How will Columbiana Centre mall bounce back after high-profile shooting incident?
A busy mall on a Saturday afternoon is generally a relatively happy place.
Columbiana Centre in Columbia is no different. On a typical Saturday afternoon, the mall just off Interstate 26 in the Harbison retail district is usually buzzing, with customers walking along with shopping bags looped over their arms, people noshing on sweet Auntie Anne’s pretzels, and kids begging parents for a trip to the Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Though the nationwide concept of malls has faded in consumer culture over the years, at the ones that remain busy, like Columbiana Centre, the scene is a slice of modern-day, retail-driven Americana.
But on April 16, that typically bucolic scene was cast into chaos, as gunfire erupted inside the mall. Fifteen people were injured in the incident, nine of them hit by bullets and the other six sustaining injuries in the rush to flee the mall. Police have said the shooting arose from a conflict between several individuals. The Columbia Police Department has arrested three people alleged to have been involved in the shooting.
Now, Columbiana Centre will look to allay concerns about public safety at what is easily Columbia’s most enduringly popular indoor mall. It has more than 90 shops and restaurants inside, with very few vacant storefronts. Some shoppers and an area business leader say that security measures — and time — are likely to heal the wounds of fear struck by last weekend’s shooting. That seems to have been the case at at least some other malls struck by violence.
Lindsay Kahn, a spokeswoman for Columbiana Centre owner Brookfield Properties, said the mall took several measures in the wake of the shooting incident. She said shoppers should expect to see increased mall security and a greater police presence at the shopping center. She also said the mall is going to bring in a weapon-detecting K-9, which is a dog that is specially trained to sniff out firearms, to patrol the mall with an officer.
The dog, a German Shepherd named Carlos, will begin patrolling the shopping center with a security officer this week.
Kahn declined to go into details about the ways in which the mall’s security officer team would be enhanced. Mall officials also said Columbiana does not have plans for metal detectors at this time.
The mall’s code of conduct states that firearms aren’t allowed in the mall.
Kahn said Columbiana wants to ensure shoppers feel safe when they visit.
“We want to stress this was an isolated incident that was out of the ordinary,” Kahn said. “Thanks to our partnership with law enforcement and our security team, it was able to be quickly contained. We recognize that this was a frightening experience. But, it was isolated and we are enhancing security measures, and that is very much in-progress. ... We want to assure the community we are taking this seriously.”
Columbiana Centre closed on April 16 after the shooting incident. It remained closed the next day, on the Easter Sunday holiday. The mall reopened on Monday, and is maintaining regular hours this week.
Kahn noted that when Columbiana Centre reopened on Monday, customer traffic was on par with a typical Monday.
Other malls have weathered similar storms
While it remains to be seen how firmly Columbiana can hold onto its status as a popular and well-attended mall in the wake of the April 16 shooting, there are other examples of malls that have had incidents of gunfire and have continued to do business.
Lenox Square, a well-known shopping mall in Atlanta’s tony Buckhead district, had six shooting incidents in 2020, including one that was fatal, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in 2021. That mall responded to the incidents by putting in weapon detection gateways at its main entrance. Lenox Square has also used off-duty Atlanta police officers and numerous mall security officers to patrol the facility, and it used weapon-detecting dogs, according to the Journal-Constitution.
And yet, despite the incidents there, Lenox Square remains a popular shopping mall. It has more than 250 stores, per its website, including some of the most high-end shops in fashion and retail, such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Neiman Marcus, Apple, Cartier and Bloomingdale’s, among others. The Atlanta mall also will soon be adding a Shake Shack, the burger-and-milkshake mainstay that rose to prominence in New York City.
A spokesperson for Simon Property Group, which owns Lenox Square and many other malls, declined comment for this story.
Brant Anderson, who lives in Abbeville and works in Aiken, has a family tradition of going over to Lenox Square during the holiday season. He has an aunt who lives not far from the mall in the Atlanta area.
He said he has been aware of previous incidents when he visited the Atlanta mall, but it hasn’t deterred him. He also noted the security presence at the mall is not something that has seemed obtrusive.
“It wasn’t really something I thought about,” Anderson said. “I’ve always felt safe. ... You see the officers, of course, but I never felt unsafe.”
Anderson said it also appears to him Lenox Square continues to roll along on the business side, with top-shelf stores.
“I mean, it’s huge,” Anderson said. “It’s high-end, and everything is well done.”
Anderson said he actually intended to go to Columbiana Centre on April 16, as his family was coming to Columbia for the University of South Carolina’s spring football game. But their pregame plans changed at the last minute. The shooting ended up happening that afternoon at the mall.
Anderson admitted the Columbiana Centre incident gives him just a bit of pause when considering returning there soon. But he was also quick to note that individuals will have to consider their own comfort level when making those decisions, and that we live in a world where security measures have become frequent. For instance, he said he was recently at Disney Springs, the shopping and dining center near Disney World in Florida, and patrons had to pass through a metal detector to enter.
“I definitely think it comes down the way people think about their personal safety,” Anderson said of people returning to Columbiana Centre. “I think time will make it better.”
Julie Noufal is a Lexington resident who has been a regular shopper at Columbiana Centre through the years. She said the shooting likely won’t deter her from going to the mall, in part because the possibility of an incident is not unique to that shopping center. Shootings, unfortunately, have happened in numerous arenas of everyday American life.
“This is just our reality,” Noufal said. “(Shootings) have happened at churches. They have happened at schools and other public places. So it wouldn’t affect me, at all, to go.”
Noufal did say she would likely be more cautious and observant when she goes to the mall and will continue to make sure her daughter is within arm’s reach while they are shopping.
‘Value is still there’
Columbia Chamber CEO Carl Blackstone said the April 16 shooting at the mall concerned him “on multiple levels.” As a parent. As a resident of the Columbia area.
And it worries him from a business perspective, too.
“You think about what this does to the psyche of shoppers,” Blackstone said. “It goes into your mind. Malls are going to have to reassess security and how they continue to attract shoppers and customers. But it’s really more than that. Really, we should all be concerned when someone goes to get a pair of shoes and they get shot. That’s just crazy.”
The Chamber leader said he expects Columbiana Centre will bounce back from the shooting incident and that developing plans to make customers feel safe is key. He noted Columbiana is still a key retail and shopping attraction in the region and that it’s in a great location.
“The businesses that are in there, people go because they can’t find it in other places,” Blackstone said. “Or, it is a convenient one-stop shop. The value proposition is still there for them.”
As for stepped-up security and police presence at the mall, Blackstone noted that is likely necessary in the moment and in modern times is unlikely to have a chilling effect.
“We are almost immune to seeing it around,” Blackstone said of security at various facilities. “If you walk through an airport, you see it all the time. If you go to a federal building or a state building, you see it. This is just another example of taking a necessary step.
“Is it chilling? Maybe in the short-term. But, long-term we get immune to it.”
Kahn, the Columbiana Centre spokeswoman, said safety and making shoppers feel comfortable will remain paramount at the mall off Harbison Boulevard.
“There is nothing more important than a safe environment,” she said. “We are a community destination. It is so important for us to be a part of this community, and safety is the highest priority.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
