Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I can't find out anything about this Sandhill Stride Rite shoe location except that it is no longer listed on the company's website, although I did learn that Sperry is a Stride Rite brand, which I had not known before.

Since I can find no other information, I'm going to list the closing date as 2020 under the assumption they might have been victims of the lockdowns.

When I went out to get pictures of the new PK BBQ location, and of the old Bi-Lo, I drove by Goodfellas on the way. I did not realize at the time that they had just recently moved to 630 Hwy 378 and had previously been in the current PK BBQ storefront. Judging by google reviews, the move took place some time around May of 2020 and when I went back to get these pictures, it appeared they are doing quite a good business in the new location.

(Hat tip to commenter Andy)

I can't find anything in the local media about this Jos A. Banks location in Sandhill, but going by the google reviews, it closed sometime around August of 2020. The chain has had some difficulty lately, but the parent company, which also owns Mens Warehouse has Just exited Chapter 11, so perhaps things are on the upswing.

There are two remaining Banks in the Midlands, one in Harbison, and one at Trenholm Plaza.

While I was checking out Bi-Lo, I noticed that this Hibachi storefront in the same plaza was vacant. I can't find out much about it -- there is only one Yelp review, but I'm going to guess it was another COVID-19 casualty.

My Gym was on a Sandhill endcap, on the Lowes wing. The last review I can find for them is about a year ago, so I am pretty sure this is another business closing we can chalk up to COVID-19.

This is the same suite that was originally home to The Grilled Cheese Company.

I thought I was done with Bi-Lo closings, but as commenter Andrew reminded me, I had missed this one in West Columbia just East of I-26. I can only recall stopping at this store once when it was Bi-Lo. I was driving through late at night and for some reason got a hankering for cinnamon rolls, the kind that come in the little aluminum trays with the white frosting on top. I don't think I've bought any since then, but they did hit the spot.

I get the impression that KJ's is using the IGA infrastructure to build their own brand. This one, unlike the one near the flea market, doesn't even have the IGA logo on the front, though I did see IGA products on the shelves. I didn't buy anything, but it looked fine inside, probably a notch above Food Lion.

The plaza where this store is located is unusual in that it doesn't seem to have a name.

For some reason, I thought I had already done a closing for Justice, but I don't see it, and none of the facts I just googled seem familiar, so I guess not!

Anyway, Justice was a tween girl brand with a bit of a complicated history. It was started by The Limited as Limited Too, and was then bought by Dress Barn. Ascena Retail Group, the follow-on name for Dress Barn after a reorg, went bankrupt in 2020, and this affected Catherines stores, some Lane Bryant, Ann Taylor Factory and Justice stores.

The Justice brand was then bought by Bluestar Alliance LLC but the final stores closed on 17 December 2020. The brand now seems to be owned by Justice Brand Holdings LLC, but the web site simply says to "Stay tuned" for future developments..

I have been holding off doing a post on Deno's because it wasn't clear exactly what their status is; however, at this point they are clearly closed for a long-term, if not forever, despite the fact that there is no real-estate sign, and all of the furnishings and equipment are still in the building.

Somehow I had it in my head that Deno's was a seafood restaurant, and so never went. Looking online now, I think I clearly would have liked the place. The last review I see on their Facebook page (which has not updated since 2014) is from February of 2020, so I think clearly COVID-19 was an issue here, and the roadside sign does mention that they were open for takeout for some time into the pandemic.

(Hat tip to commenter Barbara)

When I was getting pictures for Books A Million I noticed that the J Peters building was vacant as well. I figured they had gone under during the great plague of 2020, but a little research established that, in fact, they have moved to a better waterfront location on the Marsh Walk in Murrells Inlet.

This building was originally an Applebee’s, and I ate there a number of times, though I was more likely to go to the adjacent T.G.I. Friday's. Applebee's have had their own trouble over the past few years and have closed a number of locations. This one apparently went under in August 2017. Here is a 2017 Sun News story about the closing of Applebee's and the opening of J Peters. I can't find a story on the move to the waterfront, but based on reviews, I would say it was about August of 2020.

In the meantime, this is one more vacancy in the Inlet Square vicinity.

Well, this may be the final Bi-Lo closing, unless I go farther afield. This store on US-378 started out as a Piggly Wiggly more than twenty years ago, and now with the sale of Bi-Lo has come full circle. It's nice to see a new Pig open, as that chain has been having its own problems. It seems that the crew who wanted to stay on were able to, which is nice. ColaDaily has the story.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)