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And here's my source from a COLUMBIA newspaper: South Financial Group board losing 5 - Business - TheState.com (http://www.thestate.com/2010/03/13/1198810/south-financial-group-board-losing.html - broken link)
South Financial Group now has lost five board members since Dec. 31 - but the largest bank based in South Carolina will likely not replace them.
Not sure what the Columbia Business Journal is talking about because they're wrong. Everybody knows Carolina First/South Financial Group is South Carolina's largest based bank and has been for sometime with a market share of 7.9%.
Not much to compare. Columbia mainly revolves around government and university jobs and has far fewer of the national / international companies you'll find in Greenville and the Upstate. Columbia is generally not thought of as a business center.
They're generally not thought of as a retail/restaurant center either. No Pottery Barn, Whole Foods Market, Costco, PF Changs, Apple, J. Crew, Guess?, etc.
And here's my source from a COLUMBIA newspaper: South Financial Group board losing 5 - Business - TheState.com (http://www.thestate.com/2010/03/13/1198810/south-financial-group-board-losing.html - broken link)
South Financial Group now has lost five board members since Dec. 31 - but the largest bank based in South Carolina will likely not replace them.
Not sure what the Columbia Business Journal is talking about because they're wrong. Everybody knows Carolina First/South Financial Group is South Carolina's largest based bank and has been for sometime with a market share of 7.9%.
Well no, everybody doesn't know that. We're not talking about Microsoft vs. Apple here, but two small banks with little national exposure. At any rate, the two banks are two different types of banks. AgFirst ($30 billion in assets) isn't a typical commercial bank like Carolina First ($11 billion in assets). But anyway, my point wasn't to get in a tit for tat about this type of thing, but to demonstrate that while Columbia is thought of as more of an institutional town, it does have big business as well. And as I've already stated--for the third time now--Greenville is the more pro-business town. Don't miss the forest for the trees here.
Gman-430: Does Greenville have a Whole Foods Market, P.F. Changs, and others as you say and where are they located? I have been to Greenville years ago and know the general lay of the land, but would like to know where these venues are located. Greenville would get extra points toward my decision to locate there, knowing they have all these big city retailers and Columbia doesn't, but it is just one set of factors of many to consider. I have a whole laundry list of criteria I am looking at to compare the two cities as well as Nashville, Charlotte, and Raleigh. South Carolina seems to fit my location preferences to serve clients from New York to Miami as it is pretty much half way between and I am a warm weather fan, so we are getting warmer being in South Carolina compared to the others. I have to be within two hours at most to some mountains to go hiking in, and want to be on or near a lake to go skiing. I could go on and on here so better stop and get some more feedback. I appreciate all the comments being posted.
Greenville's Whole Foods Market is located between I-85 and I-385 on Woodruff Road in The Shops at The Point. It has become my favorite grocery store in the state. P.F. Chang's is literally across the street in The Shops at Greenridge. Costco is open nearby in the Magnolia Park Town Center (under construction), also on Woodruff Road. Pottery Barn, Apple (under construction), J. Crew, and Guess are located in Haywood Mall, right off of I-385.
Talk about perfect timing: Shoppers' wish list: high-end retailers - Local / Metro - TheState.com (http://www.thestate.com/2010/03/14/1200076/economic-recovery-could-lure-high.html - broken link)
I actually thought the same thing when I saw the article. They basically rehash the same things that have been stated a couple of times on UP on the Columbia board.
The population numbers written in the article are a bit skewed.
They are using the most recent MSA population figures. Even if you used the CSA figure for Greenville, the point still remains when you factor in Charleston and even Augusta, which the article didn't mention.
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