Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I have written about Pier 1 Imports before and don't have much to say about this store. I think I was inside once some ten years or so ago. The whole chain is in bankruptcy now and all the stores are shutting. Wikipedia says they are still hoping for a buyer to keep the online side of the brand alive, but to me that seems like a longshot.

UPDATE 16 September 2021 -- As mentioned in the comments, now, temporarily a Spirit Haloween:

Commenter ED pointed out this COVID related closing saying:

it is doubtful it is a location you would stumble upon

and that is definitely true. This place is way past The Flight Deck on Old Chapin Road on a peninsula in Lake Murray on the way to what looks to be a private island. The area is rural and quite nice looking to me.

I really like the wood paneling in this building too.

(Hat tip to commenter Ed)

This spot at the Flight Deck complex has gone through a number of pizza restaurants since I became aware of it. In particular, I have done closings for Brix Bistro / The Bistro. I noticed only fairly recently that Papa Gio's was there, finding them while I was there to get pictures of something else.

Early during the COVID-19 crisis, I saw another pizza restaurant advertising by the roadside when I drove by: Ferrara Pizza & Pasta. Judging from the Yelp reviews, they started in early March 2020, so I'm guessing probably Papa Gio's moved out with the end of the year in 2019, though it could have been later.

Papa Gio's continues to have locations on Broad River Road and farther out on August Highway (US-1) in the old Allstar Pizza location.

Creech & Creed were in the old Five Points Bookshop storefront on Santee Avenue. You can see their branding in this shot at a somewhat out-of-date area directory. Their Yelp page, suggests they may have moved in here around 2014 (the bookstore closed in 2012). Google Streetview shows the sign gone by August of 2019, however, the inside picture above (which is really too blurry to tell too much) looks like it may have been more like some sort of antique shop moving out when I took the pictures back in March of 2020, so there may have been another store in here at one point.

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Well, here's another casualty of COVID-19.

ColaDaily reports that both the Assembly Street and Lexington IHOPs will not be reopening after closing for the crisis.

This site last featured here when the old classic-look store was torn down and rebuilt in 2013. I confess that I had given up on this location well before the closure in March. I have always appreciated IHOP as a good late-night place for comfort food, and I really like the Harvest Grain & Nut Pancakes. However, it seemed to me that every time I went here after the rebuild, I had some kind of issue. Either I couldn't get seated, or couldn't get waited on, or couldn't get anyone to take my money on the way out. Then there was the time the restaurant was full and apparently only one one kitchen staffer had shown up. I have had much better luck on Two Notch, but they are not open late, so my midnight runs seem to end up at Applebee's these days (well, "these days" before the current unpleasantness).

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

UPDATE 4 March 2021 -- Both this IHOP and the one in Lexington unexpectedly found a new owner, and are open again. Unfortunately there were still multiple issues during my only visit so far:

I can't find out exactly when Floor Boys moved to 1728 North Lake Drive, but I'm thinking it was probably last year, or I would have noticed it sooner.

LoopNet says the building was put up in 1994 and that it sits on 27 acres with a warehouse, which I certainly would not have guessed. To me it looks more like it was originally built as a house, but it does have that front entrance canopy.

Due to scheduling issues of one sort and another, I did not get to Brookgreen Gardens Nights of 1000 Candles in 2019, so I was looking forward to seeing the Bruce Munro Southern Light installation this Spring. Well, then there was, of course, COVID-19, and that was put on hold for a while.

Now however, the display is up and running, and I found a chance to take it in on 6 June 2020. It was one of those unseasonably cool nights we have had this Spring, so the bugs were down, but it was still very comfortable, and there was also a beautiful full moon to go with the lights. My favorite part was towards the last of this set of pictures, a profusion of small color-changing bulbs on stalks planted across one of the more open and less sculpture-studded sections of the gardens. I felt as though I could probably have sat out there for some hours, but as the display closes at 11pm, I had to move on out before I was quite ready.

The exhibition runs from 8pm-11pm through September, so if you are in the area, it's well worth checking out.

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Google tags this spot as "temporarily closed", but there is a real estate sign in front now, so my guess is they closed during the initial stages of COVID-19 and were not able to hang on until the reopening of barber shops and salons a few weeks ago.

Looking for this address also turns up a LoopNet page which reveals it was also formerly a Chiropractor's office.

This building, in a former Clusters Of Whitehall outparcel, is a former TD Bank. After the bank moved, Insurance Masters set up shop and painted the building a nice cheery Blue Cross blue. For some reason, after they left the building was repainted with drab green, and currently sits empty.

Although LoopNet is not currently offering the property, they do state it was built in 1970, which means it certainly did not start as a TD Bank, as they only came to town within the last ten years or so. They also state the vault is still inside, which is not surprising, as those can be pretty hard to get rid of.

UPDATE 14 March 2022 -- Now Soda City Pharmacy & Compounding: