West Columbia shop fires not linked. Owner plans to rebuild from ‘total loss’

A thick plume of smoke rose from The Trading Post at the intersection of 12th and Meeting streets in West Columbia as rush hour traffic was halted late Tuesday afternoon. When the smoke cleared, the fire had turned the structure into charred studs.

Only the tin roof, stripped of its red paint by the blaze, could remind passersby of the landmark.

The store, formerly known as Let’s Just Plunder thrift store, was a gatekeeper on the northern end of Triangle City, the 12th Street strip of businesses, restaurants and service shops in West Columbia that is home to Zesto’s, with its giant ice cream cone, Creative Sewing Machine shop and other thrift shops and stores.

The Trading Post fire also follows a blaze that destroyed His House Thrift store a half mile away less than two months ago.

The West Columbia Fire Department got the call around 5 p.m. The Cayce, Lexington, Columbia-Richland, and Irmo fire departments assisted. As traffic was halted and redirected, West Columbia officials asked people to stay away from the area. They fought the fire for an hour. Shortly after 6 p.m. the fire was under control.

No injuries occurred during the fire.

“The biggest obstacle was the high temperatures of the weather,” said Deputy Fire Chief Marquis Solomon, spokesperson for the West Columbia Fire Department. “We have the personnel on scene to decrease the likelihood of heat-related injuries. We definitely make sure we try to rotate more people at a more rapid pace.”

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, Solomon said. An investigation is underway. In the hour the store burned, the owner says, “it’s a total loss.”

“West Columbia’s investigating what’s happening there, and when they get through with their investigation and let us go back in, we’ll probably rebuild,” said Jeff McBrayer, the owner of The Trading Post.

The fire does not appear to be connected to the June fire at His House Thrift store, according to the West Columbia Fire Department. But that doesn’t rule out the possibilities of a link being discovered during the course of the investigation.

“We’re still in the early phases of the investigation,” Solomon said. “Nothing is leading us in that direction (of a link between the two fires) at the moment. But, again, we’re in the early phases of this investigation.”

McBrayer bought Let’s Just Plunder near the beginning of last year, he said. He helped the previous owner sell off the items and then opened his own shop inside. For almost two decades the shop at the crossroads was the distinctly named thrift store known for placing bikes, mannequins and other oddities in its parking lot that drivers could gawk at and shoppers could browse. Before becoming a thrift store, the property housed a barbecue restaurant.

McBrayer still kept some of that curiosity. In October of last year he changed the name and placed a model stagecoach outside, putting up a unique business sign that depicted a herd of bulls in a Western-like action scene. Before moving to its last location nearing Meeting and 12th streets, McBrayer ran The Trading Post out of a storefront on Platt Springs Road, where he bought, traded, and sold primitive and corded tools, antiques and other collectibles.

Even having all his merchandise burn and only a skeleton of a storefront, McBrayer is staying in the business.

“It’s not no easy road,” he says. “But I’m not planning on retiring. If we can’t build back there, I’ll open up another location.”

This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 5:37 PM.