Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

They don't work so well once they've been under water..

I'll also note that most of the parking lot at this old Captain's Kitchen location has now been torn up, I suppose for the greening of the former restaurant space.

And, we have a new cell tower:

Wet Willie's on Gervais has been mentioned in the comments lately, so I decided to swing by there after leaving Mellow Mushroom this evening to see what the state of the place is.

As reported, it is in fact closed, but the door sign leaves some hope that it may be back by 1 March 2016 after "sprucing up", although the web site given on the sign does not, in fact, have any relevant information that I can see.

I really like that building, by the way..

(Hat tip to commenter Dustin)

UPDATE 8 February 2018 -- The place did reopen some time ago:

UPDATE 9 January 2023: Well, after re-opening as described above, this location has now decided not to renew their lease as reported on their Facebook. The timing seems a bit odd, as I would have expected the lease to run to the end of the month, but perhaps they want some time to get their stuff out of there.

WLTX also has the story.

I'll get some new pictures soon, but in the meantime here is a 2010 vintage one I don't believe I have posted before:

Also, as long as I'm updating this, I'll edit the tags and add a map icon.

(Hat tips to commenters Jimmy, Gypsie & Heath)

UPDATE 3 February -- The building with the signage down:

As is often the case, I'm not clear exactly when Five Rivers Market, in the former Master Cleaners/Provisions slot on Millwood closed. I don't see it in my phonebooks at all, and online evidence is a bit confusing, but points so some time after 21 May 2015. As far as I can tell, the Orangeburg location is still open. (Hmm, they also have (had?) a location at the State Farmers' Market).

The storefront is now slated to become Crave Artisan Specialty Market opening around 1 March 2016.

I'm not sure when this little takeout storefront co-located with the garage on Fairlane closed, but it's in the February 2015-2016 phonebook, and I think I would have noticed it previously if it had been closed longer than a few months, so I'm tagging it as winter 2015. Reviews are rather mixed, but they'd been there for a good while, so they must have been doing something right.

UPDATE 25 May 2016 -- Now Saffron, an Indian/Chinese/Mexican takeout storefront:

Divine Consign in the The Shops Of O'Neil Court is yet another casualty of the great 4 October Flood of 2015.

They opened in the old Capital City Consignments / Roundabouts Consignments slot sometime in 2012, and lasted until they were washed out.

From their Facebook page it does not appear they have relocated to anyplace else.

This Shoney's on Garners Ferry Road is closed for remodeling. I used to eat there now and again when I worked out on Bluff Road. It was a typical Shoney's with a decent salad bar and burgers. I'm not sure exactly what the remodel will entail. Newer Shoney's stores are bigger and boxier, but it doesn't look yet like they plan to tear down the existing building.

(Hat tip to commenter Kenneth)

UPDATE 2 May 2016 -- As reported in the comments, this place is open again:

UPDATE 10 September 2020: As reported by commenter Thomas, this place is closed again:

The chain has been in trouble for years now, and we have lost a number of locations in the Columbia area. Apprently the stress of COVID-19 combined with marginal sales anyway were enough to close this branch down, at least until people head back to restaurants in greater numbers.

UPDATE 19 August 2025: This restaurant has had its ups & downs, being closed several times on a temporary basis over the years, but now the last Shoney's in the Midlands is finally closed for good. The State has the story here. The adjacent Captain D's, which once shared corporate ownership with Shoney's and often co-located, remains open.

There was a time, when I was living in Fayetteville, that I went to Ryans's serveral times a week for lunch. They had a good salad bar with the unusual topping option of roasted peanuts instead of sunflower seeds. They also had hoops of cheddar on the salad bar, and with those and the hot yeast rolls, you could make a decent impromptu semi-melted cheese sandwich to go with the salad.

As it happened, my work colleagues and I eventually discovered that the nearby pool-hall (go figure..) actually had a better lunch buffet and we kind of fell out of going to Ryan's, but I had generally good memories of the place until I had the occasion to drop by the Georgetown location a few years ago and be generally unimpressed, a condition which continued through my one visit to this Two Notch Road location in the Wal-Mart outparcel. I get the feeling from the company's recent travails that perhaps I was not alone in my unimpressed state, and the chain recently announced the closure of 74 restaurants of which this was apparently one:

(Hat tips to commenters James R & Sidney)

UPDATE 29 October 2018 -- Now open as Magnolia Buffet:

Driving down Saint Andrews Road the other day, I noticed that the NAPA parts store formerly across from Seven Oaks Shopping Center has now actually crossed the street and is in Seven Oaks next to Big Lots.

I'm not sure, but the new sign suggests that the machine shop did not make the transition.

UPDATE 23 March 2018 -- This building is now Palmetto Thrift:

On my recent trip to Fernandina, I noticed that this convenience store on 8th Street (the main connector from off of the island to downtown) was closed. It's a store I've had my eye on for years as I really like the canted glass front. I believe the building has been there for my entire life (which does not make it old by Fernandina standards!), and it has to my eye a distinctive "50s" flair.

The front door sign says they are closed for remodeling: I hope this does not include razing the building and putting up something more current and less distinctive.

Not too long after noting the move of the Boozer location, I had occasion to mail something and dropped by the forest drive location of Nutrition Warehouse. Unfortunately, I found it closed and vacant. This is a shame, since while I never perused the vitamins and supplements the store offered, the contract Post Office was more convenient than the Trenholm Plaza USPS and generally had much faster service.