Columbia SC
I waited a couple of months for the grand opening hoopla to subside and chose a random Sunday afternoon to visit the new Mast General Store to see how business was going. Mast moved into the historic Lourie’s Building at 1601 Main Street in late May. Located at the corner of Main and Taylor Streets in downtown Columbia the building has housed retail operations since 1884. Columbia is the ninth location for Mast.
The store sells traditional mercantile goods ranging from penny candy and bird houses to cast iron skillets and rocking chairs, along with clothing on the main floor. Footwear and trail and travel gear are located downstairs. Mast is also making their stock specific to Columbia with a good assortment of USC Gamecock merchandise.
The store really had a good many shoppers present while I was there and this block of Downtown Columbia did not resemble the ghost town of recent years.
Barrels of candy......who doesn't like that?
Columbia City Council is using a $2 million federal loan to help the store. The Recovery Zone Facility Bonds -- the first issued in South Carolina--are low-interest bonds that come through the South Carolina Jobs Economic Development Authority, utilizing facility bond allocations that the City of Columbia and Richland County received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
This marker is located at the corner of Main and Taylor Streets. Columbia is full of Revolutionary War history.
New banner on Main Street celebrating the USC Gamecocks
Mast weekly ad link http://www.mastgeneralstore.com/Communities/mast/index.cfm/this-weeks-ad/
Lourie's link http://columbiaclosings.com/wordpress/?p=88&cpage=1#comment-464946
Columbia SC Real Estate & Business Report
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