Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Golden City is listed in this year's (Feb-2010/Feb-2011) phonebook, so it can't have been closed for too long. I find it a little interesting however, that Loopnet describes the place as "recently renovated" while work is clearly currently ongoing.

I'm not sure how long Golden City was there. Without going to the library, I can confirm that it existed in 1998, but not in 1976. Again according to Loopnet, the building was built in 1970, so there must have been other operations there over the years. And, speaking of the building -- it's rather an interesting one. The back part is fairly standard looking, but the trapezoid in front is quite unusual.

I wonder how accurate the English name is. If each Chinese glyph equates to a word (or idea) then there are four words getting squoze down into the two word "Golden City". Can anyone translate?

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.

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.

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:

I wrote a few days ago about the Sunset Boulevard location of Maurice's Gourmet Barbeque closing. This location, on Garners Ferry Road / Sumter Highway just past I-77 also closed about the same time. In the second picture you can see that it sits next to the former Fantasy Lingerie, which itself closed recently.

I've never been in this, or indeed any, Maurice's location, but what strikes me looking in through the window of this building is how little it looks like a former restaurant inside. It could almost be a generic office building just judging by what's left. The flowers are a nice touch though.

Hat tip to commenter Terry for the heads-up.

UPDATE 22 September 2020: Updating tags and adding map icon.

I first wrote about this building when it was a former Quincy's. Now it is a former Maurice's. It seems the current recession has made a hash of the barbecue business, as this is the second Maurice's to close recently.

To me, the location seems a little awkward to get into and out of. I can't remember if that were the case when it was a Quincy's or if it is an artifact of all the road work that's been done on the I-26 / US-378 interchange over the last couple of years. However, the selling realtor is apparently quite upbeat about the plot as the the current asking price is $1,350,000.

UPDATE 8 November 2009: Forgot to hat tip commenter B.C.

UPDATE 22 September 2020 -- This place has been razed. Also, updating post tags and adding a map icon.

I find this Rite Aid closing interesting because it happened so soon after the conversion from Eckerd's, so in 2007, they paid a lot of money to redo all the signage and branding, interior and exterior, and then in 2009, closed the store.

I think it was a classy touch to transfer the store's perscriptions across the street to their competitors at CVS rather than sending customers to a Rite Aid further away. I hope the building can be re-used, it's still fairly new and appears quite nice.

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[26 June 2010: Howdy folks! If you're coming here from The State article on "The Old Caughman Place", there's more vanished Columbia here than just The Bounty. Take a look at the list of Alphabetical Closings, or check out the latest posts on the Columbia Closings home page -- Ted]

Well, this is one of the two most requested posts I haven't done yet, or at least one of the two "most searched for" posts. I've held off doing a post on The Bounty because I never ate there and didn't have any personal memories at all to relate, and the building is gone, so I couldn't get any photos. However, I did finally get a yellow pages ad (from the 1977 Southern Bell phonebook), so I decided to go out on the Sumter Highway and see if I could find where I thought it was.

The most likely place seems to be on Mill Creek off the right side of the road if you are heading towards Sumter. We used to take this route the the beach, and the site more or less comports with what I remember from those trips. Taking a good picture seems to be impossible though. There is no access to the lake from the Sumter Highway except as you go over the bridge, and if you were to park and walk out on the bridge you would be taking your life in your hands as there is no sidewalk space. The road is also too busy to stop on the bridge in your car. I went by half a dozen times before I was able to snap this poor shot through the window. I recall The Bounty as being on the left bank (as pictured here) of the lake. There must have been road access to the site, so I went around on Old Garners Ferry, but anything that seems likely is all fenced and posted -- you can't even see the lake from that side (though thre is a waterfall over the dam which I assume was once a mill, giving the creek its name).

The Bounty was a seafood restaurant which also had a kid-friendly "ship" which took kids out on the lake as part of a whole dining experience. From this site and various comments you folks have made here, I believe the story of The Bounty was about as follows:

A local businessman, B. C. Inabinet, had the enthusiasm and know-how to run a seafood restaurant, so he got his main company to build The Bounty and take ownership. It was profitable, and everyone was happy. When he passed away, his successors at the main company found they didn't have a passion for the restaurant business and decided to abandon The Bounty to concentrate on the firm's core interests. In the end the building was burned as a practice exercise for the local fire department.

That's about all I can say, except that it sounds like it was a fun place, and I'm sure that I would have liked it except for the "fish" part. Now, here's what y'all have said:

The far left of Captain’s Kitchen was shaped, or enclosed in an old boat, but who remember’s the Bounty out toward Hopkins that was built like a huge boat. My grandparent’s loved to eat there. It looked like some crazy themed resturant from the coast.
Also, what was the resturant located on Decker where Chick-fil-a is now. I think it was Applegates Landing. It was also themed on the inside. I remember a salad bar that was made from an old truck.

By Hal Reed on Sep 4, 2008

The Bounty was owned & operated by B.C. Inabinet, a college football star who founded Defender Industries and got rich selling janitorial supplies. We often bumped into him at his restaurant, and he was a happy, wonderful host who love people and loved to eat!

He also owned a working shrimp boat on the coast called The Bounty, and in the restaurant was a series of photos of the boat’s christening. His wife hit the bow with a magnum of champagne, and instead of breaking, it knocked a chunk off the boat! He found this hilarious and loved to tell the story.

Behind the restaurant he built a little shack on the lake’s edge where you could get beer and oysters in a sort of tropical setting. Great fun.

B.C. died from complications following stomach-stapling surgery (he was huge). I heard that he refused to follow doctor’s orders about eating after the operation and that’s what did him in.

By Dennis on Sep 5, 2008

The Bounty was a renovated wooden structure on the old swim club called Pine Woods. I think Pine Woods closed in the early seventies. I was involved with installing insulation under the restaurant for insulation. I believe the restaurant burned down after a few years.

By keith on Nov 12, 2008

I remember the Bounty well as I grew up on that side of town and we went there often. The whole restaurant inside and out looked like a ship right out of the 1600’s complete with great lighting at nights and mannequins. There was indeed a boat that took you on tours of the pond (although at 5 yrs old it seemed huge, especially after dark). It also seems that there was a pirate wharf out back with a little souvenir shack where you could get (among other things) little pirate flags and probably even those plastic pirate swords. In my memory it was as cool as Pirates of the Caribbean at Disney, and there has been nothing like it in Columbia since.

By Larry on Nov 13, 2008

The Bounty off of Garners Ferry Rd… few restaurants out that way in the late 70s other than the Chicken Coop near where Zaxby’s is now.

At the Bounty after dinner they’d ride you on the pond in the “ship.” One time the “skipper” said “You see that thing over there that looks like a log? Well, it is a log.” The place burned to the groud, maybe in the 80s.

By Midnight Rambler on Dec 16, 2008

The Bounty was a great place to go eat but I agree with Kelly, I don’t think it was quite as good as Captain’s Kitchen. When I was very young, my parents were members of Pinewood Club (where the Bounty was.) It was the big pond and a few rustic buildings. One was the canteen and others I think were the Men’s and Women’s buildings to change into their swimsuits. That’s where I learned to swim. Good fishing there too! I believe the Columbia Fire Dept may have torched the Bounty for training purposes. At least that is what I was told.

By Roy on Dec 21, 2008

UPDATE 30 September 2012: I'm very happy to report that thanks to commenter Steve who made the scans from his postcard we now have an actual picture of The Bounty! I have added the postcard to the very top of the post.

UPDATE 19 January 2013: Commenter Jiles Bishop sends this scan of a Bounty boat-ride token. Be sure to read his comment below as well: