Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, it's back to Sandhill for this one. I did a closing for Rice's longtime Devine Street home in 2012, and another when they moved from the Sandhill center court in 2020.

Now they have moved one final time from this location to 125 Outlet Pointe Boulevard as part of closing down the business for the owners' retirement. According to their web site they are now selling at 15 to 70 percent off, so if you need a piano, this might be the time to pounce.

UPDATE 12 November 2024 -- Got an interesting circular ad in the mail a few weeks ago:

It looks like perhaps Rice has sold their name & good-will to Steinway.

Commenter Gypsie points out that electrical products distributer Wesco is no longer operating at this I-26 frontage road of which I was unaware, and commenter Matt supplies the information that they have moved several of their locations to 2500 Leaphart Road, possibly related to their recent merger with Anixter.

LoopNet has a nice picture of the building and says it sports 9600 sq feet of warehouse space and 3700 sq feet of offices. Interestingly it doesn't say how big the lot is, but it's not small.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

United Auto Sales moved to this location in 2012 after their old location on Forest Drive was torn down to build Cook Out. Although Google is labeling this location as Temporarily Closed, I think it is more likely that United has shut down for good after a 12 year run here.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)

I'm not sure what's going on at Village At Sandhill, but quite a lot of it is cordoned off for construction with Enter At Your Own Risk signs. The blocks still having shops have walkways to the doors, but some buildings look completely encased...

I'm pretty sure I've shopped at Rack Room Shoes a time or two, but never at this location, just down from Belks. The signage is already down and the place pretty throughly stripped, so I'm guessing it was probably gone by mid-April at the latest.

(Hat tip to commenter Local Reader)

I was never really aware of Hitch RV on Garners Ferry though I must have seen it driving past many times. LoopNet has a picture of the lot in operation, and gives the size of the place as 4.63 acres, which is a pretty good plot. They also say the building dates to 1972, while I might have placed it earlier than that.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

As I was out looking for Shealey's PDQ Too, I ran across this old "Pure" sign, and had to get some pictures. I figured it was a remnant from the distant past, as I haven't seen a "Pure" station, well, ever, but maybe not so fast.

It turns out that the "Pure" brand was resurrected in 1996, and is now actually headquatered in Rock Hill. Google maps tells me that this sign is actually associated with a "Pure" gas & convenience location just to the north which apparently closed around 2023, and if I ever get out there again, I will get some pictures of that as well. Anyway, I still like the sign.

This is one of those places that I was never sure if it were still open or not. It certainly appeared not, but there are reviews up until a few months ago.

At any rate, it appears to be closed now, joining a long line of former restaurants in this building on the spur of Bush River Road sometimes known as Old Bush River Road.

I don't know anything about Belly's other than that it is a barbecue place, and is currently listed by Google as "Temporarily Closed". Their Facebook hasn't been updated since 2023, so there's no clue there, but according to commenter Beth reporting on some other Facebook traffic, they may not be coming back.

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

This Harbison Court storefront has been a number of things over the years. Most recently previous to Fresh Poke, I believe it was Yoghut.

Judging from their Facebook, this location packed it in around last Thanksgiving, though there are other locations int the Midlands. I don't believe she's tried the poke, but my niece likes the bubble-tea at the Forest Acres location.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

UPDATE 21 May 2024: The State says this is to become the second Midlands location for Handel's ice cream.

This is quite a way from my usual rounds, so I was not really aware that Social Grill existed until commenter Robert mentioned that they were closing down for a QT to be built on the lot. 9 March was their last day, and looking at their Facebook, they have already had an auction for the restaurant equipment.

The owners plan to open a pizza restaurant called Cheesy Pint in the former B's in the Publix Plaza on North Lake Drive.

(Hat tip to commenter Robert)