Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

After missing last year's convention due to a wedding, I was able to get back to Charlotte Saturday for day 2 of this year's.

I managed to get there a little earlier this year and the extra time actually let me walk every asile of the convention floor, which is massive, and I was definitely feeling it in my feet and in my bag-laden arms by the time the floor closed at 6:00.

In the event I picked up a number of things I would have bought on general principles, and another number of things I had never heard of from creators who were also good salesmen. There is a certain danger in making eye contact going up and down the asiles, but by the same token that's one reason for going to a big show: To get something you had no idea existed, but yet which someone is passionate about.

This young lady is "Poderosa" one of the heroines of Pittsburgh based "Heroineburgh" comics which I was enthusiastically given to understand is a sort of pinup based comic series similar to AC Comics "Femforce" which also produces campy live-action episodes at https://www.heroineburgh.com. I left with several autographed issues, an autographed picture of Ms Poderosa and this proof that it happened.

This group of cosplayers had kind of a Shrek thing going on with also some Marvel & DC representation.

I was glad to see that the creators of Elfquest, a comic I liked a lot back in the 80s are still rolling along.

These were a couple of more sales made by a stoked creator. Apparently the hero here is a tiger in a Zootopia type city of animals who holds down a day job as a teacher and works the nights as a Batman type vigilante with a strong focus on anti-bullying in both roles.

Indie space opera -- I don't know anything else about it yet.

Comic tie-in to the above.

Reportedly a humorous story about a knight in love with a dragon and all the mayhem that would cause.

The Heroineburgh comics plus assorted associated swag.

An issue of Hogan's Alley, an ongoing comics' history magazine.

More indie space opera, there are several novellas in this volume, but that's all I know!

You can't go wrong with Pogo!

I just fininished Volume 72: Luffy & the crew are split into several groups in the mysterious country of Dressrosa where toys are alive, and Luffy must fight in the arena to keep the power of his late brother Ace from falling into the wrong hands.

I had a nice conversation with comic writer Mike Baron towards the end of the day. He had a long run on "The Flash" for DC, but is probably best known for the space-opera superhero series Nexus and the Wisconsin gonzo series The Badger ("Put on a costume and fight crime? You'd have to be crazy..."). Recently he and Nexus co-creator, artist Steve Rude, parted ways and they are now doing separate Nexus projects. Baron was fairly philosophical about it and indicated that at least they could actually do that because they owned the character. It turns out that Baron actually has no ownership of The Badger, so getting new Badger projects going is more difficult. I picked up Baron's latest Nexus graphic novel Scourge (done now with artist Kelsey Shannon), an issue of his Florida Man which I hope has some of that Badger gonzo spirit. His police thriller Thin Blue Line (he admitted that coming out as a pro-police conservative has hurt him some in the industry), and his take on Sherlock Holmes.

All in all, an interesting day, and I left pleasantly footsore and laden to fight the I-77 traffic.

I came across these pictures recently, taken in 2018, and as best as I can figure, the store closed not too long after that.

Apparently Sears Hometown Store (sometimes also known as Sears Home Improvement perhaps) was somewhat separate from the failing general retail stores, focusing more on hardware & appliances. It was apparently also separate from Sears Appliance Repair, which still seems to be around.

For such a small store, this place has been going of of business a surprising amount of time. I believe I noticed the first signs up back in December, and as of the start of June, they were still open. Low Country has been a stalwart in this this little lagoon-centered strip which underwent a major renovation/reconfiguration ten or so years ago. Some longtime shops like The Island Cafe & Deli, The Mole Hole & Spa Sera closed or moved, but Low Country stayed on.

I have gotten a number of new watch batteries installed there, but now I guess I will need to find another place in the area.

Not straying too far from yesterday's post, I noticed that the West Main Lizard's Thicket in Lexington is under renovation, and closed for now. There did definitely appear to be work going on, so I think this one will legit be back, which is not always the case when a place closes to remodel.

I noticed this vacant Sonic last weekend in Lexington.

According to The State, it closed around the end of December 2022 in order for the chain to open a new store nearby at 461 Columbia Avenue, a somewhat larger piece of land.

As of yet, there is no new tenant here though it is listed (with a nice picture of the store in operation).

UPDATE 30 September 2025 -- Apparently the building has been sold, and some sort of upfit is in progress:

Also, here is the new Sonic location:

Ratio, the Peruvian tapas restaurant which is a follow-on in this space to Mangia! Mangia! and Shag Bistro has announced that they will be closing after service on 28 June 2025.

The State has the story here.

They are open Wednesday through Saturday, so you have, I believe, 9 more days to catch them.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

Margaret's was on the North side of Garners Ferry out past Mr. Bunky's, and I took these pictures in 2018. It appears from the Yelp reviews (which are pretty positive) that the place probably closed in 2020, and in the event I never got to try it out.

I was not really familiar with Sound & Images, but according to their website, they provide[d] premium audio visual design and installation and event production services.

It's a pretty good sized building across from the Fairgrounds, and as of last weekend did not have any For Sale signs on it. I do note, looking at Google StreetView, and this LoopNet listing, that until sometime in 2023, this was the corporate headquarters for SoftDocs which still seems to be around and whom Google thinks are still in the building...

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

In general I have had a fairly positive impression of Hooters. The chain kind of epitomizes the Breastraunt class of chains, is open late, has good scenery and a decent burger. I did feel the Two Notch Store had gone downhill some the last few times I went there. The chain itself filed Chapter 11 in March with the original plan being to reorganize without closing stores. That didn't work, and apparently now they are moving to a franchaise model with the original founders involved somehow.

Anyway, I don't believe I ever visited this store, which moved here from Broad River Road (which I don't recall visiting either), though I have eaten at the neighboring Applebees, where the view isn't as good, but the burgers are a bit cheaper.

(Hat tips to commenters Larry & MJ)

UPDATE 15 June 2025: Folks in the comments have pointed out that this locathion, like the Two Notch one started out as a Hops brewpub, so I have added that to the post title.

Back in 2012, I did the Zip The Canyons zipline in Ocala Florida, and really had a good time, so when Radical Ropes opened, I thought I eventually might give it a try. Well, setting aside that doing something in your early 50s is a bit less daunting than your early 60s for sure, it turns out Radical Ropes was apparently mostly, or substantially, other non-zipline canopy activities, and looking up at some of these courses makes me go not just 'no', but 'he..ck no'.

The park apparently opened in July 2015. Interestingly, I cannot find any media stories on the closing, but judging from Google reviews, it did not open again after the 2023 season, probably closing some time after Labor Day. As far as I can tell, the place is not for sale, and Google claims it is "temporarily closed", but while it is still generally in reasonable shape, there has obviously been no maintenance going on.

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