Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

for a Road Trip?

Yep, it's that time of year again! I've got my house sitters lined up, and the car almost packed.

Posting will probably be nonexistent for the next 3 weeks or so, though I will try to keep on top of the spam and comments. Get out there and enjoy some of this Southern Summer!

I assume Cash Kwik was one of the areas many payday loan operations, though the sign doesn't really say anything specific. They tend to come and go fairly quickly, probably because there's a lot of competition, and they make loans to people who aren't very credit-worthy -- get the interest rate wrong by a few points and there goes your margin..

There are still a couple of this chain in town, but I am unable to find this particular one in any phonebook I have at home, so I'm just giving "late 2000s" for the closing date. Certainly it's been gone long enough to have its placard removed from the roadside marquee for Magnolia Pointe.

Magnolia Pointe is the Pig-anchored plaza at the South-East corner of Clemson Road and Hardscrabble Road. It has a few other vacancies, but still looks better than The Crossings with is just across Hardscrabble.

"Boss! The Plane! The Plane!" — Sorry, but that had to be said

I'm not quite sure what is going on with Club Fantasy Island, a tiny strip club on Two Notch Road which basically shares a parking lot with the old Shrimper restaurant and the old Atlantic Twin Theater. (As I recall, the club got a bit of notoriety some years ago when there was a shooting in the parking lot, but I'm not sure if the incident was actually related to the club itself, a neighboring club, or was random.)

Anyway, I took these pictures back in early March 2012 because I had noticed that when driving down Two Notch at times the club should normally be open, it wasn't. I almost went ahead and did a closing on it then, but one night somewhat later when I drove by, it was open once more, and I saw it open normally after that. Then, in June, I think, it was closed again, so I don't know exactly what the status is, but if they re-open again, I'll just update the post title.

UPDATE 28 January 2022 -- This building has now been razed. Hope somebody got the neon sign:

Also updating tags and adding a map icon.

Though I never went, it seems to me as though Jungle Jim's was there forever. I think I can remember seeing it when I visited The Parthenon in the 1970s.

As you can see from these pictures, it at least made the transition from the China Garden era to the Grandma's era as the front part of the building in which the bar is located changed concepts. (I believe that the whole building at 724 is under one ownership). Notice how the sign on the north side of the parking lot morphed from

China
Garden
Parking
Only
Towing
Enforced

to

Parking
Only

I'm not sure when Jungle Jim's closed, but it is listed in the February 2012 phonebook, so I am going with "early 2012". The follow-on operation, Rum Runners switches from a jungle theme to a pirate concept, supported by deck murals.

UPDATE 24 June 2019: Add tags and map icon.

But I swear I never let him off the leash!

Well, the Egyptian restaurant in Dutch Square, Stuft Stuff has now closed. The place went into the corner location across the corridor from the old Chick-Fil-A, a slot that has in the past housed Gabby's Pizza and D'Avino's Pizzeria.

I'm not entirely sure what they served, but it sounds intriguing. Apparently they had pizza and vegetarian/vegan items. Their Facebook page suggests that the closing was due to low traffic in Dutch Square (which I can well believe) and that they may relocate.

(Hat tip to commenter Eddie)

Rice Music House was a daily advertising presence on WIS radio when I was growing up. I remember that they constantly mentioned their Steinway ("The finest piano in the world") and Cable-Nelson pianos. Another big selling point was that "We own all our pianos". At the time, I figured that all stores owned everything they sold, so I didn't see why it was a big deal. Now it seems sort of amazing that they carried all those grand pianos on their own ledgers.

In the event, I suppose advertising isn't everything, because when it came our time to buy a piano, we went with Haven's a bit further up Divine Street. I think they threw in lessons with the instrument, though by the time we finished our year of lessons, they were starting to de-emphasize pianos and get into the framing business that became their mainstay while Rice went on for another 40 years.

Rice announced their closing/move in March. Interestingly, the initial announcements and the story in The State all mentioned that the store would be moving (in downsized form, without sheet music or repair shop) to The Village At Sandhill, but none of their mail circulars, their closing website or the window signage mentioned the move. I was a bit worried at first, but I did finally see their storefront at Sandhill, and the final closing door note does mention the new store.

Read the rest of this entry »

Forest Lake Spirits & Fine Wines was one of the follow on operation in the old Dobbs House / Steak 'n Egg Kitchen building (next to Gills Creek and Forest Lake Park).

It appears that the building is now broken into three storefronts, and Forest Lake Spirits & Fine Wines was the leftmost one. You can see the attached picnic/patio area which I believe was the deck from the last time the place was a restaurant (which was well after the Steak 'n Egg era). I stopped there several times to pick up some cooking spirits for tiramisu, cheesecake and eggnog. The staff was quite friendly, but I believe that each time, I was the only customer in the store.

I'm not exactly sure when the place closed, but they are listed in the February 2012 phonebook, so I'm saying early 2012. Or, I suppose it's possible they will be back at 1:35.

UPDATE 25 September 2012 -- Something is happening here. There are dumpsters both in front and behind the building and people in and out:

UPDATE 18 December 2012: It appears a new restaurant will be going in here. See the pictures here.

I almost forgot to get pictures of this McDonalds at High Point On Decker which has been closed the last month or so for a complete remodel/rebuild. In fact, I did forget until it is already open again for drive-through traffic. The dining room should be re-opened in the next few weeks.

I notice that the Chick-Fil-A down the street by Decker Mall is being remodeled as well.

I kind of screwed up the pre-closing pictures of Continental Bar & Grill by splitting them between the closings for Zorba's and Patrones (largely because I forgot about Patrones, I think..). Anyway, most of them are duplicated above, along with shots from 11 July 2012 confirming that the place is definitely now defunct (something that apparently happened quickly enough to keep the patio umbrellas from being bussed..)

I don't know anything about this incarnation of the old Captain's Kitchen building other than it was a Mexican restaurant and lounge apparently run by and for Mexican expats, and that it didn't last too long.

UPDATE 26 September 2013 -- Well, *something* is happening here: