Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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 posted about Friedman's Columbia Mall store here, and I suspect the same story applies to this one, in Garners Ferry Crossing.

In brief, Friedman's went bankrupt, came out, and then went under again in 2008. A few stores bought by another company stayed open as Friedman's until that company went under, a bit later in 2008. Actually, you could probably guess that the company went under by looking at the storefront. Companies that are still in business like to take their signs off of failed stores so their branding doesn't take a hit.

It's interesting how in this one little plaza, not more than a few years old, they've already had 1, 2, 3 other visits from the reaper.

UPDATE 25 October 2018: Add tags, add map icon, update post title format.

Here's another vacant storefront in the same plaza as Mushi Mushi. I have found out the the plaza is actually called Garners Ferry Crossing, but have not been able to identify this store through google.

It sits in between Casa Linda and H & R Block, and has apprently been vacant for a good while, although it obviously did have a tenant at one time judging from the evidence of a removed sign above the awnings.

UPDATE 26 Sep 2010: It looks like commenter MB is correct that this place was a Physicians Weight Loss Center, or at least there was one listed at 7546 in the 2009 phonebook and there's not one now. I'm thus changing the post title from the generic Storefront to that. (And, no, they apparently don't use an apostrophe in their name for some reason).

UPDATE 25 October 2018: Add tags, update title format, add map icon.

I'm not sure when this NAPA Auto Parts on Garners Ferry Road, just across the street from Aldi closed. However, it's in this year's phonebook (which would have come out around Feb 2010), so it can't have been too long ago.

The photos are shot against the sun and so aren't too good, but you can see it's quite a sizeable building. It seems to have been a machine shop as well as a parts store, and so similar in size to the one on Millwood.

UPDATE 19 December 2012 -- It's now Kids Club USA:

Mushi Mushi (can anyone translate that?) was in the little strip adjacent to the Wal Mart and old Fire Mountain Grill / Ryan's on Garners Ferry Road (and almost next to the old Larry's Subs).

There are actually a number of vacancies in this complex, which seems to me to be in a reasonably good location -- there's direct access from Wal Mart and an additional light for side access from Garners Ferry. Of course, in this case, the old Ryan's being a Hibichi Grill itself now can't have helped.

I never ate at Mushi, in fact I don't think I've eaten at any "hibachi" place. I certainly couldn't get my mind around sushi, I'm afraid. Maybe if they had tried this concept I might have stopped by..

(Hat tip to commenter Midnight Rambler)

UPDATE 25 October 2018: Add tags,update post title format, add map icon.

I'm not much of a fabric guy. I think I have written before about how my mother used to frequent fabric stores at Forest Lake Shopping Center and Trenholm Plaza, and how the dye in the air would always make me stuffy and my eyes tear up. Furthermore, I never learned to sew -- so I never visited Jo-Ann Fabrics in Landmark Square on Garners Ferry Road at I-77.

They seem to be doing pretty well though, as they have just moved to a much larger location, the old Goody's building on Two Notch Road by Wal Mart.

The move does something to recoup the Goody's bankruptcy blow to the Two Notch plaza, but certainly doesn't help Landmark Square any. At one time (when Woolco was the anchor) the place was doing pretty well, and I would have thought that having I-77 come through would have helped, but apparently not. (And, I'll admit it is a bit of a pain to get onto Garners Ferry when you're headed towards the airport on 77).

UPDATE 22 March 2011 -- here's the Garners Ferry facade work mentioned in the comments:

UPDATE 20 May 2011 -- It's to be It's Fashion Metro:

This much retailed (and once churched) spot on Cross Hill Road next to the former Kroger Sav-On has never seemed to catch fire for any of its many tenants, most of which I have only a vague recollection of. Aside from all those listed above on the post title, I'm pretty sure it was a menswear shop also at one point, and I either got or thought about getting a suit there. (Something I hate like posion).

This PDF at the City of Columbia website suggests that the city was thinking about buying the building back in the 2006 timeframe and wondering what the absestos and lead paint implications would be, but apparently nothing came of that. The document describes the building as being "used as a former antiques store" -- that's certainly an odd turn-of-phrase, but implies that the building was vacant at that point, with Fletcher's having been the most recent tenant.

Cross Hill Road is an odd little stretch whose name I never could remember. For years growing up, I thought that Beltline Boulevard ran all the way to Garners Ferry Road instead of turning off towards Rosewood. I can only think that at some point a lot of road work must have been done to make the setup so illogical. (Of course it didn't help either that until last year, I thought that Garners Ferry started where Cross Hill runs into Devine Street and Fort Jackson Boulevard -- I never realized that Devine Street runs all the way to Wildcat).

At any rate, whatever you call it, this lot, along with the Kroger lot, is now Interstate feeder property (which neither was in the beginning), and I expect that eventually a hotel or national chain restaurants will take the real estate.

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According to this Loopnet posting, there were three Larrry's Giant Subs up for sale at the same time, either retaining the Larry's franchaise, or as restaurant space. I would guess then that they were all run as part of the same operation.

I have not checked the Sunset Boulevard location, but both the Broad River Road and Garners Ferry locations have already been taken on by Steve's #1 Sub Contractor. In the case of the Broad River Road operation, this puts Steve's back very close to to their former location at Broad River & Saint Andrews.

I find it a little odd that the places flipped from one "guy's first name" chain to another "guy's first name" chain!

Also look how Steve's has pulled the "Giant" from the Garners Ferry sign. I know that it's just because it's not part of their branding, but it almost leads one to think that perhaps the size of the subs will be decreasing..

(Hat tip to commenter Alicia.)

UPDATE 28 Oct 2010 -- Well, Steve's didn't last long at all:

UPDATE 23 October 2011: Well, I wish I would have done this post as two separate entries, one for each location, but the Garners Ferry Steve's location is set to become Japan Grill:

UPDATE 3 November 2011: Well, it turns out I did do a separate entry for the Garners Ferry location, but never indexed it. What a mess! I'll copy the Japan Grill pix over there too and index it, but it will still be a mess!

UPDATE 25 October 2018: Add tags for both locations, but still a mess.

I've been with Bank of America since it was North Carolina National Bank though it seems to change names often enough that sometimes I just think of it as North Carolina Nations Bank of America (actually there are even more other names it has absorbed as well). I'm afraid they haven't had a very good last few years, and I suspect it will be a while before they start absorbing anyone else (and indeed, it could go the other way..).

None of which is appropos as to why I have no memory at all of ever having seen this branch at Landmark Square before I noticed it closed driving down Garners Ferry Road the other day.

UPDATE 1 Oct 2010: According to The State, this building is to become a Krispy Kreme. (The story is a bit vague on whether it will be a full Hot Dougnuts Now! location, or will get doughnuts bussed in from Cayce).

UPDATE 9 March 2011 -- Work has started, presumably on the Krispy Kreme conversion:

UPDATE 28 March 2011 -- Work proceeds, and the official Krispy Kreme "coming soon" sign is up:

UPDATE 20 May 2011 -- The Krispy Kreme is open!

While going out towards Sumter to cut a tree recently, I noticed that the Ole Timey Meat Market on Garners Ferry Road (opposite the new Walgreens) is gone.

I have to admit that I've never been in an actual "butcher shop" -- we always got our meat from the supermarket growing up and inasmuch as I have any concept of a butcher, it would be Alice's boyfriend on The Brady Bunch.

I believe there is still an Ole Timey Meat Market open on Saint Andrews Road.

UPDATE 31 December 2009: It turns out this location has not closed but has moved to Rosewood Drive (see the comments).

UPDATE 16 August 2017 -- Now a pawn shop: