Columbia Stock Buyers Co.

Charles F. Donen (1893-1954) was one of four children raised by Russian immigrants, Isaac (1847-1914) and Bettie Levkoff Donen (1873-1953). Born in Charleston, Charles had an itinerant childhood moving between Charleston, Augusta, Beaufort, and South Carolina’s Hampton and Aiken counties, before enlisting in the Georgia National Guard in 1916. Following his discharge in May 1917—mere weeks before the initial World War I draft registration window began—Charles moved to Columbia, South Carolina and opened Standard Sample Shoe Store at 1537 Main Street. In 1919, he briefly opened a second shoe store called Columbia Stock Buyers Co., which operated at 1229 Main Street from July to November of that year.

Charles closed his original shoe store in 1920 and then took over Rubenstein’s Outlook Cloak & Suit Co. for his future brother-in-law, Joseph Rubenstein (1896-1956).