Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

As reported by commenter JohnR, this Urban Nirvana in the Lexington Towne Centre plaza on North Lake Drive between the closing Stein Mart and Food Lion is gone.

Looking at the Yelp reviews, it was open as late as June 2020, so they actually came through the lockdown period. Perhaps the customer volume just wasn't there in these trying times.

I think the plaza name is overdoing it a bit: Misspelling *two* words for "class"?

(Hat tip to commenter JohnR)

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To the best of my memory, I've only eaten at a Maurice's Piggy Park once, last year at the Charleston Highway location. I thought it was fine, but the chain seems to have hit a rough patch in the last few years with several locations closing. COVID-19 can't have helped, but I don't know if it were the deciding factor here.

This one is on US-1 in West Columbia to the east of the I-26 interchange and across from the Wal-Mart. I see from google maps that it is next to a Ruby Tuesday I had forgotten about, and which I did not check to see if it were open.

(Hat tip to commenter Lone Wolf)

As I drove past Dutch Square the other day, I noticed that the Goodyear location across from the cinema side of the mall had changed to a Tire Choice. Looking at pictuers on google, I see that as late as April 2018 it was still Goodyear, so it changed sometime after that.

I believe that closest I came to using this place as a Goodyear was once when I needed a headlight replaced (sealed beam) and they couldn't fit me in to the remaining time of the day. I think I ended up going to Pep Boys on Broad River and getting it done.

I did a closing for the Dutch Square Ruby Tuesday back in May. At that time I took pictures of this one, on a Columbiana Mall outparcel, as well. Since, unlike the other, there wasn't any clarity that this one was permanantly closed, I held off doing a post.

I drove back by today however, and nothing has changed. The "temporarily closed" sign is still up, but at this point I suspect that is no longer accurate. At the least, it's worth a mention and if they re-open later great! In the meantime, chalk up another one for for COVID-19.

I was at Pizza Palace last weekend, and noticed that the Jolidan African Hair Braiding salon in the same plaza had closed. Given how hard COVID-19 has been on all salons & barbers, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case here.

I could be wrong, but I don't think I've ever been down Wayne Street before, but after commenter Justin called out this address, I went to take a look. I don't know if Columbia Cooling & Heating has closed or just moved, but if there is a new address, google is not turning it up, and as far as I can tell they don't have a web site.

I really was not aware this part of Columbia even existed until I started this blog. I used to kind of wonder why Columbia didn't have a downtown section with houses like those in Fernandina Beach Florida, or Georgetown SC, even though the city was old enough. Shandon is nice, but not quite the same thing. It turns out it does, on the streets North of Elmwood & West of Main. It's an interesting area!

You can see a photo of this place in operation here.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

Steam & Ice seems to have been a coffee, smoothie, dessert & milkshake shop. Among other things, they were know for milkshakes topped with cotton-candy (which there is no way I can imagine liking, but your milage may vary), boba-tea, and acai bowls.

From what I can tell, they closed around January of 2020, so before the pandemic. Looking at the reviews, it appears that people liked it when it was open, but that there were ongoing staffing and early closing issues before the shutdown.

Bone-In was the only restaurant in the Bull Street stadium complex, for which big things have often been promised. They announced in early February of 2020 that they were terminating regular meal service, but would still be open for special events. By the end of the month that had changed to being completely closed, though they would still be doing catering.

I took these pictures on 13 September 2020, and while I was driving around the State Hospital area, I noticed a burnt out looking building and a WLTX news crew. Apparently someone set the old Babcock building on fire Saturday morning. Last I saw, they are now looking for persons of interest.

(Hat tips to commenters Beth & Heath).

I have written about The State a number of times. For instance in this post, I note how anemic the second millennium State looks compared to the 1973 State. I am pretty sure I did a post when they started renting out parts of their headquarters when they could no longer fully occupy it though I can't find it now.

I was going to do a post when they announced they would no longer print a Saturday paper, but never got around to it. Now, however, they have completely vacated their Shop Road headquarters, and have moved printing out of the city, to Charlotte. Their headline:

tries to put a positive spin on it by putting some good news first, but the second part of that is pretty major. If the paper is printed in Charlotte, and the inserts are done in Raleigh, then as far as I can tell, that means the print edition has to be printed in Charlotte, trucked to Raleigh, trucked from Raleigh to Columbia and then put out for home delivery. Since their commitment is that delivery times will not change, that means the paper will have to be put to bed extremely early. I don't see how that can possibly compete with other news sources. I don't take the paper, so I could be wrong. I wonder if those of you who do take it have noticed a difference.

The same story said The State would move from Shop Road "this fall", but the branding is already off the building, as you can see, and it seems to me they have already moved (though I am not sure to where).

LoopNet has some more details, as well as a really nice picture of the building with the branding still up:

±3,500 to 60,000 square feet of premier office space available for lease. Close proximity to the CBD, University of South Carolina, and the booming Southeast Columbia Industrial Market. Fully secured building with on-site security and key card access throughout. Recently renovated with upgraded, modern finishes. Available space features dedicated reception at entry, which includes ample space for file storage and would allow for easy access to customers or clients. Access to two (2) conference rooms, one of which has an excellent view of Williams Brice Stadium. Cafeteria service via an industrial-grade kitchen. Large dining area and access to a state-of-the-art fitness center! Three Passenger Elevators and One Freight Elevator.

Stop the presses.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)