Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Back again.

Always nice to head somewhere warm during the Winter months. When your blood is getting too thin for South Carolina, you know you're getting old..

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Welcome to folks coming from the Free Times! I'm going to pin this post to the top for a while. Things are a bit slow right now during the holidays, but read on and have a look around -- you may find something that suits your fancy.

On Saturday 29 December 2007, I made the first posting here at Columbia Closings. It was a Mission Statement for a site I had been inching towards for a while. The next day I made my first real post, about the closing of Al Amir on Devine Street. I wasn't sure in those early days exactly what was going to happen, and I suppose I still am not. Whatever it was and is, it has given me the chance to ride around taking pictures, share my thoughts on vanished (and vanishing) Columbia and solicit your comments on the same. In fact, the emphasis has shifted your way over the years. In the beginning, I had some stories I wanted to tell, and gradually I have told most of them. Now, more often than not, I will post pictures and some basic information, and you will take it from there. You can add your comments to any post, or just leave general comments at the Have Your Say link. If you ever wonder Is There A Post On That?, you can check the Alphabetical Closings link here or above. There may well be one, but if not, ask and I may add your request to my queue of posts to do.

As you can guess from the site title, this blog mostly concentrates on Columbia South Carolina retail history and nostalgia. However, if I am travelling and see something out of the area that interests me, I won't hesitate to post it here as well. In particular, I spend a lot of time on the Grand Strand and in Florida, so you never know what may pop up.

All that being said, here are some of my favorite posts from the last ten years. You may have a different set, for that matter I might have a different set on a different day, but if this is your first time at the site, I have to believe you will find *something* interesting in the posts below. You can click on either the post title, or the picture to view the full content.

Thank you for dropping by, and if something piques your interest, don't hesitate to leave a comment, and drop by regularly to see what else might catch your fancy.

Thanks everybody for a great ten years and Merry Christmas! -- Ted

Al-Amir, 2930 Devine Street

Popeyes Chicken / Aloha / El Valle / Eric's San Jose / Best China Buffet / Panda Inn / Albert Tzul / Los Alazanes / etc, 2630 Decker Boulevard

The YMCA Camp (The 'Y' Camp) / R. G. Bell Camp / Bell Camp, Mallet Hill Road

"The Big T" (Taylor Street Pharmacy), 1520 Taylor Street

Virtual Growth / Blue Cross & Blue Shield / Parcone Development Corporation, 10261 Two Notch Road

Boardwalk Plaza / Bum's Factory Outlet (Bum's Bummers) / Shamrock Haircutters, 1023 Bush River Road

Brick Chimney, Forest Drive near Lakeshore Drive

Brickyard Shopping Center, 9940 Two Notch Road

Brookgreen Gardens Nights of 1000 Candles, Brokgreen Gardens

Cafe Risque / Victory Lane, I-95 Darien Georgia

Capital Cabana Motor Inn / The Pirates' Cove Supper Club, 1901 Assembly Street

The Carriage House / Liquids Gentlemen's Club, 5511 Forest Drive

Cayce School / Lexington District Two Learning Center, Lexington Avenue Cayce

Chung King Restaurant, 20 Diamond Lane

Columbia Athletic Club, 4502 Forest Drive

Columbia Museum of Art & Science, Bull Street & Senate Street

Dairi-O, 530 North Main Street (Bishopville)

Dutch Square: Then & .. Then

Edna's #1, 3609 River Drive

Egg Roll Station (Egg Roll Chen), 715 Crowson Road (remodel)

Forest Lake Exxon, 4751 Forest Drive

Forest Lake Park, Forest Lake Shopping Center (Trenholm Road & Forest Drive)

Galaxy World, 7814 Two Notch Road (at I-77)

The Golden Spur, Russell House USC

Green Hole, Greystone Boulevard

Circle K, 4760 Forest Drive

The Happy Bookseller, Richland Mall/Forest Drive

The Hi Hatt Club, 3830 Forest Drive

Hiller Hardware, 600 Harden Street

Hurricane Hugo, South Carolina: 21 September 1989

International House of Pancakes, 1031 Assembly Street

Kmart Store 3168, 99 N Arrowwood Road

Kroger Sav-On, 2500 Decker Boulevard (Decker Mall)

Roper Pond (Lily Pond), 6837 Trenholm Road

Little Red Barn, 3051 Ocean Highway (US-17), Georgetown

Mr. Muffler, 5314 Two Notch Road

The Myrtle Beach Pavilion, Ocean Boulevard

Nix's Olympia Grocery, 500 Bluff Road

Oliver's Lodge, 4204 Highway 17 Business Murrells Inlet

Debbie's Plants, 2505 Sunset Boulevard / Pizza House 2507 Sunset Boulevard / Columbia Rehabilitation Clinic 2509 Sunset Boulevard

Planet Hollywood, 2915 Hollywood Drive (Myrtle Beach)

Red Wing Rollerway, 2632 Decker Blvd

Richland Mall: The Map

Sarge Frye Field, 1320 Heyward Street (USC Campus at Marion & Heyward Streets)

No Swimming at Sesqui

South Carolina State Fair 2008

The South Carolina State Farmers' Market, Bluff Road

The Towers, Corner of Main & Blossom

Varsity Restaurant, 2706 North Main Street

(The Original) WIS Radio, Bull St & WIS Lane

Captain's Kitchen / Zorba's / Sparta / Zorba's, 2628 Decker Boulevard

I don't recommend totally changing your hosting setup while you are also trying to do several other things. On the other hand it wasn't exactly my idea.

How-so-ever, I believe we are back.

Thanks for the notes of concern (which I can't reply to yet since I don't have the domain email working again yet).

I noticed last weekend that there no cars at this 24-Hour fitness center at Four J's Plaza, and decided to take a closer look. It turns out that the center in fact had three of the four units at the plaza (an Allstate office has the other), and all are now for lease though the equipment is not yet gone.

As you can see here, the rightmost unit was originally Ela's European Market & Deli, with a Sprint and quick cash stores to the left. (The insurance office was already there then)

In happier news, the 2018 Pawleys Island calendars are ready!

Isn't your wall lonely?

Well, I just had a long and expensive conversation with my hosting company, the theme of which was basically, Well, by 'unlimited', we meant, you know, *limited*.

So.. This site will be moving to a dedicated server. It's supposed to go smoothly, but somehow these things never do. Hopefully we will be up on Anniversary Day, but if that door won't open for some period between now and then, that's what's going on.

This local soul food restaurant apparently opened in 2015 and was active at least to June 2017. This stretch of Percival is on my route between home and the new Panera on Forest Drive, and I started wondering about the lack of cars at the place recently. Taking a closer look reveals no closing signage, but there is definitely work going on inside. I don't know if this is in preparation for a new tenant, or is an upfit for this restaurant.

While I'm by no means a Bojangles regular, I do like a sausage biscuit every now and then, and they make a decent one.

Judging from this State story, I think the basic issue here was that while this location did a reasonable business, it was in an older building that the chain just did not want to fool with anymore. Although commenter James R noted the quick paint job, it does not appear that there is anything as yet slated to go in here as the real estate sign is still up some 3+ months later.

The LoopNet listing has a nice picture of the Bojangles still in operation.

(Hat tip to commenter ED)

UPDATE 11 March 2020 -- More than two years later, all the fixtures still inside:

Also adding map icon.