Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I don't know what's going on with the Boozer Shopping Center location of Chick-fil-A, but the place is currently closed, though it is flagged as temporary.

(Hat tip to commenter Rashaad)

UPDATE 6 March 2021 -- As mentioned in the comments, this place is open again:

I never did get any good daylight shots of this place, but the First Citizens in the North Main/River Drive triangle has gone to ATM only. Given they will still be paying rent/lease/taxes on the whole lot, I don't expect that situation to last too long.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

I believe this building was built for the office supply chain OfficeMax, or at least that's what was in the storefront when I first became aware of it. Remington College moved in sometime around 2009, when the first picture above was taken.

I noticed about a week ago that the signage at the road and on the building had come down, but I'm unable to find any thing in the local media about it. The Facebook page for this location has entries up through Thanksgiving 2020, but no note about closing the campus. The main website for the school doesn't mention Columbia as a campus, though Wikipedia still does.

UPDATE 28 January 2021: Add Big Star to the post title based on the comments.

I stopped at this Bi-Lo on Sunday, and while it was rapidly emptying out, there was still a good bit there, and they hadn't started randomly consolidating the shelves. I picked up some long lasting sundries like shampoo, hot sauce & spices at a 15% discount.

According to The Post & Courier, this store is not going to be converted into a Food Lion and there are no current plans for a new tenant in the building.

(Hat tip to commenter Alan, and possibly others -- there has been a lot of talk about Bi-Lo).

It's been a while since I've mentioned Inlet Square, the hard-luck south strand mall where US-17 splits in Murrells Inlet.

I noticed during an October visit that almost the last remaining major store in the mall, Books A Million had closed. That's a shame as over the pre-kindle years I certainly had my share of lattes there while browsing the aisles. In recent times it has been somewhat as Barnes & Noble is to Richland Mall, a rare national store hanging on in a nearly empty space. (Curiously both malls still have a Belk as well).

This WBTW article from 13 May notes in passing that the store "recently closed" while describing what sounds rather like a "flea mall" concept of local stores, with varying hours moving in to the mall's vacant spaces. I have yet to go inside to see how that is working out. This particular space is now a church.

I have noticed Nuttall Tire on Millwood over the years mainly for their Kilroy Was Here logo, and the odd warehouse-y building they were in (Anyone know what it was?). In December, they left their home of over 20 years to relocate into the old Dick Dyer Toyota dealership location on Two Notch.

ColaDaily has the story:

"We’ve outgrown the building and the parking lot," said owner, Stephen Nuttall. "We like to joke that the walls are expanding and contracting here. But it’s good to fight good problems."

Here are a few shots of the new location:

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

I used to wonder about this Walmart on Bush River Road in the old Bush River Mall location. I would be eating late at Fuddruckers or El Chico and decide I would stop by Walmart on the way home to pick up a few things when it was less crowded. The first few times I found it closed, I figured they were ramping up staffing and hours at a new store, but eventually I figured out it was never going to be a 24-hour store, as most were at that time.

The State has the story, attributing the closing to "low sales", though I suspect shrinkage and other factors played into things as well. The pharmacy will be closing this week, on 22 January.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

UPDATE 1 April 2021 -- All the signage is down, though the place still looks pretty good:

Welp, here's another Bi-Lo closing to become a Food Lion. Google calls out the name of this strip mall as Crossroads Commons, which I don't believe I had ever heard. I meant to get inside over the weekend and didn't, but perhaps I will before the end.

(Hat tip to commenter DB)

The B.L.D. Diner is the follow-on operation in this Trenholm Plaza space to Hooligans (which was a follow-on to Edisto Dairy). The name is an acronym for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, but the one time I went there, they were still ramping up, and started closing during my late lunch.

I presume this closing (which is "until further notice") is due to our old friend COVID-19. I hope they do come back, but Trenholm Plaza has certainly taken some unexpected hits this year, and this is one more.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

UPDATE 17 May 2021 -- Open again:

I was somewhat suprised when I ate at Abuelo's at Coastal Grand Mall over the holidays to see that Sears was closing. Well, not that it was closing, but that it had still been open. In more halcyon days, I visited this branch many times before it moved from the demolished Myrtle Square for various Kenmore parts and other items that were light on the ground in the south strand in the days before Wal-Mart and big boxes.

Since it moved to the new Coastal Grand mall, I think I was only in once or twice, and never since the big drop-off started for the chain.

The Sun News has the story, along with an update that is even more dire than I had expected:

There are now less than 100 Kmart and Sears stores in the U.S., Forbes said earlier this year.

Wow!

I'm not sure what the final date is, but according to their Facebook page they were still open as of 8 January.