Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

As you can see from these two sets of pictures, the Circle K at the corner of Two Notch Road & the Trenholm Road Extension is closed, the pumps have been demolished, and apparently the storage tanks have been dug up, or that is the next step.

The store here was much smaller than the current Circle K style, and to me the lot does not look big enough to put in one on their new standard lines. In the case of a similar situation on Bethel Church, they removed the pumps and tanks and then put the building on the market. I expect they will do the same here, unless they go as far as razing the building entirely.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 28 February 2023 -- As mentioned again by commenter Thomas, this building has now been razed:

UPDATE 29 March 2023: Updating tags.

UPDATE 16 January 2024 -- Now a Valvoline Instant Oil Change:

I never stopped at this Market Express though I do remember noticing it from time to time. While the property light poles aren't quite the kind of gull-wing fixtures I really like on vintage buildings, they are a bit better than most current ones.

Commenter Larry suggests that the lot is to become a car wash which seems like poor siting to me, but then I don't drive that stretch too often.

(Hats off to Larry)

UPDATE 11 Aug 2021: Forgot to put a date on the initial post. I'm guessing "Spring 2021" and have added that.

This mailbox store was the end unit in the venerable Jimmy's Mart strip on Two Notch Road. I noticed a few weeks ago that it is now vacant.

Somewhere in this area was a auto-carwash which seemed to vanish almost overnight, but I can't quite place it.

Some time ago, the Toyota Center franchaise moved from Airport Boulevard to Sunset Boulevard and branded as Fred Anderson Toyota. As reported by commenter Alan, the franchaise is now Peter Boulware Toyota. I can't find any media stories about this online, but it apparently happened around May of 2021. Fred Anderson appears to still have dealerships in at least Charleston & Raleigh.

(Hat tip to commenter Alan)

East Coast Granite & Marble was the follow-on operation in this former residence on Sunset Boulevard after Chandler Chiropractic relocated. As far as I can tell, East Coast has also relocated, to 1809 Sunset Boulevard, which is on the other side of I-26 from here.

UPDATE 17 June 2025: Update tags.

I noticed this closed variety store on Leesburg Road last weekend. I am unable to find the full name of the place, but google streetview confirms the sign has been that way since 2018.

This location of Mattress Firm is one that survived the big wave of store closing a few years ago, but it has now pulled up the sheets. As commenter Matt points out, it was just across the street from another mattress store, which can't have helped matters much.

Somehow or other I managed to drive by hundreds of times over the years without ever fixing it in my mind that the store was here, and probably dozens of times in the past month without noticing the closing flags. We'll see what comes next -- the location is not bad, with stoplight access and a good bit of traffic.

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

I did not see any sign on the door, and google doesn't know anything about it, but there are no cars on the lot, and the website is down, so I believe commenter Robert is correct that Chris Polson Automotive on Lake Murray Boulevard has closed its doors.

(Hat tip to commenter Robert)

I'm sure I must have been in this CVS at one time or another, but I can't recall it if so.

The Post & Courier says:

CVS apparently is looking to trim its network of locations, so it is letting go of the location as its lease expires despite the strong commuter traffic that moves along the corridor daily, Mills said.

In the event, the closure was finalized on 25 May.

I will say that the drive-through here was a bit awkward.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

UPDATE 5 July 2022: Add word "Pharmacy" to post title.

There are very few google reviews of this Triangle City cellphone store a block or so down from Zesto, so I can't really say when it closed, other than after the summer of 2019. Given every thing, 2020 seems like a reasonable guess.