Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

As reported by commener MB, Sunset Tax Services in West Columbia has closed. They were the follow-on operation in this building to My Best Cleaners. According to commenter James, Sunset opened here in late 2013.

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

Well, unsurprisingly, most of my pictures didn't turn out at all, and these are pretty poor, but it was an impressive, if brief, moment here in the capital city. As totality approached, the street lights turned on, evening birds took wing, and the one car on the road had headlights lit.

There was a very light sprinkle ahead of totality, but during that brief interval itself, the clouds actually parted, and we all got to ooh and ahh at the firey crona around the occluded disk. Somewhere in the distance, fireworks started..

As mentioned by commenter Andrew, here is another McDonald's undergoing upfit to the new style. This one is on the Charleston Highway adjacent to the recently closed Church's Chicken. The setup with two signs seems a little unusual to me, but perhaps I just haven't been paying attention.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 7 February 2018 -- As mentioned in the comments, this store is open again:

According to The State, this North Main towing operation caught fire on 24 February 2017:

Columbia fire crews arrived at Sandy Run Towing at 3610 North Main just before midnight. They worked for more than two hours to put out the flames.

There were no injuries, but the building and the cars inside were a complete loss

Man! You've already had a bad day when you car gets towed. Now imagine it getting caramelized on top of that..

From the sign, it appears that they have now relocated.

UPDATE 19 January 2018 -- This building has been razed:

When I was in Triangle City a couple of weekends ago, and trying to turn around and go back for some pictures of a place I had just driven past, I noticed this empty building on C Avenue. Some googling suggests it was an interior design operation. The website is still active here. Since their picture shows the Metanoia signage, I guess that was the DBA name.

This former daycare is well back from the road around where Old Bush River splits off from Saint Andrews road.

It appears to have been part of a chain of such centers, with other locations remaining open.

There is always something especially sad about an abandoned playground.

(Hat tip to commenter IrmoJeff)

The impending closing of this Lexington Publix plaza wing stop was noted a while ago by commenter Ed, and commenter Brian confirmed the actual closing a bit later. The first shot shows the place still in operation and the later shots are from afterwards.

Curiously, Hot 4 Wings was just a few suites down from Wing Nuts, which shuttered in March 2014.

(Hat tip to commenters ED & Brian)

I noticed this former garage in Triangle City on the Charleston Highway last weekend. I can't say exactly when it closed, as I don't see any phonebook listings for it, at least under the marquee name, although Google suggests it might also have been Southern Diesel Truck & Trailer Repair, or a Meineke Car Care location.

Noticed this vacant restaurant on Augusta Road next to the former Piggly Wiggly plaza.

A little googling turned up a LoopNet listing and an old FaceBook page that establish that it was a Sports/Biker bar called Reds On Augusta.

Judging from the fact that the last Facebook postings (other than an outlier which I'm guessing is a memory-lane post) are from late 2014, that's when I'm putting the closing.

See the LoopNet link for a picture of the place in operation.

UPDATE 11 August 2017: OK, commenter James R says they have not closed but moved to 3813 Augusta Highway. Well good for them! I'll add "(moved)" to the post title.

Here's another upfit: The Raceway at the intersection of I-26 & Airport Boulevard. I think I actually stopped here once for gas. I have to say the motel looks like it needs an upfit more than the store does.

UPDATE 27 September 2017 -- This place is once more open: