Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, my trend is apparently to get to the Heroes Convention later each year, especially when forgetting to factor in the stupidity that is I-77 in the Queen City.

My impression is that there was a bit less along the vintage paperback, pulp magazine and old humor collections this year, and I came away with rather less swag than usual, though I did make the mistake of making eye contact with several good pitchmen. There also seemed to be a bit less cosplay than during the peak Marvel movie years, though that take may be due in part to my starting on the opposite side of the (huge) floor from the costume contest area. I did come away with a few gifts for my nieces, and some new "weird western" graphic novels from Mike Baron. (No new Nexus projects were ready, but he is doing a kickstarter for the next one).

On the way home, I decided to detour a bit on the inner loop towards Huntersville, and man I thought there was something wrong with my car: The tire noise on the segment near the airport is awful!

I'm honestly not sure if I ever ate at this Monterrey or not. I know I did at the one on Parklane, which I don't seem to have a closing for, and the one Knox Abbott. My impression has been that they are exactly what you expect, which is good, since you expected it.

This one's last day was 30 May, and they are currently closed while they set up to move to the old Crafty Crab location at 700 Gervais Street.

The impetus for the move is the fact that the corner of Senate & Park streets is to be torn down to put up apartments. You can read about it here.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

This Litchfield building was put up as a Sam's Corner, which was doing a lot of expansion back in the teens. I don't know if they were franchaising the concept or what, but I believe they are now back down to the original Garden City location. Be that as it may this spot went through a number of other concepts fairly quickly over the years with Andomiro being the latest. The concept was interesting, an Asian/Jamacian fusion menu, but probably not for me, and I never did stop in.

The end seems to have come rather suddenly, not long before I took these pictures on 25 May, with the fully equipped site up for sale.

I will mention the the adjacent ice-cream shop is very good.

Spice Wing in the old Fort Jackon Kmart plaza, closed on 27 May according to this story in The State. However, it is already set to be replaced by another wing operation, Crazy Wings. Kind of makes me wonder if that wasn't the plan all along.

(Hat tip to my sister)

I was not really aware of My House, but I always remember that building as Don Pablo's, one of my favorite Mexican spots. I don't see any specific closing information online, but judging by one review, it probably was gone around October of 2025.

The place now seems to be setting up as Room Service, which sounds more like a club than a restaurant.

(Hat tip to commenter Aaron J)

Well, it seems this much restauranted spot on River Drive has turned over once more. River Grill House Of Pizza (identified as River Grill & Pizza on the marquee) was the follow-on in this spot to Hook Fish & Chicken, which moved out in 2023. River Grill looks to have opened in late 2024 or early 2025, and had some decent reviews (along with, as is always true, some not so great). In general a restaurant with "House Of Pizza" in its name will be run by a Greek heritage family, and that seems to have been the case here.

As of late May, a new spot Vegan International Cafe & Art Bar has already opened in the spot. Interestingly, there was already a vegan concept in this spot, Lambs Bread, which closed in 2020.

I was unaware that this location of Frank's had rebranded as a Take Five until my sister mentioned that it had closed. I did notice an "Under New Management" sign some months ago, but totally mised the flag change. At any rate this was my go-to location for an attended carwash, and they seemed to do a pretty good job (with the minor exception that the last time I was there, none of the kids new how to pull a straight-drive car onto the line). They had a nice infinity-mirror setup in the restroom as well. From I can see online, the parent company of Take 5 has been closing a number locations that originally belonged to brands they bought out.

Here is a, mostly non-informative, article from The State.

(Hat tip to commenter AphidReader)

Mountain Top Marine on Sunset heading into Lexington has been winding down for a while with the property up for sale, and a gradually decreasing number of boats on offer. When I went by a few weeks ago, their sign said four were left (though I counted differently) now their website lists only one remaining.

I always keep in mind the old test for buying a boat:

Can you stand under a cold shower tearing up $100 bills and like it?.

So far the answer is no.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

It appears that the Zaxby's out past Aldi on Garners Ferry Road is closed for some sort of remodeling. There are no details on the sign, but the sign is still branded Zaxby's, so I guess they plan to re-open in due course.

(Hat tip to commenter Badger)

The Post & Courier reports that Jay's liquor, beer & wine licenses were revoked on 6 May, so I'm using that date for the closing.

This place had apparently been on the edge for a while as there had been a number of incidents, such as a shooting on 29 March as reported on WIS.

Lots of businesses have come and gone in this long depot building, but I don't see that I have specifically done any postings on Suite D, and I can't recall was was here before. Anyway, its the Vista so I'm sure something new will be in before long.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)