Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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I don't believe I've ever been to a National Tire & Battery, though I see they spun off from Sears in 2003, so I guess you could say I did business with them in a roundabout way through that Diehard connection.

As far as I can tell from the Google reviews, this location closed around three months ago, so I'm calling it late 2003. It seems like a pretty decent location, so I would not be surprised to see another repair operation set up shop here.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

I ate at I Heart Mac & Cheese off of Killian twice. The first time was with my niece, and she said the signature item: Mac & Cheese was good. I had a grilled cheese sandwich, which was also good, though I would have preferred bacon strips to bacon bits. Both my sister & I thought the service was a bit slow & disorganized for the small number of people dining.

I went back later on my own several months afterwards, and I found that the service this time was *incredibly* slow and disorganized. I was the only customer, and it still took me 40 minutes to get my sandwich. Also, as I recall there was no drink station, so I had to beg for refills in the interim. Anyway, at that point I took it off my list, decent sandwich or no.

For some reason I cannot get to The State's web page now, but google idicates that here is the story of this place opening, and here is a story on the closing.

The State says that Yamato was established here in Columbia in 1975 and moved into this building sometime during or after 2000. From what I have been able to tell, the original location was 736 Saint Andrews Road in St. Andrews Shopping Center.

There doesn't seem to be a reason for the closing given either by the restaurant, or by The State, but folks in the comments have speculated on SC ongoing restaurant liability insurance problems. I will note that the opening of Miyabi some years back just a block or so away on the same street can't have helped.

(Hat tip to a commenter Andrew [not the usual one])

I'm not sure I understand Splurge, which is apparently a vinyl crafts store as that is a hobby I know nothing about and can't really visualize.

What I do know is that in October, they moved from this storefront in Seven Oaks Shopping Center to 1709 Sunset Boulevard, so visit them there and see what it's all about.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

In keeping with yesterday's theme, here's another Pitt Stop closing. This one is at I-26 exit 119 at the intersection with US-176. This whole strip is closed now, but over the years has acted as a mini-travel-plaza, with gas, a convenience store (possibly with trucker showers), and attached restaurants. The restaurants have included Maggie May's and Nathan's, and the gas pumps have been branded first as Exxon and in the end as Shell.

There appears to be some road-work ongoing on Rolling Meadows Lane, as you can see from several of the pictures. I'm not sure if that's what drove this closing, or it is just coincidental (certainly the location was not robust, at least for restaurants).

UPDATE 21 February 2024 -- In fact the roadwork is taking over this space, and Rolling Meadows Lane is now completely closed:

This Pitt Stop was across from Lowes almost at the intersection of Two Notch with I-20 East. I have stopped there once or twice over the years, but not more often because it is a bit of a pain to get in and out of. The place is a bit interesting because the property has a former automatic carwash which was repurposed into a seperate car detailing business. It's not clear to me what will happen to that long-term, but for now, it looked like it were still open.

I'm not sure when the place closed (other than on or before 10 January), but it is recent enough that the sign is still lit with the final gas price, the banners are still up by the road, and the pumps are still in place.

(Hat tip to commenter AvidReader)

UPDATE 26 Jan 2024: Commenter Tom points out that this building was an Exxon before becoming a Pitt Stop / Sunoco, so I have added that to the post title.

UPDATE 24 June 2024 -- A bit of entrepreneurship going on in the old parking lot:

Well, that was quick, dang it!

I had some inchoate plans to finally get to Rockaway either for supper last Friday, or lunch last Saturday, but in the event the news of the closing spread so quickly, and the crowds were so thick that the club ran out of supplies several days in advance of their announced 21 January closing date.

Rockaway Athletic Club was one of those places I would think about two or three times a year and decide: Oh yeah, I've finally got to try that place out, but in the event I managed to go decades without ever stopping by and having the famous Pimento Burger, and now it's too late.

The State has the story, as does The Free Times.

Sic transit gloria mundi.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

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There is some confusion on the street address of this former Taco Bell on Decker. It was apparently previously listed as 2632 (and I have pictures with that address posted in the window), but is now 2652.

Charlie's Wings was the follow-on in this spot to Feel Goods. I'm not exactly sure when they closed. The last post on their Facebook page is from 2019, but they have Yelp reviews into 2021, so I'm going to put that in the post title.

The reason that I noticed Charlie's was gone is that a new operation is now open in the space, a "Korean style Chicken" restaurant: 92 Chicken.