Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I was unaware of this place, and indeed that Sparkleberry actually had a north-of-two-notch section until commenter JohnBom mentioned it. It appears that at this point, the Sparkleberry Big T location is closed and well on the way to becoming Spring Valley Convenience Store. Indeed, the non-perishables are already being moved in.

Big T has a second location on Garners Ferry, which is still in operation.

As an aside, I note that sometime in the 80s, a really good sign salesman must have worked the Northeast: You see this style of sign up and down Two Notch from east of Rabon to Pontiac..

(Hat tip to commenter JohnBom)

Well, this is one of the last old-time "service stations" around town. Looking inside is like visiting another age. The "Maps Here" sign is particularly evocative -- there was a time you got your branded highway maps at a service station. I still have a cubby full of old "Gulf" maps, some predating the completion of the 'I' system. That was also a time when we were convinced that gas was *not* a commodity product, and that "Good Gulf" was better than "putting a tiger in your tank" or vice versa.

And a man would actually come out to your car, pump the gas, check your oil, check your tires, check your battery and radiator and wash your windows.

Their sign says they were here for 33 years, which is a good run.

And for context, you can see two former closing in the background: here and here.

UPDATE 16 March 2017 -- Rather Hopperesque:

UDATE 1 September 21018 -- Something is happening here:

UPDATE 21 February 2019 -- Now a Cheap Way convenience store:

Read the rest of this entry »

I was wondering what business this nice little old house next Triangle Lock & Safe on Sunset was. Looking at the pictures I took, I couldn't even get a street number (for some reason I didn't get out for a closer look at the time), but google maps came through and identified it as 1410 Sunset and the former site of yet another of the Midlands title loans operations. They listed in the Feb 2012 phonebook, but not the Feb 2013 one, so I am tagging the closing date as 2012.

Another Irmo area note from commenter Homer today:

It's not every day that I need a vehicle serviced so I had no idea that
this business had closed. Tony, the owner, passed away in October and
the family decided not to keep going. I didn't realize it but they had
been in business for 40 years. These guys were top notch when it came to
auto repair. I used to take my old Corvette in there for service and
Tony, Woody and all the guys there always did me right. A lot of people
are going to miss this place!!

I remember a shop in Fayetteville that clearly hadn't even looked at the reason I brought the car in when they called me to pick it up. Always nice to find someone who knows what they are doing!

(Hat tip to commenter Homer, of course)

When I was taking the pictures of Dooley's, I happened to notice this empty building on the other side of the street. After doing a little googling, I found that it was a former Aaron's, and that, um, I had already done a closing for it, something I honestly have no memory of!

However, I find I can legitimately feature the building again as it has more recently been a Halloween Express holiday store. These tend to pop up in exactly these sorts of buildings: Large, and apparently un-rentable, under the theory that a few months of money coming in is better than zilch. For now at least, you can see the building kitted out for Halloween here.

Here's another set of pictures from commenter Homer, who says:

Here are some pictures of the old location of Chickadee's Diner, 7949
Broad River Rd in Irmo (Bi-Lo Shopping Center). I'm not sure when they
closed but they moved to the location that corresponds to the closings
entry for BJ's Cafe at 1729 Marshall St.

You can see the setting up for the Marshall Street location here at the Sunset Grill & Pizza closing. Since I took those shots, Chickadees has opened for business there.

This old-time fisherman's stop is apparently a Lexington institution, having been there according to The State for 67 years.

The development of the area, and the many changes in retail have persuaded the owning family that it's time to close:

“You just can’t make it on bait and tackle alone any more,” the elder Dooley said.

His son, 51, decided taking over the store isn’t worthwhile. “The only way it would is if I work seven days a week, be the only employee and probably live here,” he said.

And so goes another little piece of Americana...

UPDATE 26 March 2018 -- Now closed:

UPDATE 6 March 2021 -- Now open as Twisted Roots Bar & Grill:

Also adding map icon.

This little fabric shop at the triple corner of Fontaine, Two Notch & Shakespeare has been in business for 11 years according to The State although only 3 of them have been in this location.

Co-located New Coverings will remain in the spot.

(Hat tip to commenter Rick)

UPDATE 13 August 2020: Add map icon.

I wasn't really aware of this little women's apparel store on Corley Mill Road, though I have driven past it at least twice that I can think of. The area seems to be rapidly building up, but this place was still an older house on a good sized lot. Their Facebook page has a nice little shout-out to their local suppliers.

(Hat tip to commenter Brian)