How healthy are Columbia’s malls? Take a look ahead of holiday shopping
Retail spending is expected to grow by billions of dollars this holiday shopping season.
While 2019 has seen many headlines about store closings and bankruptcies (see: Forever 21, Payless and Gymboree, to name a few), and while Amazon and online shopping arenas continue to grow more popular, in-store shopping still far outweighs online shopping in terms of Americans’ spending.
Americans are expected to spend some $550 billion shopping in stores this holiday season, compared to $130 billion shopping online, according to estimates by Bain & Company global retail experts. Low unemployment and larger disposable incomes bode well for the 2019 holiday shopping season.
All this means means that, yes, of course, you’ll still have plenty of company at the malls over the next few weeks.
“I think we’re going into the holiday shopping season with a favorable economic outlook, where I don’t believe the China trade situation or even the political situation is dampening holiday spirits,” said Mark Rosenbaum, a professor and chairman of the department of retailing at the University of South Carolina College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. “I think that malls that capture experiences (do well). It has to be a very diverse retailer-service-restaurant-entertainment mix.”
Malls, in fact, are not dead — which might be clear to you if you’ve visited some of Columbia’s shopping destinations recently; though, not so much if you’re familiar with others.
Columbiana Centre mall continues its reign as Columbia’s most robust shopping experience, while Richland Mall continues to languish.
“Columbiana Centre has always maintained a high occupancy,” said Mackenzie Fontaine, the mall’s general manager. “Due to our ideal location and high traffic, our property is the top choice for national retailers entering the market.”
As you begin to hit your shopping stride, take a look at the state of the major malls in the Columbia area.
Columbiana Centre
100 Columbiana Circle, Columbia
Number of stores, restaurants, services and other retailers: 100
Go here if you’re looking for: The best shopping mall experience Columbia has to offer.
There’s not a whole lot to complain about here, other than maybe the lack of some of your most-coveted national retailers (looking at you, H&M) and the volume of traffic surrounding the mall.
There are few if any vacancies for new retailers to fill at the moment in this thriving shopping center.
You’ll find major stores ranging from Belk and Dillard’s to American Eagle and Forever 21, and newly opened stores including BoxLunch and Versona.
Stores that have closed in recent months have been mainly national retailers that were shutting down across the country, and those spaces have been filled in by new retailers. Just ahead of the Thanksgiving-week shopping rush, Columbiana Centre boasts around six dozen stores alone, along with some two dozen restaurants, salons and service providers.
As general mall trends point toward more diversified experience centers — more entertainment, less traditional shopping — Columbiana Centre has taken a step in that direction in recent years, with the opening of a large Dave & Busters restaurant and arcade in 2017.
Columbia Place Mall
7201 Two Notch Road, Columbia
Number of stores, restaurants and other retailers: 60
Go here if you’re looking for: A good number and variety of clothing stores, and the pleasure of eating lunch at Kiki’s Chicken and Waffles (nearby outside the mall) after you shop.
In terms of health and vitality, Columbia Place comes in second behind Columbiana Centre. This mall has more to offer than you would expect by looking at it from the outside.
Three of the mall’s large former anchor stores — Burlington, Sears and Dillard’s — are closed, leaving highly visible empty spaces inside and outside the mall. (Those stores were purchased in 2018 for more than $6 million by Richland County, which is keeping them vacant until it decides what to do with them.)
But inside Columbia Place, you’ll find more than 50 stores, ranging from Victoria’s Secret to Jimmy Jazz. This mall also boasts the Midlands’ only Macy’s store.
There are several dozen fewer choices than you’ll find at Columbiana, but you will find some stores that you can’t find at the larger mall, such as Rainbow and Manhattan clothing stores.
There are, too, a lot of vacant storefronts and copious posters advertising for leased spaces.
Dutch Square Center
421 Bush River Road, Columbia
Number of stores, restaurants and other retailers: 35
Go here if you’re looking for: Burlington (one of only two in the area), or want to watch a movie or get in a workout instead of or in addition to shopping.
The shopping options are limited but serviceable at Dutch Square Center, and there are many vacant storefronts inside the mall. It is, however, one of the closest shopping centers to downtown Columbia.
The mall’s largest retail spaces have been converted into an AMC movie theater and a Planet Fitness gym.
Richland Mall
3400 Forest Drive, Columbia
Number of stores: 3, plus the Children’s Theater, a movie theater and a barber shop
Go here if you’re looking for: Barnes & Noble, pretty much
If you’ve lived in Columbia for any length of time, you know Richland Mall is not much of a shopping destination — and hasn’t been for a decade or two.
It does, however, boast the area’s only Barnes & Noble bookstore, and the Belk department store is just fine — and generally not as crowded as the store at Columbiana Centre. So, there’s that.
Walking the mostly vacant halls, you’ll also find a LensCrafters, a barber shop and the Columbia Children’s Theater. There are more trash cans catching leaks from the ceiling than there are places to spend money.
There’s also a Regal Cinemas movie theater on top of the parking garage, which gets the job done without much glitz.
In short, Richland Mall is no destination, unless you want books and a quiet and perfectly acceptable department store.
The anti-malls:
Trenholm Plaza
4840 Forest Drive, Columbia
It’s a rare day that the parking lot is not crowded at this popular Forest Acres shopping center. Trenholm Plaza is bustling with upscale retailers, including J. Crew and Anthropologie, as well as restaurants including Original Pancake House, BLD Diner and Tazza Kitchen.
Village at Sandhill
481 Town Center Place, Columbia
There are more than four dozen tenants, as well as around 40 vacant storefronts, at this sprawling outdoor shopping center in northeast Columbia. Major tenants include Belk, JCPenney, Academy Sports and a Regal Cinemas movie theater.
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 9:31 AM.
