Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Driving back from Moe's in Lexington recently, I noticed that Exotica International in the strip mall at the corner of Sunset & Mallard Lakes Drive, is having a retirement sale. Well, retiring someplace sunny sounds like a good plan this time of year. I'm not sure when the final closing will be, but I would expect them to plan for Black Friday and the shopping season, so am going to guess December though of course they may sell out earlier.

UPDATE 13 March 2013: Articles in The State mention that the owners, Governor Haley's parents, have retired. The store remains open presumably under new ownership.

UPDATE -- But they could be wrong:

I was unable to find this little thrift store (a few spaces to the left of the package store) listed in any of my at-home phonebooks, but I'm guessing it closed 2009-ish.

I've driven by Jamestown Coffee Company a good many times on my way to Pizzeria Uno, but on my way there, it would be a bad time to stop because I was about to have a meal, and on my way back, it would be closed.

Now they have moved from their Lexington-ish location to downtown Columbia. As story in The State details, they have reopened inside Cromer's on Huger Street.

The story mentions losing their lease as the precipitate cause, but you have to wonder if the drive-through espresso kiosk across the street wasn't a factor as well.

(Hat tip to commenters Andy & Matt)

UPDATE 16 October 2013 -- The old location of Jamestown Coffee is now Tropical Smoothie Cafe:

I've noticed Maunz Electronics off and on over the years as I drove down Sunset. The building has some nice retro touches (which may have been current when it was built), and it would catch my eye, as would the strong blue of the roadside sign.

The notices on the door list 12 October 2012 as the last day here, with the nice touch of referring people to another local business for future work.

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

Here's another Columbia area Burger King getting a facelift.

This King used to be a regular Sunday lunch destination for our family. I particularly recall going there during the odd "Buy a burger, get a Neiman" promotion BK had during the 1970s. The location on the corner of Two Notch and Toronto gave the store a "sneak up" route which consisted of turning onto Dubard from Beltline and then onto Toronto, a route we kids always insisted our parents follow. Or I did, at least. Later we "moved up" to Quincy's for Sunday dinner, and I have hardly set foot in a Burger King in years.

UPDATE 15 January 2013 -- As of the evening of 14 January, this place was open again:

This is another former Shoney's which has been converted into a Lizard's Thicket.

I'm a little hazy about the time period, but it was still open in the 1976 phonebook, and closed in the 1985 one, so I'm going with "1970s".

Our preferred Shoney's location was the Two Notch one, but we did go to this one from time to time. For most of that period, it was still Big Boy affiliated, and we always got the "Big Boy & Dolly" promotional comics, and if we were lucky, the "Hot Fudge Cake". Mmm!

UPDATE 10 September 2020: Update tags, add map icon.

The Glenns Bay Connector runs, under a couple of different street names, from oceanfront in Surfside Beach, across US-17 business, across US-17 bypass and to SC-707.

Between US-17 and 17 bypass, it is two lanes only. This has not been enough for years, especially since a large number of appartments have been built off of the road in this area. If you are trying to go from the bypass to US-17 in the afternoon, there will always be somebody stopped in the road trying to make a left turn into their complex, backing traffic up for blocks.

Currently there is a project underway to widen the road, and it has apparently eaten this Kangaroo Express on the north east side of the intersection. Don't cry for Kangaroo because there is *another* one on the south east side of the intersection.

It looks to me as though the carwash has been closed longer than the store itself.

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Well, this one is a shame as I used to go in here all the time back when I was shooting film, and always found the staff friendly and helpful. (I'm sure they would have told me to never shoot against the sun as I had to in the front-on daytime picture!)

Of course, I found that after I went digital, I went in there much less often, and I think that applied to many other shutterbugs as well.

I would still go in to use the nice large format printer if I wanted to have something framed, but generally that was only a couple of pictures a year, which is not enough to offset the loss of the film business.

UPDATE 26 Feb 2013 -- As reported by commenter Justin, this place is to become an Ace Hardware (though it seems a bit small to me):

Given that the San Jose Mexican restaurants are still around, I suspect their supply operation has moved rather than closed, but I noticed this warehouse for sale in an industrial park off of Bluff Road the other day (the park is where you see that huge flag flying on the side of I-77).

Judging from the reviews and menu, I think I might have liked The Tap Room though I rarely eat in the Rosewood Area. The building is somewhat interesting as it is on a steeply sloping lot at the corner of Rosewood and South Holly. From the Rosewood side, it looks like a two story building at street level, but from the South Holly side, you can see the third level below Rosewood.

(Hat tip to commenter Midnight Rambler)