Archive for October, 2024
Red Carpet Event Center, 1231 Broad River Road: August 2024 no comments
Red Carpet was the follow-on in this space to used car dealership Capital City Rides, and opened in June of 2023. I noticed recently that the place was up for sale, and it appears the event center closed around August of 2024. You can see their grand-opening video, and their services here.
There are a number of vacant buildings in this stretch of Broad River, so we will have to see what happens here. The building does seem to be in better shape than some of the other nearby vacancies.
Rodeway Inn, 31 Berkshire Drive: September 2024 (Reflagged) 1 comment
Well, that didn't last long. This hotel off of Berkshire & Oakcrest Drives, was deflagged as an Oyo in March of 2023, ran independantly for a bit I think and then ran up the Rodeway Inn flag. Recently it has closed off the entrance on the Oakcrest Drive side and now brands as a Wingate by Wyndham. Since I had to drive around the building to get back out with the rear entrance closed, and had my windows down, I can report it should probably be branded Weedgate...
Wells Fargo, 1441 Main Street: 9 October 2024 2 comments
Wells Fargo has been de-branching for a while now, a trend which has finally reached their iconic Main Street mirror building, which I always thought of as their local headquarters, though apparently their admin offices were on Greystone. Part of this is the trend of more online access to accounts and less need to interact with a teller, and probably part is Wells specific as they haven't exactly covered themselves in glory over the past ten years or so.
The State says that the firm will maintain an office in the building, so perhaps the sign on the west side will not be coming down. They also say there are no plans for the branch space other than to put it up for lease and see what happens (which they strike an optomistic tone about).
In the meantime, enjoy the mirror building:
Zaxby's, 821 Knox Abbott Drive: Summer 2024 (Temporary) no comments
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I believe it is safe to borrow commenter Larry's phrase
Well the renovations are extensive
for this Knox Abbot Drive Zaxby's.
This also appears to have entailed knocking down the Sprint building at some point.
Liberty Tap Room & Grill, 828 Gervais Street: Summer 2024 6 comments
As commenter Larry mentions, Liberty Tap Room is going through extensive renovations -- so extensive that in fact it will open as a new restaurant Taco Mundo Kitchen y Cantina. This is another place I never got to, though I think I may have been to the one in Myrtle Beach, which is still open as far as I can tell.
(Hat tip to commenter Larry)
Subway, 2020 Taylor Street Suite A: Spring 2024 (Temporary?) 1 comment
Judging from the Google reviews, this place probably closed sometime this Spring. The closing is also marked "Temporary", but we'll see. You might think that sitting across from two campuses of hungry kids would be a good place for a sandwich shop, but I have to say that the Google reviews have about the highest concentration of one star ratings I have seen anywhere, so perhaps you really can't sell sizzle.
Collins Printing / CPI Printing, 5025 Two Notch Road: 2019 no comments
If you click on the pictures that come up when you google Collins Printing Two Notch, you'll see a number of them from five years ago with furniture labeled for sale, so I believe that was their final office clearance. Interestingly, Google thinks they are still in business at this location.
Also interestingly, and I'm sure totally unrelated to Collins, there is a huge, unmarked hole in the ground in between them and the former RAW Wheels & Tires.
O'Hara's Bakery Cafe: 121 East Main Street (Lexington): 22 September 2024 (Temporary?) 6 comments
Looking at the Google Reviews, as well as the cafe's Facebook, it seems that O'Hara's was not making book as a table-service cafe, and tried converting to a counter-service bagel shop, which didn't bring in enough new traffic while alienating the existing clientele. This also invoved Rules #1 & #6.
The owners remain committed to the spot, and it sounds from the most recent Facebook post, that something new may be in the offing.
(Hat tip to commenter James R)