Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I had no idea this little sunken plaza was there on Saint Andrews Road until I went looking for Huller's a few weeks ago. It's quite a ways out, North of Lake Murray Boulevard, and I don't think I had ever been in the area before.

Although Huller's announced their closing on Facebook back on 14 July 2013, the place still looks like someone could fling the doors open any minute. All the signs and menuboards are still up with the weekly specials still posted. For that matter, the main web site is still available as well.

I've been to Germany, but about all I recall about the food is the hotel breakfast had limp bacon and the one time we tried to break away from work and go to a real restaurant, the hostess stalked off in front of us leaving us to weave between tables until she had totally lost us. We never saw her again, and ended up at a Chi-Chis, as I recall it.. So anyway, I was never moved to check out Huller's though I did like their I-26 billboard which was very much in the spirit of our old State Fair friend:

(Hat tip to commenter jason)

I was unaware of this old tennis club off of Lake Murray Boulevard just west of Saint Andrews Road until commenter James mentioned it.

The place is built on two levels, with the main building and old court surfaces down a steep hill from Lake Murray Boulevard. I would not like to come in and out of this parking lot on a daily basis! The old pro-shop, clubhouse (and probably snack bar I would suspect) is at the back of the parking lot, with level space behind that where there look to have been at least two courts, and in all likelihood several others less discernable now as well.

At the side of the first level, a set of steps leads up the hill to a second level. It's all wooded now, but I suspect there was at least one more court up there. I probably shouldn't have tested the steps on my less than svelte frame, especially given the bushes and trees growing up through them and the raised nail heads, but they were still sturdier than they appeared.

UPDATE 24 August 2013: Commenter Badger sends in a link to this obituary. It seems the owner was Mr Fred Wiles Atkinson, Jr. He sounds like a nice guy, and with his life history, I would not be surprised at all if he and my parents were acquainted. He passed in 2008, so this place probably closed a couple of years before that.

(Hat tip to commenter James)

Here's another open spot in Quail Valley Plaza on Saint Andrews Road.

In this case, Eagle Cleaners relocated several years ago to 6281 Saint Andrews Road, so if you need your eagle cleaned (which I swear sounds like a euphemism), that's the place for it now.

Back to Saint Andrews Road again today.

I like the quail logo on this Irmo strip mall...

From what I can tell, Truly Scrumptious Catering moved from here to 1937 Augusta Highway in Lexington around 2006, and are still there today in a much nicer building/banquet hall.

There are only a few words in English that change meaning (and pronuciation) when capitalized, and Polish Distribution is vague enough and capitalized enough that either meaning could apply here, so the little nail polish bottle in logo is a nice disambiguation touch.

Well, that didn't last long. I posted a closing for Carolina MoneySaver at this site back on 6 January 2012, and since then the followup operation, Carolina Title Loans has already moved in and then either folded or moved on.

I still kind of like the checker-board floor, which is unchanged from the MoneySaver days.

The pix are all, unfortunately, from yet another of our recent oversupply of grey days.

UPDATE 30 August 2016 -- Actually I think I was wrong about this place. They hadn't closed when the pictures above were taken, they just were taking an incredibly long time to open. They finally *did* open, but closed after a short time, and now the building is for sale:

UPDATE 19 August 2019 -- Now Fabric Bistro:

I have to admit I didn't know there was such a thing as The National Fireplace Institute -- it seems, at least, that all the classrooms should be warm and toasty. At any rate they certified Southeastern Stone,the former tenant of this handsome masonry building on Fernandina Road near the I-26 & Piney Grove interchange. There are some nice pictures on their still extant website as well.

I'm not sure what is going on with the building. It is up for sale, but there is some sort of landscaping work already going on.

For some reason I've never really warmed up to McAlister's. I think that is probably due to the negative synergy of three factors: 1) They don't have booths, and the chairs are not comfortable, and 2) they don't have table service, but 3) you still can't refill your own drink.

Be that as it may, nobody is sitting at this one for a while, as it caught fire early on the 25th.

When I went by, I could definitely smell smoke as I stepped into the patio area. In contrast to a number of other places that have caught fire though, work started on recovery almost immediately, and equipment is already in place to rehabilitate the building. The "closed for renovation" sign suggests that there might be an upfit involved as well, but I tend to think that's just boiler-plate phrasing.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

11 September 2012: Updated status to "open again"

UPDATE 3 February 2014 -- Finally here's a picture of the refurbished store in operation:

Well, I finally got by the Saint Andrews Road Kmart, and it looks like whenever the final date is, it is definitely not long for the world.

I don't really understand why Kmart does store closings like this. Kmart a chain. It's not a chain that's in great shape, but there *are* other stores. It seems to me that it would make more sense to have a couple of trucks come in and take stuff either to the warehouse or directly to other stores, especially the small stuff like the jewelry department. Just looking at it cold-bloodedly, that would have to be cheaper than continuing to pay salaries and utilities for an extended closing period..

(Hat tip to lots of people)

UPDATE 20 May 2013 -- Well, Sunday 19 May was the last day of retail operation -- they will be open next week to sell the store fixtures only. I got some $0.19 Jazz CDs and a George Thoroughgood concert DVD for $0.29..

UPDATE 7 October 2019: Add map icon and update tags.

Here's a heart-themed post for Valentines..

I don't know a lot about Heart 2 Heart (or "♥ 2 ♥" as the sign would have it) other than it was apparently a gift shop, sat in the old Piggly Wiggly Plaza on Lake Murray Boulevard and closed in 2010. The local news site has this and other locations up for comments on what should go there...