Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I noticed this vacant suite on the endcap of the Hickory Tavern wing of Shoppes At Woodhill when I was driving by the other evening, and was trying to remember what was there before. I turned up the first picture above establishing that it was a Sprint store at one time, but a little more googling brought up Wine & Design, which I'm not sure exactly what the concept was, but apparently you went there and did some sort of art project while relaxing a bit with a glass or two of wine. I know they moved at least once before from one part of Richland Mall to another. I suspect they moved here shortly after that, which would have been a 2017/2018 timeframe.

From what I can tell, they closed up shop around 2020, probably largely because of the pandemic, I would guess.

This Zoe's Kitchen in the strip mall directly across from Sandhill and also housing The Fresh Market has now completed the conversion and is open as a Cava.

As of this time, I believe the one on Sunset is still converting, and the one on Lake Murray Boulevard is actually still open as a Zoe's.

I tend to hit his place, a follow-on to Pie-Tanza & Embers, around once a year as I forget about it in-between times, but I don't think I have been since the pandemic started.

Anyway, according to their signage and ColaDaily, they are stopping dinner service for the nonce, due to the staffing issues afflicting the whole restaurant sector.

I was not really aware of this restaurant as I go out that way so seldom. Apparently it was rather new, and started just in time to be hit by the pandemic. It probably didn't help either that a San Jose was just around one corner, and El Charro around the other.

According to their Facebook they do still have a location in Swansea.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

The Sandy Monkey was in Murrells Inlet (or possibly Garden City depending on what you go by) in a small plaza next to the now razed Jungle Lake Golf. At one time there were at least three businesses in this area, including a little walk-up hut-style operation which seemed to change names and cusines every few years. I seem to remember a coin laundry in the strip as well at one time.

I believe I ate in the building once when it was an Italian operation, and was not impressed enough to go back. The pictures on their Yelp page suggest that The Sandy Monkey set up here in 1990, and the reviews, Yelp & otherwise, suggest that while it had its partisans, the non-regulars were not impressed. The whole plaza has been razed now, which is a bit surprising as you would think that meant they had a plan going forward, but it's been a number of years now since this building and the golf operation were gone and the area is still vacant.

Interestingly, their Facebook is still up.

Carolina Mattress was the follow-on operation in this Forest Drive storefront to Nutrition Warehouse. I'm not exactly sure when it closed, but the Google reviews suggest sometime around the start of 2022.

It seems it's kind of a tough time to be a mattress store.

Folks, with today's Forest Acres redevelopment announcement, I thought I would go ahead and throw up a Richland Mall post, even though I don't have anything prepared, so we can discuss it here rather than in Have Your Say.

So have at it!

(Hat tip to commenter John for the heads up).

UPDATE 10 November 2022 -- A question from commenter Russell below reminded me that there commenter Dennis worked of a map of the original open-air mall, and I got the tenant lists for 1926, 1975 & 1985 here. (Also changed to post title to add the word 'Redevelopment' at the end, added the street address and added the map icon.)

Also a note to folks popping in for the first time due to this post -- If you will go to Alphabetical Closings, you may find your favorite vanished spot in the site index.

Upstairs Audio had been in this location for as long as I can remember, and I just noticed the other day that it was gone.

I never actually went there, but for years, every time we would go to The Parthenon next door, we would end up parking in one of Upstairs Audio's very ominously marked "Upstairs Audio Only -- Towing Enforced!" spots. Of course it was after hours, so nothing ever actually happened, but it was always in the back of my mind that this could be the night some new guy on the tow service wanted to enforce the letter of the law.

Looking at their still extant web site, the final message is a, in retrospect, worrying one:

BIGGEST Sale Ever
We're changing thew way we do business.
(We are going to start selling by appointment only.)

Judging from the google reviews dated only as "A year ago", it appears that they closed shop sometime around mid 2021.

UPDATE 8 November 2022: Fixed grammar. Added a picture.

When we were growing up, I got the feeling my parents thought paying someone else to wash your car was a bit frivolous. They weren't wrong, but we still went to Constan from time to time, as much, I think, because it was an adventure for us kids as for any other reason. There was Happy The Tiger, and then the whole experience of watching your car go through the automated line, like something out of a futuristic TV show. Not only that, but once you were inside, the lobby had its own odd ambiance with a genuine elevated shoe-shine stand on which you could sit like a king on a throne, and various sorts of ice-cream novelties and candy you could get if your parents were in a good mood.

I don't know that much about the business other than the name came from combining that of the two owners "Connie & Stan", and that they once had a second location on Forest Drive, somewhere around where McAlister's & Bonefish now are.

Once I had a car, I would sometimes take it to Constan when I was back in town for the weekend, but once I moved back to Columbia, I found that Frank's on Forest Drive was more convenient to me. I thought from time to time about going back to Constan for old times' sake, but in the event never got around to it. Folks in the comments are saying that it had gone down hill, but it had been at least ten years since I stopped by, so I really can't say.

Here is the story The State did on the closing.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Bill)

Update 4 November 2023 -- Being razed:

While I was looking at the adjacent Subway, I noticed that formalwear outfitter Catz Formals had recently relocated from Beacon Hill Block to 1056 South Lake Drive in Lexington. There is at least one other vacancy in this plaza, which seems to be in a bit of a slump right now.