Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I was unaware of this bin based discount operation in East Forest Plaza until commenter Kody mentioned that it was gone. According to The Free Times they closed due to the high cost of fuel as shipping was eating into their small margins. I suspect there may have been more to it than that, but at any rate, they shut down at the start of June.

Interestingly, the same guy who started this chain started the Zoe's Kitchen chain.

(Hat tip to commenter Kody)

UPDATE 26 September 2022 -- Now the conceptually similiar Where Ya Bin:

Once in the 1970s, when some out of town cousins (who I had never met) were coming through town, my father checked out all the hotels in the vicinity (not that many then), and decided that this Marlboro Inn (which was at that time fairly new) had reasonable prices and acceptable quality and suggested they stay there while visiting us. There's no punchline to that story: Apparently the place was OK, and there were no issues.

Since that time, the place had become obviously not new, and was renting out one suite to an accountancy to bring in some extra money or provide a familiy member a reasonable office. I never heard of any trouble there, but with many newer motels, with national reservation systems, in town in recent years, I suspect the writing was on the wall.

According to commenter Larry, the property was bought by Lexington Medical as was the adjacent building. Perhaps that means they will merge the two lots and build something large there.

I think the motel in the triangle where Wildcat Road runs into Fort Jackson Boulevard was also a Marlboro Inn at one time, but I don't recall ever seeing another, and as far as I know, there as no connection to the cigarette brand.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

UPDATE 23 February 2023 -- All gone now:

Over the years I have always wondered exactly what this Cosmetology Center on Fontaine Road was. The answer seems to be that it was a banquet hall and event center.

Over the past few weeks, a new marquee has gone up announcing that is is now Kandy Shop, though I'm not clear on exactly what that means.

The Harbison Chick-Fil-A is getting the remodeling treatment that several locations in the area have gone through. In this case, that involves a complete razing of the existing building (already done) and rebuilding on the same lot. The State has the details:

In 2021, the Columbia Planning Commission approved the demolition and reconstruction of the Chick-fil-A at 294 Harbison. Documents filed with the Planning Commission indicated the original 3,844-square-foot restaurant building on the site would be demolished to make way for a 4,345-square-foot building. There also would be a new multi-lane drive-thru on the property, no doubt a key addition at a site where customer car lines can be long in the popular shopping district.

If all goes well, they plan to re-open this fall.

(Hat tip to commenter Sean)

This storefront first featured here as Stein Mart, which closed in 2020. Last fall, it was briefly a Spirit Halloween popup, and then Furniture & Mattress Overstock opened in the spot.

It now appears that they are closing after less than a year at this location.

One curious thing is that Stein Mart was listed as 934 North Lake Drive, while Furniture & Mattress Overstock lists as 932 North Lake Drive. I'm not sure why that is, and which, if either, is actually correct.

Driving by this site the other night, I noticed that Capital City Rides has relocated. This site originally featured here as Payless Car Sales, and I see on that post that after that it was Pro Bowl Motors which also seems to have closed at some point.

Interestingly, I cannot figure out just from online references to where Capital City has moved. I should have gotten out of the car and read the door signs, but I figured since their marquee sign had a website, the info would be there. In the event, it's not, and not on their Facebook page either.

Here's another CVS closing, this time in a down-at-the-heels plaza (which used to house Walmart & then Netbank),at the corner of Two Notch & Polo Roads.

Commenter Thomas says this one started as a Revco, and that rings a faint bell.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 12 July 2022 -- Here are some post-closing pictures:

UPDATE 16 September 2024 -- Now (for few months) a Spirit Halloween:

This building, next door to the Forest Acres City Hall, was a dry-cleaner for many years, starting as Gillespie's and then as Burnette's. For many of those years, the right-hand side of the building had a coin laundromat though that closed some time before Burnette's left for Forest Park, a block or so away.

The building sat empty for several years, until demolition started in late June of 2022. The building is now completely razed, which, with the old Russell & Jeffcoat lot adjacent to it also now bare gives a surprising amount of open space in central Forest Acres for new construction.

(Hat tip to my sister)

I've noticed this mid-century ranch house in Seven Oaks a number of times over the last year or so, but saw lately that there was a for-sale sign on the property. From what I can tell, Drigger's Photography has moved, or perhaps gone to a primarily online presence.

Given the location I would not be at all surprised to see this place razed after it sells with some sort of professional building going in, but time will tell.

UPDATE 20 October 2022 -- As mentioned in the comments, this is now Modern Roofing:

Here's the flipside of a previous post. The Turning Pointe recently moved to this, the former site of Cribbs Bakery from Forest Drive.

In between those two operations, this was a customer service center for Time Warner Cable which later rebranded as Spectrum. I'm not sure exactly when they moved out, but I'm thinking around 2020.

UPDATE 30 August 2022: Adjusting tags, adding "Moved" to the post title, and adding this picture of the new location: