Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, I finally got by the Saint Andrews Road Kmart, and it looks like whenever the final date is, it is definitely not long for the world.

I don't really understand why Kmart does store closings like this. Kmart a chain. It's not a chain that's in great shape, but there *are* other stores. It seems to me that it would make more sense to have a couple of trucks come in and take stuff either to the warehouse or directly to other stores, especially the small stuff like the jewelry department. Just looking at it cold-bloodedly, that would have to be cheaper than continuing to pay salaries and utilities for an extended closing period..

(Hat tip to lots of people)

UPDATE 20 May 2013 -- Well, Sunday 19 May was the last day of retail operation -- they will be open next week to sell the store fixtures only. I got some $0.19 Jazz CDs and a George Thoroughgood concert DVD for $0.29..

UPDATE 7 October 2019: Add map icon and update tags.

Osaka replaced San Jose Express in Sunset Center near the zoo botanical garden sometime after June 2011, though the space really looks too small for a Japanese Steakhouse.

Apparently a Greek restaurant is coming soon, though that puts them rather close to Grecian Gardens. I see from looking back at the San Jose closing that the Italian restaurant has changed over too, from Tony's to Delucca's (and the tasty looking ice-cream cone is gone).

(Hat tip to commenter James)

I've done a number of closings on various Quiznos around town as you can see if you check the Alphabetical Closings list. This one is just east of the Brickyard Shopping Center, and in fact has stoplight access to Two Notch from there if you go around the back way. I don't have a lot to say about Quiznos. As I observed in another post, I ate at one once and it was OK, though nothing that drove me to seek out another.

(Hat tip to commenter kholler)

UPDATE 18 March 2025: Update tags, add map icon

Anthony's was the follow on operation to Ye Old Fashioned Ice Cream & Sandwich Cafe and opened late in 2011. It was connected with Anthony's on Two Notch from what I understand, and was aiming for the retro-burger market. I kept meaning to check it out, but somehow rarely seemed to be in that area when it was time to eat.

I think this location has problems with visibility from Garners Ferry, and also, the recent opening of Smash Burger, right in their market niche, a few miles towards town can't have helped matters either.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

UPDATE 8 January 2020 -- Change the address from 7490 Garners Ferry Road to 7457 Patterson Road Suite 101 which seems to be official, though I have seen both. Add map icon.

Here's an interesting little restaurant building in Lexington. It was last a San Jose until that operation relocated to 115 North Point Drive, but the building obviously predates that. It has a familiar look, but I can't quite place it. I would say the front extension was not part of the original building.

The building looks a bit forlorn now, but the murals are a nice touch.

UPDATE 22 April 2013: Added Taco Cid to the post title based on the comments and the 1985 phonebook.

UPDATE 29 NOvember 2017 -- as mentioned elsewhere by commenter ED, this building has now been razed:

UPDATE 30 August 2022: Updating tags and adding map icon.

UPDATE 25 January 2023: Add tag.

I was quite surprised to see this Hardee's, more or less at the corner of Percival Road and Forest Drive, closed.

As far as I could tell driving by daily, it seemed to do a reasonable amount of business. What's more, this section of Forest Drive is now an Interstate exit zone, so it should have been drawing from more than just the local area.

My first thought was that the opening of Cookout just a few slots down the road was the cause. The problem with that theory is that Hardee's does a brisk breakfast business, and Cookout, as far as I know, doesn't have a breakfast menu.

The more daylight shots above are from commenter kholler: Thanks!

(Hat tip to commenters Mr. Hat and Kholler)

UPDATE 12 July 2013 -- As mentioned in the comments, this is to become a Sonic:

UPDATE -- The place opens for business this morning (9 Sept 2013) at 6AM. Here is some more of the work from a few weeks ago:

UPDATE 19 June 2021: Adding tags and map icon.

Here's the Village At Sandhill location of Carolina/Clemson sports memorabilia store Big Thursday.

As you can see this is in one of the best parts of Sandhill -- on the main drag and right next to Five Guys so I don't expect it will stay vacant too long. This was a fairly nice day if not yet really "Springlike" and there was a good deal of foot and car traffic.

Although this Steak 'n Shake was open well past the time I moved back to Columbiana, I can't recall seeing it open at all. Indeed, I didn't even realize until it came up recently in Have Your Say that this building was the former location.

Steak 'n Shake is one of those chains I've always been meaning to try but somehow never get around to. I guess I've been closest once in LA when I used Yahoo Travel to book myself a hotel for a Van Morrison concert and found myself in an almost totally non-english speaking part of Koreatown (the hotel room phonebooks were in Korean [though the staff couldn't have been nicer!]) and it looked like a place I could understand. Somehow that didn't quite happen, and somehow I've never connected in Florida (where they have a big presence) either.

At any rate this store listed in the Feb 2008 phonebook, but not in the Feb 2010 one, so I'm saying they shut down in 2009. The building has really delapidated quickly since then, and it looks like it would take major work to get a standard second-use restaurant (Asian buffett, Lizard's Thicket etc) into there.

UPDATE 2 May 2013 -- Some of the boards have now been prised off the windows, and we can take a bit of a look inside:

UPDATE 14 March 2016 -- Somewhere I have some pictures of this lot as vacant after the tear-down, and will post them, but as of now, it is rebuilt and open as M Kitchen (and has been for a while):

As detailed here, on 11 December 2012, Mattress Firm bought out Mattress Source and all the Mattress Source stores were closed temporarily for re-branding.

I missed the buyout news, not being in the mattress market currently, but noticed the new banner over the old marquee when I was driving down Harbison recently. Since I don't have a dog in the fight, I'll say that I like the name Mattress Firm better than Mattress Source as it works (presumably intentionally) as a play on words.

I'll also say that while I have no opinion yea or nay on their mattresses, I continue to admire the Tempurpedic logo.

You wouldn't think that you could get away with plastering a shapely undraped female derriere all over your marquee and front yard, but they do. Granted they have toned down the, um, cleavage from a few years ago:

UPDATE 19 September 2022 -- As mentioned in the comments, the building has come down. Also there seems to be a lot of land clearing behind the old site as well:

Also updating tags and adding map icon.

UPDATE 7 October 2022 -- Here are a few shots from the start of the teardown:

Well, this has already been talked about enough that I'm not sure who the hat-tip goes to, but I finally got over to Lexington last weekend and got some shots of the Main Street Blockbuster closing down. It was already pretty near the end-days, and as I watched, I saw a guy walk out and hoick a set of display racks into his truck.

I was also in Aiken this week, and the Blockbuster there which closed about this time last year is still vacant despite being in a pretty good spot..

UPDATE -- the place is still vacant:

UPDATE 4 March 2014 -- This shot is through a windshield and from too far away, but you can see this building is now a Pet Supermarket:

UPDATE 5 October 2020: Changing name in post title from "Blockbuster" to "Blockbuster Video", updating tags, adding map icon.