Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I noticed this vacant building on Trenholm a few doors down from the Forest Acres town hall a few weeks ago, but based on the unclaimed phonebook at the door step, it was at least before February 2017 that this Coldwell Banker moved to 1711 Gervais Street.

It probably says something about my general powers of observation that I grew up a mile from here and have driven by the building literally thousands of times over the years, but I had no idea it was a Coldwell Banker (and whatever else it has been over the years) in the first place.

UPDATE 21 June 2017: Added Russell & Jeffcoat to the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 16 June 2022: Updating tags, adding map icon. I should also note that the building has been razed.

I took my annual jaunt up to the Charlotte Heroes Convention last Saturday, and couldn't resist a few clouds shots.

Parking is pretty easy considering what you might expect, and it's just a short walk to the convention center.

As you might expect there was a predictable, though certainly not unwelcome theme to this year's costumes.

A bit of a palate cleanser..

Love the "what the hey?" on the guy..

Some steampunk (note the vacuum tubes..)

Whosoever holds this hammer...

By the all-seeing Eye of Agamotto!

I thought I thaw a puddy tat

These are not the cosplayers you are looking for..

The Huntress, and I'm drawing a blank. (UPDATE: Black Canary, I think)

No idea, but I wouldn't cross him.

Cassie Kane, Batwoman (the "Bombshells" continuity version)

Storm...

...and Stormette

Harley Quinn

Never count the classics out

Swag

Walt Kelly's Fairy Tales

"Invisible Monster" remains the scariest Saturday morning cartoon ever..

Henry Kuttner, maybe best known for The Twonky

Girl Power

Planet Stories knew what covers would sell. (And published some decent "planetary adventure". Here's a Poul Anderson I haven't read)

Jack Williamson headed west on a covered wagon as a child, and was writing until 2006.

C. S. Forester better known for "Horatio Hornblower" and The African Queen (though, frankly, the movie is better).

Never heard of Wilcox, but again, a great cover..

Amy Chu, most recently writing Red Sonja.

Looked like an interesting coming-of-age story

No idea, but the guy was such a go-getter cold salesman that I said "Why not?"

Really noticed Randall's art on "The Bitter Earth" back in the day. His first visit to Heroes Con.

Pirate, um, booty.

The TV series is one of the funniest cartoons on today. I highly recommend "Girls Night Out" & "Pyramid Scheme". You just have to basically forget that the characters are drawn from Wolfman & Perez's classic 80s run of "Teen Titans" and go with the stupidity. Thought maybe a signed comic of her favorite show would actually get my niece to read something. We'll see..

As the store on Saint Andrews Road did earlier, the new-ish Aldi in Lexington has closed for a complete remodel. The signs say that they are slated to be back on 29 June 2017. That may be pusing it: That's less than 15 days away, and the store appears completely gutted now.

Looking back, the old Bike To Nature building was still here in August of 2013, and construction of this store still had not started in February of 2014, so they are doing a complete upfit after being open less than three years..

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

WMBFNews.com, Myrtle Beach/Florence SC, Weather

"Last Ride" at the Myrtle Beach Pavilion

Also in Friarsgate Plaza across from the currently closing Bi-Lo was this Dollar General.

They list in the February 2017 phonebook, and have a Yelp review from 15 April 2017, so I'm going to say they probably moved around May of 2017. The new, freestanding, location is 7812 Broad River Road which is a bit closer to I-26 exit 101 and on the other side of the road.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 20 June 2017: Changing the closing date from May 2017 to "2016" based on the comments. The phonebook is apparently wrong.

So here's the Latest Good Idea From the Folks Who Brought You Stadium Lighting:

A major facelift is being planned for Columbia’s South Main Street that would narrow it from four to two lanes and eliminate all on-street parking.

I'll admit that when this came up in Have Your Say, I couldn't even remember that there was a Save a Lot on Saint Andrews Road. In point of fact it hasn't been there that long, replacing the Kroger some time in 2015. That seems curious to me, as though they badly misread the market or something changed. The KJ's down the road might be direct competition, but that was planned before this store went in, and despite the Bi-Lo to Harvey's change at the top of the hill, I still don't see that location as direct competition to a discounter like Sav a Lot. Commenter Andrew references the new Wal Mart Neighboorhood Market, but that seems a good way from here..

At any rate, it appears the store will close on 22 June.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney).

Well, often in these situations, the "closed for remodeling" rubric is more a vague hope than a description of something that will actually happen. However, Wet Willie's finally did come back, so who knows? The external indications are mixed: this location is gone from the company website, but the signage has not been taken down.

At any rate The Tilted Kilt replaced Huller's German restaurant in this location, opening in early 2014. The chain is a "breastaurant" concept like Hooters but with a faux Scottish flair. I only went to this location once, when I was looking for something open late that wasn't just burgers. They had some sort of mashed potato pie thing on the menu that looked like it would be a) Pretty good & b) Hard to mess up. Either one or the other of those assumptions turned out to be wrong, though the scenery was nice.

(Hat tip to commenter Zach)

UPDATE 20 June 2017: Removed the "(temporary?)" notation from the post title based on the comments and this State article

UPDATE 17 August 2021 -- As mentioned in the comments, this place is setting up to be Willie Sue's:

Also adding map icon.

Some time late in 1965, or early in 1966 I was watching daytime TV. I never went to kindergarten, and hadn't started first grade yet, so at the time I was home all day with my mother. In general, she liked for me to be doing something, prefably outside, rather than watching TV, but it would have been cold out so I was watching game shows. Let's Make a Deal was always my favorite because of all the doors and the booby prizes, but I think this one was The Match Game. At any rate, it had a semi-celebrity panel playing the game, not that I knew who any of them were, and during the course of the game each of them got to casually drop a little promo for whatever their latest project was.

There was one guy who said he was going to star in a show called Batman which was premiering soon. There was some back and forth joking with the other panelists to the effect "Oh, so, you can turn into a bat, or what?", and that really stuck with me. I really wanted to see a show about a guy who could turn into a bat!

That little PR squib was, to the best of my memory, all I knew about "Batman". I knew who "Superman" was, of course, but "Batman" was a complete unknown quantity. I couldn't read at the time, so I didn't know comic books, and while I knew comic strips in the paper, "Batman" was not one of them. But I made sure my parents knew I wanted to see this new show when it came on, and was fully prepared for a show about a man who could turn into a bat. (I didn't realize how far beyond what a 1960s TV show could do an effect like that would be..). What I got, of course, was something completely different -- and thrilling: The Neil Hefti theme song, the animated opening sequence and the most noble and steely-eyed hero on televison. I was hooked from minute one, and I had *no* idea I was watching a comedy. I hung on Batman's noble words, thrilled at his (and Robin's) daring escapes and chilled at the colorful cast of scenery chewing villans...

The man on that game show, and behind the mask was, of course Adam West. An up and coming journeyman actor before the show, forever typecast after the show. In time he learned to get beyond the fact that the big roles never came again, and to embrace being "Adam West: Batman". He played the Gray Ghost on the classic animated Batman series, and recently returned for one more outing behind the (animated) mask last year in Return of the Caped Crusaders.

Away from the spotlights, he apparently lived a full and happy life. With that, and making the world a bit more four-colored and brighter, who can quarrel?

Not sure exactly when Allstar closed, but Columbiafoodienews says that Papa Gios was prepping this spot to open on 16 December 2016, so Allstar must have been closed for probably a month or more by then. I'm just going to say "Fall 2016".

I do love me some pizza, but I never made it to this spot. Lexington is a good drive, and if it were normal hours, and I were going that far, I would probably get some Parthenon style pizza at Pizzeria Opa or it it were later, Uno.

Interestingly, Papa Gios seems to have all its locations in Orlando and the Midlands, which is a fairly unusual distribution.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)