Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

[Front Row Bottom left-to-right: Brian Wilson-Piano/Vocals, Jeff Foskett-Guitar/Vocals, David Marks-Guitar, Mike Love-Vocals, Al Jardine-Guitar/Vocals, Unknown, Bruce Johnston-Keyboards/Vocals]

(Wanted to get this out last night, but my uploads didn't finish..)

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, we've been talking about it for weeks, but Friday was the day the Kroger (and associated Chick-Fil-A) on Saint Andrews Road at I-26 finally closed. I suspect these pictures show the last time that sign will be illuminated.

UPDATE 5 December 2014 -- Roses is now open, and the remodel for Save A Lot has started:

UPDATE 28 January 2021: Adding tags and map icon.

UPDATE 4 October 2023 -- The left side of the old Kroger (which Roses didn't take over) is a Spirit Haloween this year (2023):

Staffing company Addecco has moved from Parklane Centre, but for some reason, I didn't get a closeup giving the new address.

When I would eat at Ruby Tuesday, I would occasionally stop at this S-Mart BP (which I'm pretty sure started as a Hess) on my way home, especially since they tore down the Forest Drive Circle K. It was nothing special, though I always thought it was a bit odd that they had the "under seige"/"cashier in a cage" setup inside as the area doesn't seem especially bad to me.

I'm pretty sure that the number of pumps decreased over the last year or so, something I wondered about. It may be that the writing has been on the wall for a while..

When the ax did fall, they wasted no time getting the remaining pumps out of there, a process that usually takes a little while.

The side road to this place, Crowson Road is an odd little street that connects Devine with Fort Jackson Boulevard and also has a semi "back way" into K-Mart with a bridge over Gills Creek. It has always had sort of an unfinished/1960s vibe to me. I guess this is probably due mostly to the odd cluster of buildings, from the original Egg Roll Station building to the old buildings at the intersection with Fort Jackson Boulevard..

(Hat tip to commenter Badger)

Read the rest of this entry »

This little building on Rosewood Drive near the former Keg O' Nails was obviously a family house in the beginning. Apparently used appliance store Rosewood Appliance Center was there for around 25 years, lasting at least until 2010.

I'm not sure of the order of the follow on businesses, though I suspect that Artshack was the most recent (and which almost must be related to Art Shack Gallery Cafe). I'm quite puzzled by the fact that googling "3000 Rosewood Dr" consistently turns up Rosewood Elementary School. Clearly this building is *not* the nearby District One school. All I can think is that either A) This is a complete error that has been propagated from one web site to another or B) The school at one time leased this building as an overflow office or some such.

This little building sits on C Avenue in Triangle City just west of the Charleston Highway, and has apparently most recently been a cellphone, game console and computer repair operation called iTecRepair. I believe this was the last tenant, as they booked an oline ad as recently as 30 January 2012.

I am unsure if Cdn Communications was a totally different operation, or just a different DBA name for iTecRepair.

Before the newfangled stuff, the place was one of those urban staples, a bail bonding office called Get U Out Bail Bonding (some google hits give it as Get U Out Fast, but I think that was just their slogan, as pictured in this real estate listing).

Commenter Larry points out this State story on the closing of Palmetto Candy & Tobacco. This Columbia institution is on Lincoln Street across from the Seaboard station, and is someplace I have always meant to check out. In the event, as is often the case, I have apparently waited too long.

As the 21 April story (which places the closing time as "about a month ago") notes, there is a "remodeling" sign on the store door, but I find that more often than not in these cases, that is kind of a "the cat is on the roof and won't come down" way to break bad news. This is especially the case given the customer base was apparently largely "filling stations, corner markets, baseball leagues and swimming pools" -- the types of operations which will quickly change to new suppliers and then be reluctant to make yet another change if the place reopens.

(Hat tip to commener Larry)

UPDATE 19 March 2022 -- I just came across this 26 August 2008 shot of the place in operation:

Also updating tags and adding a map icon.

Well, another day, another closed gas station on The Sumter Highway. This one is recent though, closing some time in March I think, though it can probably be figured accurately from the gas prices.. While I was taking these shots, the guy from the adjacent Subway came over and wanted to know if I was looking to buy the building. I'm not sure I ever did convey exactly what I was doing (which really doesn't make much sense to any rational person).

I like the canopy here, and the way it slightly "vees" rather than being completely flat as most new ones are. I think most modern construction has lost something. Notice too that the pumps have analog/mechanical displays. The one for 89 octane looks as though it was not happy to get up into the $3 range. Also note, one of the common features of a recently closed business: The new phonebook parked against the door.

As an added bonus, the drive home from here was very scenic:

(Hat tip to someone whose comment I can no longer find)

UPDATE 24 November 2014 -- The Hot Spot is open again (and apparently has been for some time):

UPDATE 22 January 2017 -- This place has now re-flagged as O M Mart:

UPDATE 31 January 2023: Adding map icon.

The follow-on business in the Jack's Shoes building, Leapin' Lizards,

Columbia’s only Parent-Friendly Inflatable Play Center

has closed down. Looking at the (archived) link above, it does appear to me that it would indeed be a lot of fun for those in the bouncy-castle demographic (and future Wipeout contestants have to come from somewhere :-).

This closing follows that of the somewhat more elaborate Monkey Business in Lexington by about two years, and, I believe follows the re-opening of the nearby Little Gym which was damaged during the D's Wings fire.

(Hat tip to commenter JohnBom)

UPDATE 22 April 2012 -- Here are some more and better pictures, including the still extant Forest Drive sign:

I noticed this abandoned gas station a few weeks ago coming back into town on the Sumter Highway. It sits where US-378 (The Sumter Highway) and SC-764 meet at a fork in the road.

I'm sure that the painting on the facade is sufficient to identify what brand of station it was, but I'm drawing a blank on it right now, and as often as I have driven (or ridden..) that road since the 1960s, I'm almost certain I never stopped there.

These pictures were taken about 5 minutes too late -- Just before I got to the area, the sun had broken through the storm clouds for that glorious late-afternoon-post-storm light you get sometimes, but by the time I started snapping, the clouds were already rolling back in. I wish I had the honey-suckle pumps in that light..

Read the rest of this entry »