Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, it's back to Polo Plaza again for this nail spa next to the former Spectrum. It's a bit unusual that they left some of the neon behind, but as nearly as I can tell looking at the two Facebook pages associated with this place, TLC probably moved in 2016, to 9300 Two Notch, which appears to be the strip mall across from the Big Lots shopping center.

I've never been to this Waffle House at I-20 & South Lake Drive, but I assume it was, you know, a Waffle House, reliable for what it does. It appears that this one is getting the same gut & refit treatment that the one by Texas Roadhouse on Two Notch is getting.

I had noticed El Paso from time to time driving this stretch of US-1, mostly because it had some nice neon (which you can see here), and wondered about it as it was not one of the prevalent Mexican chains in the area, but never got around to trying it out. Now, as noted by commenter James R, it has rebranded as one of the "usual" local chains: San Jose.

The last google reviews are dated with the vague "three months ago", so I'm guessing the switch would have been around the New Year.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

UPDATE 10 March 2022: Adding "Reflections Event Venue" to the post title as the comments indicate that was the incarnation previous to El Paso.

I actually did go into this Polo Plaza storefront once, years ago, when I was cancelling my cable. It went fairly smoothly. Since then, Time Warner Cable has been rebranded as Spectrum, and the Spectrum office itself has moved down the road to 10136 Two Notch. According to this article the new store was up an running by early December 2021.

I'm not sure I understand the suite numbering here, which seems to kind of run both ways, but the suite is either 1, or 'O' or both..

Bricks And Stones is in Woodberry Plaza, along with Big Lots and behind the former Fat Boy. While I was not aware of them, the menu looks pretty good, and perhaps I will try to sneak in there over the next few weeks.

Commenter Robin reports that their facebook put the closing down to inflation, COVID and staffing issues, like all too many places lately. Commenter Andrew sends in this ColaDaily item about the closing as well.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

According to the Thompson web site, this building was built by the company's founder in 1935 and was

the first building in this area that was built strictly for the use as a funeral home

According to this WestMetroNews article, Thompson's moved their area facility to larger quarters at 4720 Augusta Road in Lexingtion in early 2021.

It's a very nice looking, rather churchlike building and I certainly hope they find a buyer who wants to keep it standing. Currently the lot is apparently being used for paid parking.

Happy China Buffet was in the Westland Square storefront which used to house Gooney Birds. Last year they moved into the new building built on the old Quincy's lot a few blocks down Sunset towards Lexington.

According to this ColaDaily article, they originally planned to keep the same name, but in the event, they reopened as Blossom Buffet (you can see that the phone numbers are the same).

Here is the new building:

In the meantime, an Olde Country Buffet is to open in the old location:

I was not really aware of Ready To Play but apparently it was a gaming center for table-top and card games like Magic The Gathering. Their Facebook page has posts into early January 2022, so I'll use that as the closing date.

(Hat tip to commenter Nobody)

It was a very unpleasant, rainy day, so I did not get out of the car and try to get better pictures, but this U-Haul storage facility was acquired by the SC Department of Transportation as part of their ongoing effort to widen I-26 and the renters, as reported by commenter Gypsie, were requested to be out by August of 2021.

I confess I don't really understand how this property will be affected by the I-26 work. It is on the far side of Jamil Road from the Interstate, and unless the road is to be closed, at least in part, I don't see how they use the property -- especially with new construction on the *near* side of the Interstate.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

UPDATE 16 August 2023 -- As noted in the comments, this place is being razed:

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UPDATE 27 September 2023: Update tags.

This is one of the times it would be nice if the AT&T still deigned to give me a phonebook yearly as I have no real idea when this place closed. The latest Yelp reviews are all quite old, but I can't believe the actual closing date is that long ago, so I am going to punt and say 2021 until I hear otherwise.

At any rate, this Boozer Shopping Center storefont was a sewing machine sales and service operation and had apparently been there for quite a while.

UPDATE 26 February 2022: Commenter Gypsie found evidence that this place probably closed in 2016, so I am updating the closing date in the title to that.