Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I noticed going down Decker the other day that longtime Korean restaurant O-Bok was gone, and a new place called Sura was operating in the building. As far as I can tell, the new place does not have a web site, but you can get the menu on google.

I would see this place often over the years driving down I-20, but I never knew quite what it was all about. In the event it appears it was a Harley dealership, yes, but also a gathering place for the Harley community with a restaurant and concert space as well as the sales & maintanence floors. I don't see a news article anywhere online, but Google AI says the owner retired and elected to close the place down in February, which agrees in general with what I see on their Facebook page.

Like the adjacent Quaker Stake & Lube property (which is vacant again), it is a bit hard to figure out how to get to this lot. In particular, you cannot head down the frontage road the the Clemson Road exit. You have to take Spears Creek Church Road and then go behind the Starbucks. Anyway, it's a distinctive looking building, and it will be interesting to see what happens to it.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

Here's another longtime downtown spot I was unaware of. Apparently Hampton Place Cafe had been serving up sandwiches for 35 years, closing in late July.

You can read about it in The Post & Courier or The State.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Hat)

As mentioned in this WIS story the Harbison Jimmy John's was rammed by a care on 31 July, causing a good bit of damage. This WLTX story amplifies a bit, and implies a cause for the crash. When I drove by on Sunday 9 August, it appeared that the restaurant was back in operaiton with temporary plywood up to cover the damage.

This is the second Columbia Jimmy John's to be rammed in recent years, with the Garners Ferry location undergoing something similar in 2022.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

Burger Tavern 77 replaced Yo Burrito in this spot, opening in early 2012. To my memory, I went there twice, was not impressed the first time, and did not care for it at all the last time in December 2024. Since then it had a number of DHEC grading issues as mentioned in this Post & Courier article, and amplified on in this Reddit thread.

They temporarily closed for renovations on 1 July, but as longtime readers here know, "temporarily closed for renovations" is more often a pious hope than a realistic plan.

At any rate, the closure is now permanent, and a new, unspecified, concept will be coming to the location. Commenter Larry says it will be called "Seared".

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

Getting down to Melbourne this summer, I found a number of places gone, but the Barnes & Noble surprised me. I had been to this store numerous times over the years, and it always reminded me strongly of the old Harbison store in its feel and layout. As it turns out, not to worry, much. Googling once I got home establishes that the store has moved up the road a little ways to take over an old Party City. Reaction from locals on Reddit is a little mixed with some dislike for the new, shared, parking lot compared to this store's dedicated lot, and a layout which makes the cafe less central.

The new store opened on 11 March 2026 as you can read here and in a press release here.

As is mandatory for such cases, the old building is becoming a Spirit Halloween.

Here's a closing & pictures from commenter Heath who says:

Here's a closing for you. The Rogue West closed at the end of June 2026. It
was located at 1917 Sunset Blvd. There's a good writeup about it here.

https://westcolumbiasc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Oct-Nov-25-Newsletter-Packaged.pdf

Laverne, Buddy, and Reba are now cutting hair out of a shop in Cayce in the
Granby Village Shopping Center.

I have noticed this shop many times driving down Sunset. I always wondered if it were related the old Dutch Square stalwart, The Rogue Barber Service. The PDF provided by Heath states that this particular location was founded in 1982, so that's a nice long run.

LoopNet has some information on the site, and a link to an aerial view.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath, obviously)

The State calls Mardel a "faith-based bookstore and gift shop", and a little googling reveals the fact that it is sort of affiliated with Hobby Lobby, currently being owned by the same family. Beyond that, I know very little, and the article is not particularly informative, other than yielding the information that the store had been here since 2019.

You can read the article here.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

This little pizza storefront was in the Food Lion plaza in Red Bank. Apparently they are hoping to move, but that does't seem to be planned out at current (or as of a few weeks ago, anyway). Their Facebook was last updated in February, and the chain's Locations page doesn't have them listed.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

Local Soul Food and Chicken & Waffles chain, Kiki's Chicken and Waffles closed their Harbison location on 28 June. The closing letter was rather interesting in that it acknowledged that the location hadn't lived up to their standards lately, and responded by closing the store rather than addressing those issues. On the other hand, the chain's ownership has had some recent legal woes that might make it difficult to put resources into a marginal operation.

This location opened in 2019, and the chain maintains several other locations in the area and one in Charleston. You can read about the closing at The State or on WIS or at the Post & Courier.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)