Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

It's been a awful week or so for taking pictures, but at least it wasn't actively pouring this afternoon.

Consumers Feed & Seed Store in Lexington just announced their upcoming closing after 61 years in business, which is certainly a good run. Looking at the Facebook page, it strikes me as the kind of place my mother used to visit in the 60s for bird seed and gardening necessities. I don't have any inclinations in either direction, but it's sad to watch an era pass as everything goes to Lowes & Home Depot.

(Hat tip to commenter ED)

Well this one is a shame. Pizzera Opa was the new name for Zorba's Express which was here in the Publix plaza for many years, and was the follow-on restaurant for the crew from The Parthenon in Five Points. The Parthenon was my favorite pizza in town, and when I was living in Aiken, I would come back to Columbia on weekends and take my father to The Parthenon Saturnday evenings.

When I discovered Zorba's Express, the pizza was just as good as ever, and the manager, who remembered me from the Five Points days, would always come out and say hi. Unfortunately, the new location was just too far out for me to visit more than a handful of times; I wish it would have been more, and I wish them well.

(Hat tip to commenter IrmoJeff)

UPDATE 30 September 2021: To be Puerto Rican restaurant A Fuego:

UPDATE 15 March 2022: Updating tags.

UPDATE 20 November 2023: Fix typo.

I noticed this vacant house/office on Sunset a few months ago. It seems that Chandler Chiropractic moved from this location sometime after April of this year to their new office at 3681-D Leaphart Road.

This building was obviously a ranch style residence when it was built, and was on a nice little plot of land. Of course that was probably when US-378 was a sleepy two lane road, and I don't see a family moving back here any time soon. The building is for sale, so we will see what happens next.

UPDATE 17 June 2025 -- Now Luckie's Pinestraw:

I noticed this empty building on Pineview a few weeks back. It turns out to have been Merritt Veterinary Supplies which was a Columbia based company:

Merritt is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, and was founded in 1938 by veterinarian Dr. Lloyd Merritt and his wife. Merritt has about 150 employees and offers a comprehensive line of products, including pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, and equipment, some on an exclusive basis.

Merritt was bought last year by Henry Schein with the purchase finalizing in October 2017. I'm guessing the local office closed not long after that. Currently the building is vacant, but has been sold, so perhaps something else will be coming in soon.

There's not much to say about this closing except that the process of branch pruning at banks is continuing apace.

As a Bank of America customer I have used this ATM a number of times to avoid fees, but have never been in the branch itself. For now, the ATM will remain.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 28 February 2022 -- Now A-1 Transport which seems to be at least partly an ambulance company:

I was driving down the Old Bush River Road section of Bush River Road the other weekend, coming from Lexington into Irmo, and I noticed that Century Glass has moved their Bush River location to the other river road at 4059 Broad River Road. I believe they may still be using this building for non-customer space though as it is still listed in the phonebook, and Google Street View from March 2017 shows the moving sign already up.

I think my dermatologist would prefer I dig a tunnel to the mailbox and not come out into the sunlight at all, so I have never really understood the allure of tanning studios, but there are still a number of them around. This one is next to the former Springleaf Financial Serveices at Garners Ferry Crossing, and you can see it in operation in the first picture above. They listed in the Feb 2016 phonebook, but not more recently, so I'm guessing this storefront has now been vacant for at at least two years. (And the same plaza Hibachi Grill P&G Buffet has now been vacant over five years.)

Here is another of Harbison Boulevard's Mattress Firm stores. It looks like they already have a new tenant, Rainbow, lined up, though I have no idea what that is.

I confess I have very little reason to go to Harbison Court anymore with both Barnes & Noble and Chili's being gone though I guess I did eat at Olive Garden once last year.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

Commenter Beth noted a while back that this Chick-fil-A location was being torn down and rebuilt with double drive-through lanes.

The last time I looked at it, it was still open, though with some lot construction going on. Now they have definitely gotten into the rebuild phase.

Eat mor bef!

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

UPDATE 26 April 2019 -- Last time I drove by, the rebuild looked nearly done:

UPDATE 12 May 2019 -- Open again:

UPDATE 28 January 2021 Add tags.

Tijuana Flats closed their Forest Acres store back in March. Apparently the Greenville stores closed in March as well. This store opened after the Forest Acres one, and soldiered on for a few months longer, but with this closing, it appears the chain has totally left the state, which is a shame as I rather liked it (though their salsa policy was rather odd).

These pictures were taken shortly after the closing date, and the store was still being stripped.

(Hat tip to commenter TahoeChic)

UPDATE 22 March 2022 -- Now Shomars Southern + Fresh + Greek: