Archive for April, 2021
Best China Buffet / Super China Buffet, 421 Bush River Road Suite 140: 2019 3 comments
There seems to be some self-caused confusion about the name of this place, as the outside sign brands it Best China Buffet while the inside one goes with Super China Buffet. The last Yelp review is from late 2018, so I'm going to guess they closed in 2019. To be honest, the reviews suggest it was probably inevitable. There seems to be one food operation still in the Dutch Square food court, but it's a far cry from the days of Annabelle's, Morrison's, Chick-Fil-A and Cromers (not to mention lunch counters in Woolworths and Eckerds).
The Key Shop, Inc, 1000 Taylor Street: Early 2017 (Moved) no comments
I first used The Key Shop some years ago when I was having an issue with getting a key cut for one of my cars that actually worked without having to jiggle it all around. I think that by that point all I had was a copy of a copy of a copy and the standard hardware store copy process was just barely working. Anyway, they fixed me up in a few minutes with a perfectly working key.
I was a bit alarmed when I saw the building empty a while ago, but it turns out they moved to a better location at 1815 Barnwell Street and when I recently bought a used car which came with only a valet key, they were able to look at it and cut a full master with no problem so I can now actually unlock the trunk.
Here is a State story on the move.
I am not sure what's next for this little building, it's got good visibility, but the Park Street side parking is a bear.
Casserole 2 Go, 1218 Laurel Street: Late 2020 no comments
This is yet another downtown place of which I was unaware. While I was unlikely to be in the market for a casserole, looking at their web site and menu, it appears I could have had a very nice lunch there.
The last message on their Yelp page is from 26 October 2020, so they made it through the start of the pandemic, but apparently not to the end of the year.
I like the brick facade, glass bricks and columns on this building, though I am not sure that the "eye in the pyramid" topwork really suits the rest of it.
(Hat tip to commenter Justin)
Winn-Dixie, 248 West Columbia Avenue: 2005 1 comment
I was out driving US-1 through Batesburg-Leesville the other day, something I have not done in years, possibly not since I started this blog. Anyway, I noticed this old Winn-Dixe location, which is now a Roses Express, which I suppose designates a smaller Roses, though I don't believe I have seen one before.
Winn-Dixie left the state in 2005 after a bankruptcy, so I will use that as the closing date here.
Base 10 Fitness, 2917 Rosewood Drive: 2020 1 comment
Base 10 Fitness was the follow-on operation in this building to Rosewood Florist. According to The State, they moved from the Fairgrounds area to this location sometime in the spring of 2018. Here are a few more details from a real estate site.
While I don't see anything online as to the cause of this closing, I would guess that COVID-19 was the proximate cause.
(Hat top to commenter MB)
Ms. Annie's Diner, 4617 East Palmetto Street (Florence): 2010s 4 comments
Some time ago, I did a closing for a vacant diner/gas-station on East Palmetto Street heading east out of Florence. Here's another one.
In fact Ms Annie's was closer to Florence than INS was. I think the reasons I hadn't noticed it before were twofold. First, if I'm going to go to the beach by this route, I usually take the cut-off from the I-95 exit that comes out by the Dunkin' Donuts which is past this stretch of US-76/East Palmetto. Second, more often than not, I would be driving by during the night even if I skipped the short-cut.
Anyway, I can't find out much about the place. The address comes from an online menu site, but the menu has been taken down, so I can't say what they served other than it was "Home Cooking", and the shattered window signage emphasizes breakfast. I'm just guessing about the closing date -- it certainly appears to have been several years ago.
I did find the historical marker quite interesting and a bit scary.
Be warned that the place has been heavily tagged by folks with foul mouths and strong political views as you can see if you continue to the rest of the pictures.
R & R Thrift Store, 6729 Two Notch Road: December 2020 1 comment
I noticed last time I drove by Very's to see if they were doing dine-in yet that the thrift store in the same Two Notch plaza was gone. Judging by their Facebook, they were open into at least December of last year. I used to stop into places like this all the time to look for old books and records, but both are digital for me these days, so I never did stop here. The full name seems to have been Refreshed & Restored (R&R) Ministries Thrift Store, so I guess they were associated with a church.
Nadeau Furniture With A Soul, 702 Cross Hill Road: 21 April 2021 (Moving) no comments
Commenter Larry points out that this furniture store in Cross Hill Market is "moving" to Greenville, though it sounds mostly like they are shipping the inventory to an already existing store there. According to their Facebook, tomorrow (21 April) will be their last day.
I think of Cross Hill Market as still a fairly new place, but there has already been a good bit of turnover there.
(Hat tip to commenter Larry)
Pep Boys, 2455 Decker Boulevard: May 2021 (Direction Change) no comments
Commenter Thomas notes that this location of Pep Boys is transitioning away from auto parts, and into a garage only busines model and is running a closeout sale during the interim.
This turns out to be a chain-wide thing, as the stores have been struggling of late after having been bought out by Carl Ichan five years ago.
According to the linked story, some stores are trying to work a deal for a different parts operation to take over the retail space, but I don't know if that applies to this location. There are already a number of parts stores in the Dentsville area, so I'm not sure how attractive such a deal would be to another chain.
I guess I am the demographic the change is aimed at, as I have never bought parts there, but have had minor work done a number of times. In particular, I found that when I could not get same-day service at places like Goodyear or Firestone for things like punctures, batteries or headlights, this Pep Boys could get me in and out in an hour or so.
(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)
Latino Express, 505 Meeting Street: 2020 (Moved) no comments
I've made some pretty bad mistakes about Spanish language businesses here before, but I *think* Latino Express offers a variety of services including insurance, tax preparation and vehicle registration assistance.
It appears that they have relocated from this strip mall on Meeting Street, to 1735 Augusta Rd.
It appears that Always Original Bakery is setting up to occupy this spot.