Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This is the only store I have ever been lost in.

It was probably about 1965 when my mother took me here to do some clothes shopping. Now of course the clothes displays are shorter than almost all adults, but taller than almost all four years olds, and at some point I lost track of her among the racks and panicked, racing around the floor trying to find her. Since I didn't spend the rest of my life in the clothes department, I must have located her at some point, but *that* part of the debacle I can't remember..

This store was a regular stop for us throughout the 60s and 70s. We preferred the store brand jarred roasted peanuts to Planters and in those days when Sears was still in Five Points and Dutch Square was the only mall this store was always the closest place to pick up whatever odds and ends we needed. I brought my first record album here, which I still have, the Beach Boys two record compilation set Endless Summer for which I paid $5.25. Here I also bought the Focal brand camera tripod which I still carry in my trunk today.

After I left town in 1985, I rarely visited this Kmart and I remember noting when I came back to town in the early 2000s how threadbare it looked. Since it was still close, I did visit it every now and then, but invariably noted that whatever I had gone in for, they didn't have it, and gradually stopped trying.

(Hat tip to commenter joelc)

UPDATE 30 January 2016 -- As noted by a number of people, the store is now closed:

UPDATE 7 October 2019: Add map icon.

Conumdrum opened in the space formerly occupied by Bloomin' Idiots garden center, and based on the name, I reported it as a drumming studio when I did the closing for that business.

In reality, though I never got to check it out personally, it seems to have been a nice little eclectic music venue, and a five year run is not bad for a site neither in The Vista nor Five Points.

I had not noticed until recently that Sato on Beltline took major flood damage and is closed for repair. In retrospect it makes sense as the restaurant is located at the low point of Beltline as it comes down from Forest Drive and before it starts back up towards Trenholm Road. Looking at google maps, it appears that the nearby creek which presumably did the damage is called Orphanage Branch, a name I can't ever recall hearing.

Touchdown's opened in a former Sammi's Deli sometime around October 2013. I'm not a big wing fan, and it's nowhere near where I live so I never made it in. I noticed last weekend as I was drive by that it was closed and had been relaced by a pizza operation:

This little building on Airport Boulevard has apparently been a host of clubs over the years. I rember a few of the names that google turned up, but not all of them.

Most recently it was The Hanger Sports Bar and this Facebook page king of suggests, without ever saying so directly that it closed in late April of 2015.

Commenter AW noted that the Sammi's on Beltline is now closed and a Peruvian restaurant is in its place -- although looking closely at this shot I snapped from the road, I'm wondering if that might be gone as well.

As far as I am aware, this (if open) is the only Peruvian place in town. It's supposed to be one of the world's great cuisines, but it's not one I know anything at all about.

As for Sammi's, I have to admit the only time I've been in one (not this one) I was so non-plussed at the interior that I just ordered a drink and left rather than eating there.

(Hat tip to commenter AW)

I was in downtown Georgetown a few weeks ago, having taken a refrigerator part to the very far edge of town and looking to eat al-fresco on Front Street. I had a nice Italian lunch on the sidewalk and then decided to walk around for a few minutes.

I was very surprised to see the Rice Paddy Restaurant closed. This old building, almost across the street from the burned out area of the Georgetown Harborwalk, has been a local fixture for as long as I can remember. In the event, I can only recall eating there once, probably back in the late 1980s. The memory is hazy, but I think it was quite good, but rather fancier than my usual spots.

For now, the web site is still up, and still shows a 2014 award. This Yelp page suggests that it must have closed in or before May 2015.

Two Notch stalwart Westside Ice has now moved to 1001 Idlewild Boulevard off of Bluff Road.

This building has that classic "ice house" look, with the long open deck. Their web site says the business dates from the 1930s -- I wouldn't be surprised if horse drawn ice wagons once pulled up here..

(Hat tip to commenter Frank Mancuso)

UPDATE 23 August 2021 -- Commenter Frank Mancuso (who has apparently had an eye on the place) sends these pictures of the demolition of the building:

Also adding map icon.

UPDATE 2 September 2021 -- Some more pictures of the demolition a bit further along:

UPDATE 13 September 2021 -- Demolition is complete:

Printer cartridge re-furbisher Cartridge World on Forest Drive have closed their storefront operations. I used them for a LaserJet cartridge a while back, and it is still working fine in my printer.

(Hat tip to my sister)

Big database crash..

Bear with me while I bring older posts back manually. It will take a while, and I'll probably have to lump all the comments together on each post.