Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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Message-Id: <8907200554.AA02284@braggvax>
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Subject: July 20 1969
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 89 01:54:40 EDT
From: ted@braggvax

Twenty years ago, a boy of eight sat in front of a decrepit black and
white TV and tried to make out the suited figures walking across that
desolate surface. If he thought hard he could remember Gemini. His
father could remember Lindbergh. He couldn't appreciate how
immeasurably far the world had come since Kitty Hawk, how impossibly
great an effort had been expended since 1961, but he knew what was
important and he was there watching. He heard the words that everyone
knows, and he watched until that strange buglike craft lifted and
returned the men whom history had just rendered immortal to their
companion in orbit and from there back to the embrace of the mother
planet. He knew where he was going when he grew up.

Twenty years later, when the future he had planned on has been bargained
away, he's sure of fewer things. He does know that he had the
privilege that July day in 1969, of living through the event to which
all previous human history will be just a footnote. And he knows too
that whatever else may happen, there will still be ...

footprints on the Moon.

I noticed yesterday when I took the pictures for the J. Peters post, that 2005 North Beltline is also the new location for Wild Birds Unlimited. I first noticed them when they moved from 3304 Forest Drive to this location in the Forest Park shopping center (If they still call it that) around 2010.

Now, they have moved on again, and this is the new storefront:

UPDATE 22 June 2022: Updating tags.

I was driving down Beltline today, and noticed that J. Peters Grill & Bar in the old D's Wings location was gone.

In its place was J.R. Cash's Grill & Bar. A little google work found this story from Greenville establishing what happened. It seems that J. Peters was run by a partnership which has just split up. One partner retains the name, and most of the stores. The other partner gets four of the stores (including the two here in Columbia), but must rename them. The "new" business retains the same phone number, and according to the google reviews most of the menu. I'll note that the linked story is a little odd in that it only names one partner.

As for this particular J. Peters -- I only stopped there once. I spent an hour waiting for a cheese-burger. Apparently the only cook in the kitchen had just quit by walking out the door. I know that was atypical, but there are enough places for cheese-burgers that I never got around to going back.

I did not know Hummus Mediterranean Bistro existed until commenter Sidney mentioned that it was gone.

About all I know is that it was the follow-on operation in this spot to Uncle Maddio's Pizza and was run by the Al Amir folks. (Who rpeviously had a restaurant just up the street in University Corner at 629 Main Street.

This place got pretty good reviews, the last of which seem to be around March of 2019, so that's what I'm using for a closing date.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

This place caught my eyes many years ago for an odd reason: The name Impress.

As it happens, I worked for many years with a brand of laser printer called Imagen (since bought out by QMS). We had many of these printers from a former contract, and used to deploy them on new contracts wherever a laser printer was wanted. Unfortunately, the printers did not support HP PCL or Adobe PostScript, they only supported their own proprietary page description language called.. IMPRESS, which very little software supported. In practice, we mostly had to use them in daisy-wheel printer emulation mode.

None of which has anything to do with this store, of course. As I said, it has been here for quite a while and is now running a final clearance sale, so if you need some prom formal wear, or a bridesmaid dress, now might be the time to go looking.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

There seemed to be some effort in Columbia to make manhole covers flush with street level.

No more.

Value City Furniture has relocated from The Meeting Place (formerly Capitol Centre) behind Columbia Mall and has opened in the old Toys 'R' Us in Harbison.

I believe this whole complex is now owned by The Meeting Place church, so I don't know if they will seek another retail tenant, or use the building for church functions. I did not see any indication that it was for sale or lease.

Just as a note, there seems to be some confusion on whether the road around the mall is Columbia Mall Boulevard or Columbia Mall Road. Google maps uses "Road".

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

This Latin church set up in the old spot of Redwing Rollerway on Decker in the wake of the closing of KNC Trading.

Like KNC, they made the most of the old Redwing sign.

It appears to me from google and their Facebook page (though I don't read Spanish) that they have moved to 2401 Decker, which would be the old Forest Lake Bible Church location. I will have to look the next time I drive by.

UPDATE 10 August 2022 -- Now setting up to be City Shoppe:

Also adding map icon.

Well I don't have a lot to say about 5 Points Roost, having never been in. The place is another casualty of Dick Harpootlian's liquor license enforcement project.

I suspect the most fondly remembered operation in this spot remains Frank's Hotdogs.

I have used Young's several times, perhaps most notably for service on my father's venerable Toro, but also to get some keys cut after Home Depot botched them. They are an old-school place where there's a bit of everything.

As reported by commenter Matt, the owner is now retiring, and they are running a closing sale.

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

UPDATE 16 July 2019: The State says that the final auction day is 17 August 2019, so I have changed the closing date in the post title to reflect that. They also say the lot will become a Circle K.

UPDATE 18 November 2019 -- As mentioned in the comments, this building has been razed:

UPDATE 7 February 2020 -- Construction is ongoing:

UPDATE 14 May 2020 -- The Circle K on this spot is now open: