Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

It appears that Latino's Used Cars (and towing) has moved from this Two Notch storefront to 10531 Farrow Road, according to their Facebook.

Looking at Google StreetView, they had moved in by 2016, before which the building had been vacant for a number of years.

The chain filed for Chapter 11 in August, but couldn't find a buyer, and is now winding down all stores. Looking at the linked article it appears they should all be gone by the end of the year, taking them down from 400 stores to 0.

This particular store is fairly new, being the follow-on operation in this storefront to HobbyTown USA which moved in 2018.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

RAW (Rent A Wheel) was in the old Huddle House location on Two Notch (though there is a discrepency in the address I have for Huddle House), and was the follow-up to Auto Image.

I'm not exactly sure when it closed, and I think there is still an AI robot on Google Reviews posting responses for the owner, but it appears to be sometime in the Spring. The embedded StreetView photo is from October of 2023). There is a nice aerial view of the property on LoopNet.

UPDATE 23 September 2024 -- More pictures:

I think this is closed. There is never any sign of activity when I drive by and the Facebook has not been updated for quite a while, but yet google reviews always has a couple of reactions from the last few months...

Anyway I'm calling it closed, and if anyone knows differently, let me know.

This was apparently also known as Best Western Plus Columbia Northeast and the rather generic Columbia Northeast Hotel, so perhaps it lost the Best Western branding in the last months of its life. Google streetview shows the place looking open, and with Best Western signage into May of 2024, but as of the end of June, when these pictures were taken, the place was closed with indications of some sort of work going on. (The Google reviews suggest it really needed some.)

I have not driven past since then, so perhaps it is open again or at least has some indication as to what is to come now -- I will have to check it out again soon.

As predicted by commenter Mall Guy, this Hooters is gone.

I had been in a number of times over the years. They were open later than many other places, the food was competent, and, of course, the view was nice.

I did get the impression the last couple of times I was there that it was going downhill a bit, and the food was somewhat sub-par compared to times past. It's probably been at least two years since my last visit, so I can't say how it was at the end.

This building started out as a Hops brewpub, so we'll see where the chain of restaurant reincarnation takes it next. I would guess that there are competing Asian buffet places too close, so perhaps a Mexican venue as the nearest ones I can think of are on the small side.

(Hat tip to commenter Mall Guy)

I'm not sure what the issue was here, this location, at the corner of Two Notch & Alpine, seems like a reasonably good one for a gas station, and closing shop leaves all the traffic to the Pitt Stop on the opposite corner. The store does look like it is a little smaller than the current Circle K buildouts, so that could be an issue, or they just could have gotten a good offer for the property, I suppose. At any rate, this circle is squared.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

UPDATE 18 March 2025 -- The place has been sold, though there is no indication yet what is coming:

This Pitt Stop was across from Lowes almost at the intersection of Two Notch with I-20 East. I have stopped there once or twice over the years, but not more often because it is a bit of a pain to get in and out of. The place is a bit interesting because the property has a former automatic carwash which was repurposed into a seperate car detailing business. It's not clear to me what will happen to that long-term, but for now, it looked like it were still open.

I'm not sure when the place closed (other than on or before 10 January), but it is recent enough that the sign is still lit with the final gas price, the banners are still up by the road, and the pumps are still in place.

(Hat tip to commenter AvidReader)

UPDATE 26 Jan 2024: Commenter Tom points out that this building was an Exxon before becoming a Pitt Stop / Sunoco, so I have added that to the post title.

UPDATE 24 June 2024 -- A bit of entrepreneurship going on in the old parking lot:

I'm not sure this property is technically part of Sparkleberry Square, but it's at least an outparcel, and closed in December. I never stopped here, although I noticed it was the cheapest gas in the area a few times recently, because it looked like it would be a pain to come out of and go west.

These pictures were taken Christmas Eve, and it already looked like the tanks were about to be taken up then -- I have not driven by since.

(Hat tip to commenter Rashaad)

It's possible they moved to another part of the store -- I was just running in and out, but it appeared to me last week that the Starbucks in the Sparkleberry Square Kroger was gone.

UPDATE 16 September 2024 -- Apparently they closed their existing kiosk to remodel and make a larger in-store space, whic is now open: