Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This little space on Main across from the Capitol and next to WOLO has been a number of restaurants, for instance the Cat & Cleaver and The Capitol Cafe (not to be confused with the Capitol Restaurant) -- Then it was *almost* a Dunkin' Donuts.

After Dunkin' fell through, the place was vacant for a while then Fever started a (protracted) setup process, finally opened and rapidly went under.

I have to admit that though the place sounded to be something I might like, I purposely did not check it out as I strongly felt that the owner's role in the Taco Wars was unhelpful. Outcompeting someone -- fine. Trying to use City Hall to shut down a competitor -- not so much. I wonder if other people sharing that sentiment was an element in Fever's demise, or the fact that the last two restaurants there closed as well means that the location is just not that good.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne, and to tonkatoy for the "Taco Wars" link during the Have Your Say discussion)

OK, reactions to the holiday weekend's new theme ranged from "meh" to "hate hate hate", so I'm retrenching.

I still do want a 3 column theme, but I will either try to modify andrea (the current theme) or continue my search.

M Boutique on Devine Street has closed its doors in preparation for a move to the new Whole Foods complex.

Of course that shopping center isn't anywhere near ready to occupy:

so the new location isn't scheduled to open until October, meaning that there will be no revenue coming in for 4+ months -- it seems very odd timing.

(Hat tip to commenter Mary Douglass)

If you've been hitting "reload" off and on this morning, you will have noticed a number of new blog themes come and go.

I believe I like this one, and if I don't find any problems with it, I will probably be keeping it for a while (though I will most likely update the default image and background that came with it).

Doza Rizen was at the corner of Sunset & 12th Street, and as I like baked goods and coffee, was one of those places I was always meaning to get to. In the event however, it's a good ways from my place and somehow I never managed make a visit. I had noticed that there were no cars there during a recent drive-by, but figured as the official van was still parked outside, the place was still open. A closer look at both convinced me otherwise.

According to the web site, there is still a Doza Rizen in Chapin on Virginia Street.

Here's one for you history buffs!

I ran across this 1907 City Directory when I was googling for "926 Gervais". As it turns out, Google has been working with libraries to digitize public domain books they might have in their holdings, and somehow or other this one was found at UV.

You can download the whole directory here. It is in PDF format, but you may need the latest version of Acrobat Reader to make it open correctly.

More sample pages after the jump. Also, remember that this is a historical document and that it follows the unfortunate mores of its times.

Read the rest of this entry »

When I noticed this empty slot in the Food Lion plaza on Two Notch the other night, my first thought was that GQ Barber Shop had closed, but on checking the closing I did for Arnold's Professional Cleaners last year, I see that at that time, the shop was called Simply Hair Barber Shop, and in fact Simply Hair is listed in this year's (February 2012) phonebook, so it would appear that GQ is going in rather than out. (Given that there is no "opening soon" sign, I could be wrong and GQ might have gone in and out very quickly).

Note that GQ mostly re-uses the Simply Hair sign.

I know I took some pictures of this under-awning vacancy at Polo Plaza at least a year ago, possibly longer. In the event, I never could determine what had been there, and so never did a post on it.

I was going to Time Warner Cable in the same plaza the other day and noticed that the two suites were still vacant, so I decided to put it out there and see if anyone remembered what was there last.

The street address is 9810 Two Notch Road, and the two store fronts are designated "9-D" & "10-C" according to the stenciling. I notice however that other references to the plaza use only the suite letters, as in this LoopNet listing

UPDATE 8 July 2012: Commenter Clay identifies this place as a former Gooney Birds and then GB's, so I have changed the post title from "Storefronts" to that. I found that GB's Grill & Bar was listed in the Feb 1997 phonebook, so it was there at least until then. There's a gap in my phonebooks, but it appears that WG's closed in 2007.

UPDATE 9 December 2012: Add Sharee's to the post title based on commenter Natalie's info.

Today's closing takes us back to Garden Place Plaza in Dentsville, to the storefront just east of PC Corner.

First American Cash Advance (or First American Ca$h Advance as the signs have it) was one of Columbia's many payday cash advance operations which feature here pretty frequently. Also a pretty regular feture here is the store marquee, turned around so the store name is not legible, but retained so as to not leave holes (which are both unsightly and let in the weather) in the sign fixtures.

Here is the plaza marquee:

And here is the vacant First American space, photoshopped to turn it rightside up again and enhance it a bit:

Here's the same thing done to the storefront sign:

The address of this place is a bit hard to understand. The adjacent PC Corner spot is 7384 Two Notch. I can see how this slot is 7386, but the "Suite A" doesn't seem to make sense.

From Forest Acres, it's easier to get to downtown Camden than to Lake Carolina, and in fact, I have only been there once before. My previous visit was at night, so I saw a bit more of the commercial area today. My impressions are that a) it's a nice safe seeming place where kids draw hop-scotch diagrams on the sidewalks and that b) it's hurting like everywhere else. I certainly could not describe the place as bustling, and there seemed to be a number of vacancies.

New York Butcher Shop & Grille is an upstate company with locations in SC, NC, GA & AL. From this State story from the restaurant's opening in 2010, it sounds a nice place, with enough down-to-earth fare (giant burgers..) that I might have been tempted to check it out (if I had ever heard of it, and if I were willing to fight my way to Lake Carolina..).

(Hat tip to commenter Jason)