Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

It looks like Elegante Wig Gallery, in the old Electrolux location on Devine Street has closed. I'm the wrong gender (and still have my hair so far..) so there's not much more I can say about it, other than it was not there too long as seemingly it started around 2008.

Here's another quick turn-around story (like Al-Amir). I had only just heard that Conrad's was closed, but when I got around to driving by, it was already open again as Henry's.

I wish them luck, but this building has been ill-starred lately. We've had Tiffany's Bakery, Granville's and now Conrad's in just the space of a few years. Maybe it's the apostrophe.

(Hat tip to someone in the comments -- I can't find the name right now..)

I'm not much of a clothes shopper, so I've never made it to Weathers of Columbia on Devine Street at Woodrow Street, but it looks as if you want to do so, you should do so soon.

Of course, I thought that in 2008 too, and in fact almost did a closing on them then..

This year's sign is a bit more definitively worded, though their web site doesn't have any mention of it.

Here's another floor store that's moved, this one apparently to 610 Beltline Boulevard.

There's been a good bit of turnover on this general stretch of Devine in the last year or so. And it looks like Weathers across the street will be next.

Here's another vacancy in the old Robo's/Slot Car building behind the Fort Jackson Boulevard K-Mart.

Their sign says they've moved to the Augusta Highway, but the phonebook shows that the Augusta location co-existed with this one, so I think it's more of a consolidation than a move. I don't know about that location, but this one is not ideal for drive-by traffic. You have to be coming into the K-Mart the back way to see it, and given that the K-Mart auto bays on that side are closed (and I believe the garden center may be as well) and that the general "pull" of K-Mart is pretty low right now in general, it can't have got a lot of notice.

I've written about this spot on Devine Street in the Momo's, Half Moon, Za's plaza two other times, first for Al-Amir, and then for Saffron. Curiously, all three were middle-eastern restaurants.

I liked Al-Amir (which is still around at 3 other locations), never got around to Saffron and generally liked Tabouli though from time-to-time it had some rough edges. It was a little variable, and over the last few months they made some odd choices -- for instance, their namesake salad used to be served on a flat elliptical plate with a nice slice of leaf lettuce on top and a lemon wedge for squeezing, but the last few times I got it, it was glopped into a cereal bowl with no lettuce or lemon. I do have to say that the last time I went there, in late September, I had the feeling that there was some kind of staffing problem ongoing in the kitchen and there seemed to be a lot of to-and-froing to produce a plate of falafel. That said, it was a nice place for long lunches on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. (And often, the owner, or manager perhaps, would take a personal interest and offer a free sample of something or bring out hot tea).

I'm not exactly sure when they closed. As I said above, they were open in late September, but I noticed the place dark Thursday night when I stopped by Za's. As it was fairly early in the evening, I suspected the worst, and going back at prime-time Friday confirmed it. There's no note of any kind on the door, but calling the phone number gives a "this number has been temporarily disconnected" message. Perhaps the "temporarily" is some sign for hope, but in that case I would have expected a explanatory note on the door...

UPDATE 19 September 2011 -- Well, I didn't see this one coming! Al Amir is to return to this spot:

Then:

Now:

I was hitting Moe's at University Corner on Main the other night (in the old Big Bird slot) and parked down on Devine Street, between Main & Assembly.

I couldn't help but notice that Varsity Billiards is closed. The lighted sign has always been a retro treat, and it's a shame to see it dark. (The first two,lighted, pictures are from February 2010).

The phone does not seem to have been disconnected, and the building permit is for "repairs", so perhaps they will be back. I'm not a pool player, but it would be a shame to see Varsity behind the eight-ball.

UPDATE 20 July 2017 -- Well, this is unexpected: The Free Times says Varsity is open again.

I noticed in The Free Times this week that Simply Savory on Devine Street had closed.

At this point, their web site is still up, and it's a bit melancholy to see that their contact page lists them as being "next to Ben & Jerry’s and Birds on a Wire", both of which have been gone for a while themselves.

Also according to that page, they opened on 10 September 2007, so they had an almost three year run, which is not bad for that area and this economy.

I only went in to Savory once. I was actually looking for Ben & Jerry's which was already gone at that point, but decided that as long as I was there anyway, I might as well check it out. I believe this was before they added their cafe area, and as I'm not a wine person, my impression of the store was that they sold mainly jars of condiments and spreads along with esoteric kitchen items. Given that I was ignoring the wine, I'm not sure how accurate that impression is, but I found it a bit like The Island Gourmet at the Hammock Shops, or Plum Pudding on Laurens Street in Aiken. I believe they had a couple of jars of something open for dipping and sampling, and that it was pretty good but not something I ended up buying.

(Hat tip to Eva at The Free Times)

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I first wrote about Rogers Brothers when they moved from Trenholm Plaza on 17 March 2008. I first wrote about the building at 2912 Devine Street in this closing for Columbia Photo Supply.

I see from the sign on the door that Rogers Brothers has another store in Florence, which I did not know. It seems this section of Devine Street has been volatile over the last few years, with Al Amir and Saffron closing next door and Birds On A Wire, Ben & Jerry's and Tiffany's closing across the street.

(Hat tip to commenter Matt.)

I've never been in The Bohemian though some of the merchandise I could see through the windows on Sunday looked kind of interesting. The vibe of Devine Street is rather distinct from the rest of Columbia, and somehow, since the days of taking piano lessons at Haven's music and talking to Herman the bird at The Aquarium & Pet Shop I haven't really spent much shopping there.

At any rate, it appears The Bohemian has found new digs about half a block towards the Capitol from its former location at 2736/2738 Devine to its new one at 2720 Devine.