History of the Building
371 S. LIMESTONE
SQecial Media took root at 371 S. Limestone about 43 years ago. The history of the store is a long and complicated one, and it would be impossible to fit it all onto one page. In the words of owner Mary Morgan, it would be like trying to give a condensed version of the entire history of civilization. So for now, here is a brief history of 371 S. Limestone, and how SQecial Media came to exist here.
Maiden Voyage:
SQecial Media first came to fruition when the original owner, David Adams, set up shop on the 100 block of S. Limestone in 1972. Today, a parking garage stands in its place.
SQecial Media was a hub for those seeking anything, everything, and nothing - a store filled with unique books, metaphysical supplies, eclectic gifts, and other interesting things. Whether you sought guidance, community, or a nice new trinket, SQecial Media was the place to find it.
A Little White Victorian House:
In the mid-seventies, SQecial Media moved part of its operations to a secondary location at 377 S. Limestone - right where CD Central is today. Of course, there was no building complex then, just a little white Victorian house.
There was a brief time, not long after SQecial settled into 377 S. Limestone, when a tiff with the landlord forced the store to move out temporarily. The owners had to sell what they could and consolidate the rest of their wares back to the original store on the 100 block of S. Limestone.
SQecial wasn’t gone for long, though. The landlord asked them to move back in a few months later after his new tenants failed to meet his expectations …
And they did!
Pews were replaced with aisles of incense, and the platform that had served as a pulpit was repurposed into a stage for live events and general store space. Mary and her family built custom shelves for the new store, and carried stock from the little Victorian house through the bushes between the buildings and to their new home.
This is 371 S. Limestone, and SQecial Media has been here ever since.
Fun fact: when 371 S. Limestone became SQecial Media's new stomping grounds, the store took up the entire building. Books were kept downstairs, stones and gifts upstairs, and funky things everywhere in between. SQecial even sold vinyl records for a while and specialized in women’s music.
Over the years, several businesses have sublet parts of 371 S. Limestone. At some point, half of the downstairs area was outfitted with a commercial kitchen, and countless restaurants cycled through the ground-level suite before Han Woo Ri settled down in 2006. Today, The Album (Sami's) sells records, cassettes, and various forms of music media out of the basement. Han Woo Ri still provides delicious and authentic Korean food on the ground-level. And SQecial Media, which takes up the whole top level of the building in suite 220, is still your best alternative to find the important, interesting, and hard-to-find.
