years in business
In a blow to Main Street, Lourie’s, one of the city’s oldest and most respected men’s clothiers, will close June 30 after doing business for 96 years.
An especially difficult year of too few sales — coupled with a down economy — cut short its owners’ hopes of seeing the 100th anniversary, said Frank Lourie, president of the family-owned business, which got its start in 1912.
“It’s been a traumatic decision,” said Lourie, 60. “So many of our people have worked with us 30 years or more ... but we have been struggling to stay open.”
With the closing, Columbia is losing a store that has clothed some of the state’s most influential men — from powerful politicians to high-ranking executives. Lourie’s found its niche by providing exclusive brands and by focusing on impeccable customer service.
However, the closing is just the latest blow to Main Street.
Main Street lost many of its businesses in the 1970s, when malls were built in the suburbs. It took another hit two years ago during a drawn-out streetscaping project, and it is facing another starting next month. And soon it will lose the state’s only Fortune 500 company to Lexington County.
Also, the Lourie’s closing is a setback to efforts to retain and recruit retailers downtown. That is a priority for City Hall and business associations, and a necessity for the sustained growth of downtown.
Four months ago, the Lourie family announced it would sell the store’s building at 1601 Main St., in hopes of leasing back space and reducing operating costs. The Louries also hinted at that point that they might move to another location on Main Street.
Frank Lourie said the past year has been very slow. “If we had sold the building earlier, it could have provided us some extra capital ... and we possibly could have stayed open longer,” he said. “It’s hard to face it, but now that we have, we can move on.”
The family has dropped its asking price for the building. The property’s broker, NAI Avant, said it has been reduced 26 percent to about $1.9 million.
Lourie said he and his uncle A.M. “Mick” Lourie, 81, who is chairman of the business, told their 15 employees on Monday of their decision.
The liquidation of the store’s stock of upscale men’s suits, ties, shirts and shoes will start Wednesday.
“It will be a price-buster sale. It will be a total sell-out; it’s our one last sale,” Frank Lourie said.
Retail has been identified by experts as the next step in downtown Columbia’s renewal and a necessary ingredient in continuing downtown’s housing boom.
Lourie’s will be missed, said Matt Kennell, president and chief executive of Columbia’s City Center Partnership, a group that promotes development on and around Main Street.
Its closing is telling “of a tough retail environment nationally, and I think the national recession is upon us,” Kennell said.
Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, a longtime customer of Lourie’s, said the store’s closing “is an end of era.” The store was one of a few remaining family-owned clothing businesses in Columbia.
Though there are many retailers who are having a difficult time in this economy, Vaughn Granger — president of Granger Owings, another Main Street men’s store — said his store is not.
The 65-year-old business, which is in a part of Main Street that has already been streetscaped, is experiencing one of its better years, Granger said.
However, “I am sorry that (Lourie’s is closing),” he said. “They should be applauded for 96 years in the community. That is a great family.”
Not all is gloom on Main Street, however. New office space is being built at an unprecedented pace. Holder Properties of Atlanta has announced a new 19-story office tower at Main and Gervais streets. It will be the third new office tower in as many years. And the old Palmetto Building at 1400 Main is being converted into a boutique hotel.
But retail has been a problem. And it will likely get worse when another streetscaping project begins next month.
The city is working to make those projects more business-friendly, Kennell said. There will be fewer blocked streets, better access to businesses near construction sites and quicker completion times.
Staff writer Jeff Wilkinson contributed to this story. Reach Fulton at (803) 771-8659.
