Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

The Picture Place was for many years in the old Forest Lake TV storefront in Forest Lake Shopping Center. I know I had at least one photo framed there, and I think my mother had some art framed there as well.

As with everything else in that shopping center, the 4 October 2015 flood which roared through Nine Mile Branch and Gills Creek devastated their building as you can see in the first pictures above.

Fortunately, since since 19 November 2015 the store has been operating from their new home in Forest Park in the former Oreck / All Vacuums suite.

Well, this has been talked about, and dreaded, for ages, but Cardinal Newman High School has finally left Forest Acres for Alpine Road. The kids went home from this campus for Christmas vacation, and "returned" to the new one. I know that Brueggers, Groucho's and other area restaurants will miss the afternoon influx of the diverse, chatty but very polite mass of students, as will I, and evenings will be somewhat less interesting without the muted roar from the football field. And then, of course, there's the question of "What Next?" The property is apparently already under contract, and to be re-zoned, and it's hard to imagine that whatever replaces the school will be an improvement in the eyes of local residents.

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Was apparently going on by Doctor's Care on Forest Drive about 2:30pm on the 24th. There were K-9 units and a Sheriff's Department chopper overhead. I checked The State, WIS and WLTX, but didn't see anything about it..

I was out driving on yesterday and noticed a For Lease sign in the window of Corma's, which shared a building with Ed Robinson (just re-opened) near Gills Creek on Forest Drive.

A look at their website confirms that unfortunately they will not be coming back after being caught in the Great Flood. They had moved to this building in 2008 after leaving nearby Trenholm Plaza. Interestingly, their old location, though actually nearer to the creek is somewhat higher and did not flood.

Printer cartridge re-furbisher Cartridge World on Forest Drive have closed their storefront operations. I used them for a LaserJet cartridge a while back, and it is still working fine in my printer.

(Hat tip to my sister)

Hopefully I can add some commentary tomorrow, but for now I just want to get these pictures out there.

UPDATE 16 October 2015: Ok, I was under the weather for a few days, but let me add a little text here now.

First, I am happy to say that even as these pictures were taken, on Sunday 11 October 2015, recovery work was in full stride. All the flooded and gutted buildings on Forest Drive had evidence that of ongoing work and cleanup, and I noticed today (15 October 2015) that the Garden Center in Forest Lake Shopping Center was once again stocked and open for business.

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Fish & More opened in the old Blue Ocean Seafood Market location sometime in mid 2014. I thought I had some pictures of it in full operation, but so far have only found the "coming soon" pictures at the Blue Ocean closing.

At any rate, I noticed as I was driving down Forest Drive last weekend that the place is now Forest Island Bar & Grill.

Today's post & pix come from commenter Mr. BO, who says

http://www.relevecafeandcatering.com/

I'm going to miss this one. They served breakfast and lunch. They
specialized in breakfast pastry and eclectic lunches. My favorite was
the Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla. Their burgers were pretty good but they
insisted on using fancy greens for their salads.

It was a Mom & Pop operation (A married couple with perhaps one more
hired help from time to time.) One of their parents took ill so they've
been closed for about a month then decided to pack up to another state
where the parent is located.

Picture # 1 is when they first opened up around a year ago. # 2 is them
closed.

I'll note that Releve's was in the old China Max slot in the food court.

(Hat tip, obviously, to Mr. BO)

The standard-issue closing signs have gone up at Anna's Linens at East Forest Plaza. You know the ones -- we've seen them often enough here..

I'm not sure what the final date for this store will be, but as commenter Andrew noted, the whole chain is in Chapter 11 and liquidating:

“Over-expansion and excess inventory led to increased indebtedness and, ultimately, a default with the debtor’s long-time lender, Union Bank,” according to court documents.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

Commenter mamarose notes the upcoming closing of Jack and Jane Sport in Trenholm Plaza.

I have to admit that since I don't like clothes shopping and since nobody has ever mistaken me for someone who does sports, I couldn't place this storefront in my mind and had to drive around the plaza looking for it. In the event, it turns out to be in the suite formerly occupied by La Bag Lady which closed in 2012.

It appears to be chilly in there.

(Hat tip to commenter mamarose)