Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This small building in Capitol Shopping Center at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Meeting Street in West Columbia ha
s been a number of things over the years.

Judging from the look of the place, it started as some sort of fast food chain outlet, but I am unable to recall which. Somet
ime after that, I believe I recall a Greek restaurant setting up there. Most recently it was Dish & Desing Catering u
ntil sadly the owner passed away and they had to close.

These pictures were taken not too long after Halloween, as you might infer from the deflated Jack O'Lantern somebody left in t
he parking lot.

I'm not exactly sure when head shop Alibaba's Pipe Emporium on Sunset closed. Commenter Brian noted the storefront as empty in December 2014. When I took the first pictures on 17 August 2014, the Sunset location already seemed to be closed during what would be normal hours though the store looked fully stocked. At that time, a sign directed customers to the Irmo store on Woodrow Street. I know they has some legal trouble in May 2014 though I am unsure if that was what finally caused the closing or not.

(Hat tip to commenter Brian)

I got to Brookgreen a bit later than I had planned this year, and so did not hit all the spots I usually hit, but it was still a very nice evening out in the cold and lights. Actually, the weather was relatively moderate compared to some prior years -- I was able to hold my camera and adjust the controls without my fingers going numb. There is still an official ban on tripods, and I decided this year I wouldn't go for much in the way of "set the camera on something and do a time exposure" shots, so I cranked the ISO way up and took what I got, so I have to admit I've gotten better shots in previous years. I did play around with the in-camera HDR setting, and that's where some of the freaky green-lit exposures come from. Sometimes it did quite a good job of capturing both the lights and normal objects, and sometimes it didn't (I haven't used those spoiled shots here, obviously).

Getting in was a little quicker this year as they did not bring back the suboptimal secondary dirt road route they tried last year, although there was still quite a jam on US-17 (where I witnessed a fender-bender just as I finally got waved through). You still have three more chances to catch the lights this year on 18 December, 19 December and 20 December, and you really should if you are anywhere near the area.

UPDATE 5 December 2023: Update tags and add map icon.

ConCOCKtions was the followup operation to Rum Runners in the little 724 Harden Street back lot building attached to the Kester's building.

There is already a followup in place, Back Alley. This building rotates so often that the parking lot signs have trouble keeping up (and spelling, though that's a separate issue).

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

UPDATE 24 June 2019: Add map icon.

I confess I have no memory of this storefront on Shandon Street at Rosewood and the reversed marquee sign is not readable, but google suggests it was Shandon Day Span & Salon.

I did a previous closing for this building when it was Lexus Of Columbia.

Insurance brokers Cutler & Associates were the follow-up business in this location. Sadly, it appears that Mr. Cutler has passed on after what sounds like a full and fruitful life.

UPDATE 10 May 2016 -- This building is now Pool Tables Plus:

Well, you've seen the signs, now you can get $10.00 off.

I went to this Jiffylube near the I-20 interchange on Two Notch several times. While sitting in the heat and watching traffic up and down Two Notch is no garden vista, the deck was nice as it got you out of the waiting room and away from the TV.

The siting of this store was interesting as it was directly next to a Precision Tune, just as the Knox Abbott location is almost directly across the street from one.

Update 10 October 2016 -- Now Quackt Glass windshield repair:

One of the very first closings I did was for Wendy's on Two Notch in Dentsville.

Now the other Two Notch Wendy's, out past Spring Valley by the Brickyard Shopping Center site has closed as well.

The place seems reasonably easy to get in and out of, there's even stoplight access, but I note that the adjacent former Quizno's has never been replaced by anything so perhaps I'm missing something about the spot.

I wonder if Nick's needs another location?

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

UPDATE 17 May 2016 -- As mentioned in the comments, this building is about to open as a Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen:

UPDATE 7 June 2016 -- Popeye's is now open:

I got off kind of on the wrong foot with Rita's as I read their slogan Ice Custard Happiness before walking over from Barnes & Noble and was expecting some rich frozen custard treat. In the event, I ended up with something like an Icee. Looking at their menu, I now see that I should have explicitly mentioned the word "custard" in my order rather than just specifying a flavor. Oh well.

You can see a small portion of the shop in operation in the first picture in the Sesame Inn closing. In the meantime, you can still get your fix across town at the Sandhill location.

(Hat tip to commenter Bob)

This Subway was way out on Garners Ferry in Eastover, next to the Hot Spot. Restaurants are pretty thin on the ground in this area, especially national chains, so I was a bit surprised to hear they had closed, yet not too surprised because customers are pretty spread out as well.

(Hat tip to commenter Gary)

UPDATE 19 February 2016 -- It's now Hot Sub Stop:

UPDATE 17 June 2022 -- Updating tags, and adding a possible closing date and map icon.