Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I think the only time I have ever stayed at a Super 8 was once when I drove to Florida not knowing it was Daytona 500 weekend, and ended up driving hundreds of miles looking for a place to stay. Given the circumstances, it was OK.

This closing puzzles me a bit as this property was renovated just a few years ago after it closed as The Cambridge Plaza Hotel in 2014 (before which it had been a Best Western). I don't see why it should need a re-working just 5 years later, but apparently that is the case. Of course plans change, and LoopNet says the property is on the market, so any upfit would be on the buyer. It also notes that only 84 of the 115 rooms are "rentable", so I guess it definitely does need some work. This site also notes the availability, and has a nice aerial shot of the property.

In passing, I will note that I really dislike frontage roads like Cherokee Lane which get double-duty out of an Interstate on-ramp.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

Apparently, Hall Marine was bought out by MarineMax. The link does not give a date for the sale, but commenter Mitch reports that the local Hall closed on 30 September.

With Lake Murray in the area, I would have expected this meant that they were consolidating at another nearby MarineMax, but instead it appears they have exited the Columbia market entirely. From their store finder, it looks like the closest (and only SC) outlet is in Charleston.

I find the 7459 Broad River Road address a little curious as the place is obviously well off Broad River Road and appears to be on Western Lane.

(Hat tip to commenter Mitch)

I'm not going to attempt the metal umlaut in the post title, but Yogen Früz is a froyo franchaise operation which is still in operation, though this closure leaves the nearest store in Florida or possibly Virginia. I guess it's not too surprising that if an ice cream or froyo shop is going to close, the start of colder weather is a trigger [this was wrong: see note below].

This location is on the same "block" with the former corner Starbucks (and in fact you can somewhat see it in those pictures), and across from the centeral traffic island/venue at Sandhill.

Apparently the company is still around, but it appears that the Irmo location has closed up shop. Looking at the site, some of the homes are quite nice, though I think you really need a good setting and a big piece of property to make it work -- there's the old story about Abe Lincoln's father moving whenever the neighbors got close enough that he could see their chimney smoke.

LoopNet has a nice aerial view of the property

I didn't have time to stop and get good shots, but longtime Five Points staple, Sylvan & DuBose is closing. The State has the story:

Sylvan & DuBose Jewelers in Five Points is closing after nearly a century in business.

Owner Bruce DuBose is retiring., and his children, Matthew and Laura, who are the fifth generation to work at the store, don’t want to take over the business, he said.

“”I’m old,” DuBose, 68, said with a laugh. “I’m tired. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

The store at 622 Harden St. will close at the end of the year, he said.

I only go to jewelers when I have wristwatch issues, so I don't think I've ever been in this store, but I've certainly been aware of the name for my entire life. It will be interesting to see what is next here. Apparently the family owns the building, and will nix a bar as the follow-on operation.

Currently, the closing sale is ongoing.

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

I'm sure you've all seen the video of this sinkhole that errupted on Trenholm Road in front of Mays Park on 14 October. If you haven't the WLTX clip is embedded above.

The State says it was the result of a 16 inch water main breach. As of Sunday 27 October, when I took these pictures, the road was still closed, though work was obviously ongoing.

Read the rest of this entry »

This urgent care beside Richland Mall had been up for sale a number of months, but continued to operate while that was ongoing. At this point it has either sold, or they have given up. At any rate AFC is now closed, and the building is undergoing renovations. The permits are made out in the name of a medical company, Prisma, so it is not clear to me if this is a completely new business coming in, or if AFC is part of Prisma and will be back after the upfit.

Lexington Dry Cleaning on Two Notch near Sesqui is moving, or consolidating, to Blythewood, leaving a vacancy in Sesqui Center. I find it interesting from their heads-up sign that they do a lot of their business by delivery now. I guess in the age of Amazon Prime, Grubhub and home grocery delivery that makes sense.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

King's Pizza was the follow-on operation in this spot to Charlie's Wings & Seafood. They opened sometime in the spring of 2019, and apparently closed in September. At one time, a number of other locations for King's were mooted, but they may have tried to build out too fast, and I don't believe any, with the possible exception of a co-branding with Planet Pizza came to pass.

As you can see in the first picture above, barely, and only if you click-through, the closing of PIggly Wiggly and the opening of Roses in that space left Edens Plaza with two discount stores literally right next to each other. In the event, it looks like Dolar General has decided the situation wasn't tenable and closed shop. Of course, this also aligns with their current strategy of moving away from strip-mall stores to stand-alone locations, so I wouldn't be surprised if that were a factor as well.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)