Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Here's another Boozer Shopping Center vacancy:

Brighter Solutions has moved to 1447 Franklin Street. Apparently they are home lighting decor providers with "Solatubs, Entry Point glass, &: Phantom screens".

Before that, the place was apparently an insurance agency and an immigration support operation.

Here's yet another closed payday checking type operation. This one is in the plaza at the corner of Broad River & Rushmore Roads, across the street from Rush's. The plaza opened with some fanfare years ago, including the unlikely peregrination of Bum's Bummers from Boardwalk Plaza to here. In fact, if you look at the next to last picture at that link, I believe it is this very unit being constructed.

In recent years, the place seems to have moved down a tier, and to have had a fair bit of turnover.

I'm not sure what the story is with this lot and house at 4505 Broad River Road, which has certainly been other things than a car lot. You'll notice that that, oddly, it has the same street address as the recently closed Waffle House, but this this real estate listing explains:

This parcel surrounds the corner occupied by Waffle House.

While this listing says:

Plans were in the works for a 15,000 sq ft retail space.

with the past tense leading me to believe those plans are no longer in the works.

This tax information says the house on the lot was built in 1884. I would have called it old, but not *that* old. The place almost has a funeral home look to it. It's certainly not in the best of shape, but it would still be a shame to tear it down.

"Beam Me Up, Scotty".

Enterprise on Broad River Road has warped over to the old Stivers Lincoln Mercury location on Greystone Boulevard as of early April.

For some reason I find the beat up old picnic table outside the car corral to be kind of endearing.

Are there any driving directions less useful than: "Take the exit with the Waffle House"?

Anyway, you don't see Waffle Houses closing too often, though I do have the one from Bush River Road here. On the one hand, I would have thought the closeness of this Waffle House to SLED would have guaranteed it a steady late-night business. On the other hand, the site is not like their usual Interstate exit locations.

Personally I like the fact that Waffle House never went to "Belgian" waffles, which seem to be the rage elsewhere now. I like a lot of litle holes for syrup rather than a smaller number of larger holes. And yes, that is the kind of thing you think about in a Waffle House booth at 3am.

(Hat tip to commenter Johnathan)

UPDATE 5 January 2022: Adding map icon and updating tags.

UPDATE 10 February 2025 -- Now King Smoke & Vape:

The State had the story on the closing of this doll shop on Broad River Road next to the old The Whale's Tail. Basically, the owner decided it was time to retire, and it sounds well deserved.

I know it's just the antique style, but I do have to say I would hate to wake up and find that doll staring at me..

UPDATE 18 June 2013: For some reason I had the name as Jake's, not Jacs.

Here's another Boozer Shooping Center storefront, this one a clothes store. B & B aparently closed shop in 2010, or at least they were listed in the Feb 2010 phonebook, but not the Feb 2011 book.

Before that in the mid 2000s, the place was Futon Lifestyle. All I can say from the brief and painful periods I have spent on those most awkward neither fish nor fowl items of furniture, is that I am not cut out for a futon lifestyle..

We used to visit Cokesbury books when it was in the Dutch Center office plaza across Dutch Square Boulevard from the mall, and it always used to puzzle me.

Now, when I say "we", I mean basically my mother with my sister and me in tow. As to why it puzzled me -- well, I couldn't ever understand why I couldn't find any books I wanted to read there. On some level, I understood that my mother went there when she was looking for Sunday School or Circle material, but I never really made the connection because on another level -- well, it was a book store wasn't it? There must be a science fiction section in here somewhere. And yet time after time I could never find anything that looked interesting that wasn't by C. S. Lewis. And frankly, Out of the Silent Planet didn't look *that* interesting..

At some point they moved from Dutch Square Boulevard to Broad River Road, and I moved out of town. The next time I saw them, I wasn't 13 anymore, and I realized, Duh! It's a devotional bookstore!.

As you can see from the sequence of pictures here, they ran an orderly closeout of the Broad River store, and put up the figurative shutters on 20 April.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew.)

UPDATE 21 June -- As mentioned by commenter Andrew, this is now King's Beauty Supply:

Given the name, I'm guessing it must be related somehow to the King's package across the road.

This old country-house-looking building is out on Broad River Road in between Saint Andrews Road and Harbison Boulevard. I guess the area is starting to be developed some now, but for many years, this was essentially out in "the stix". I would often notice this mom & pop video store as I drove by, and wondered how the thing lasted well past the video startup era and into the Blockbuster era. In the end Blockbuster did come to the area, though it was a short lived victory.

The place seems to be a barbershop and hair salon now.