Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This spot first featured here as Vegetable Medley back in 2018, and commenter Andrew reported in June of 2019 that Oak Grove Fish House was up and running as of that time.

It's certainly a location that needs good word-of-mouth, as it is off of the main drag. The signs on the property paint the closing as temporary, but at this point it's pretty clearly permanent.

(Hat tip to commenter Bobby)

Irmo's Blue Flour Bakery will be closing this Friday after 17 years so that the owner can retire and spend time with family. Although I rarely drive this stretch of Saint Andrews Road and was unaware of them, the story in The State makes me sad I missed out on some very good looking cookies.

Here is the announcement on Instagram, and the bakery's Facebook and web site are here and here.

The last days are this Thursday & Friday, 11 & 12 May from 11am through 1pm.

The closing for the former Main Street location is here.

(Hat tip to commener Mitchh)

It appears to me that Carolina Rides may now be in Orangeburg, while I am not able to find out much about Connection Auto Sales at all.

Before the car operations, this spot was an insurance agency (or two agencies -- I'm not sure if there was an ownership change or just a name change in there somewhere). LoopNet, has an interior picture from those days. It also implies that the agency/agencies may have moved out, though I don't know to where.

This office plaza across the street from Dutch Square has been purchased by either The Midlands Housing Alliance or Transitions Homeless Center depending on which news article you read, but the upshot is that, as Columbia Business Report says, it will be converted into housing for distressed individuals:

WLTX adds something a bit at odds with what I saw when I drove over:

It appeared to me that the front two buildings, at least, still had a good bit of activity.

Construction work is slated to start this month or next and run into the fall.

Commenter Gypsie puts this demolition down to the ongoing Interstate construction, and it would be the closest part of the property to the highway, but I haven't found any news stories about it. The building was in Browning Business Center, and was at one point ITT Technical Institute as you can see here. I don't know much about Southeastern Institute, other than their website is still online, but totally blank, but apparently it was a healthcare trade school as described in this superpages listing.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

I was unaware of this Lexington place, tucked away on North Lake Drive between Main Street and US-378 until commenter Heath mentioned that it had closed.

The Lexington Chronicle says that they

served breakfast items such as biscuit sandwiches and chicken and waffles, along with lunch dishes including chicken pot pie, burgers and sandwiches. The location also emphasized baked goods including cinnamon rolls and mini bundt cakes.

It's unclear exactly why they closed, but they are looking for another location, and so don't intend for it to be permanent. For now the web site and Facebook are still up.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

This WLTX article (which is actually mostly about another used car dealer closing) mentions in passing that American Car Center closed in February. The story also calls it a subprime auto dealership, a term I am unfamiliar with, but which doesn't sound like something you would care to be called.

The property is fairly attractive. It's elevated with a nice view, and the buildings still seem to be in good shape. Assuming the economy picks up some, I expect another dealer will move in soon.

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