Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Those of you with long memories may recall that I did posts for Amelia Con in 2014 & 2016. After that, the organizers of that convention decided there was not really the support in the area to go up against other local events. They moved the second instantiation from September to February, got a bigger space, and applied a lot of lessons learned, and I found the second Amelia Con noticably better than the first. However it was apparently not viable enough to do again, and there was never a third.

Amelia Coastal Con is a new show, and as far as I know, has no connection to Amelia Con. However, it was held in the same venue, the town recreation center, where Amelia Con started. As you may know, I require very little urging to go to Florida in February.

I found the show to be smaller than even the initial Amelia Con, a bit less organized (not surprising for a first year), and focused much more on Anime than comics Comics were already not a large part of Amelia Con, but there was no comic content or merchandise at Amelia Coastal Con. That's fine, people are interested in different things. Perhaps a bit surprisingly, there was an old school Trek presence with Neutral Zone Studios, perhaps because they are basically local, having a fully fledged Star Trek filming venue in nearby Kingsland Georgia.

The main space of the Recreation Center was occupied by vendors and gaming tables while the Stage was curtained off and used for presentations. There were also vendors and exhibitions on the ball field behind the center, and food trucks in the parking lot.

New since my last visit (to the Recreation Center, not the town) was a marsh trail, a small bit of which I walked, and which was very nice in February. How it would be in July is yet to be seen.

I bought a few figurines, saw a presentation on cosplay and a Star Trek fan film from Neutral Zone Studios which was really quite good for a non-professional effort (see below), and watched the cosplay contest, which was largely kids this go-round.

Anway, it was a nice way to spend a winter weekend, and from their Facebook, it sounds like they are planning to do it again next year (though there are no details).

It appears that sadly, Mr. Coles, the owner of this old-school Sumter Street barber shop, passed away in late 2022 and the place is now for sale.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

Miyo's at Columbiana Station has moved to the old M Kitchen location at 340 Columbiana Drive.

M Kitchen was another in the Miyo's family of restaurants, and the building was never sold, so it's not clear to me if the new location is called M Kitchen again or not. According to the door sign, the Miyo's menu will be served, so if there was a difference before, that may be a clue.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

Soda City Pharmacy was the follow-on in this building to Insurance Masters. They opened around March of 2022, and lasted until around April of the following year. Judging from the media reports here & here, traffic was never good post-COVID, and the place was looking for community support.

As commenter Andrew reports, Rustic Roots Salon is now setting up in this space.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 15 October 2024 -- Now Rustic Roots Salon:

I was not aware of this restaurant, tucked away in McCauley Square until commenter Heath mentioned it. Looking at the menu, I think I would have liked some of the sandwiches, though I would not generally be in that area at lunchtime. I will say that when I stopped by to take these pictures, the the parking lot for the strip was entirely too busy and too crowded. The owners' Facebook page does mention the fact that having so many restaurants in there made it hard to stand out. You can read that page for the closing message as well.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

The Burger King on this site closed in 2011 and was razed to make way for this building. PDQ [People Dedicated to Quality] opened here in 2014, so they lasted about ten years. I'm not a chicken person, but I know my sister and nieces liked it well enough, but perhaps not enough other people did, because the chain has closed 8 restaurants in the Carolinas, which out of 61 total storefronts, is a major hit. I see they have also closed two locations in New Jersey, so they are definitely hurting all over.

Here is the Post & Courier on the Devine Street closing.

Commenter Dave reports rumors that a Whataburger will be coming to the site, but as far as I know, these have not been confirmed.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

Commenter Ellen reported this Harbison salon to be closing on 11 November 2023, and it is definitely closed. I do see some google reviews from after that date, so I'm not sure if it ended up staying open longer, or people were just tardy in sharing their thoughts.

Looking at their Facebook, it appears that at least some of the staff are continuing on at other venues.

(Hat tip to commenter Ellen)

Where Ya Bin took over from a similarly themed store, Crazy Cazboys in the fall of 2022.

They have now shuttered this storefront, and are in the process of moving to 817 Saint Andrews Road, which would be the old Kroger plaza. You can read about the move on their Facebook. Currently they expect to open sometime this month (March 2024).

(Hat tip to a commenter Matt)

This location of Jersey Mike's on Sunset by Krispy Kreme, seems to have closed in Jaunary. I didn't see any sign on the door when I went by, and there's nothing about it on the Facebook page (which remains active with corporate level posts), but the individual web site for the store is gone as well.

(Hat tip to commenter JohnR)

B's was the follow-on in this location to Beef O'Brady's, and opened in late 2018.

According to their Facebook, 17 December 2023 was their last day, which is not a bad run given a pandemic in the midst of it.

Commenter Andrew reports the space is setting up to be Cheesy Pint Pizzeria.

UPDATE 5 June 2024 -- Cheesy Pint is open:

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew, I believe)