Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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)

Curiously, I was at this restaurant on, I think, 23 June. I used to drive to the Devine Street Ruby Tuesday once a week for the salad bar to give my 1980 some highway time. After that closed, this one was just a little too far to get to often, and I believe that before my june visit, the last time I was here was during the tail-end of the Pandemic in 2020. At the time, they were doing a bit of innovative entrepreneurship. If you will recall, the retail channel for many items, most famously toliet-paper had become dysfunctional while the janitorial supply-chain was still working, and in fact under-stressed with so many people working from home instead of offices. Anyway, this location (and I believe a number of others nationwide) was selling toilet-paper and a number of other items along with their regular menu. I don't know how long that lasted, probably no more than a few months I guess, but it was good hustle.

But, getting back to the main thread, it had been quite a while since that visit, and out of the blue I had a hankering for the salad bar, so I drove out for lunch that day.

Immediately as I stepped inside, I had the feeling of a restaurant on its last legs. The floor was dingy and sticky, and the staff was apathetic. It took me several minutes to get recognized and greeted, and I was finally seated at a dirty table and had to request a table wipe. It took quite a while for the waitress to get back, and when I put in my order for the salad bar, I went over and found it rather disheveled with wilted and spotted lettuce and number of other items that needed tending to. Then when my tea came, it tasted very odd. I picked through my plate, and decided that this place was off the list. As it turned out, a week or two later it was off everyone's list.

Here's the story in the Post & Courier.

(Hat tip to commenter Trevin)

Koru Group Fitness moved into this old Steak Mart location at the corner of Rosewood & Maple in 2020. Now it appears that the owner has decided it is time to retire and spend some time with the grandchildren, winding down the operation on 30 June. You can read the closing announcement on their Facebook.

(Hat tip to commenter Travis, who was a happy client of the place)