Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This building is the former home to The Ballistic Cener, TJ's and Videos & Beyond, the last of which closed in 2011.

I don't recall anything being here between that and Michael's, but I could be wrong. At any rate, Michae'ls was here by 2019. Judging by the Google reviews, they had decent food, but it tended to come a bit slowly, and they weren't filling up the whole space (though room rentals were available).

I can't pinpoint the closing time from the reviews, but commenter Gypsie suggests it has been around a year by now. As she also notes, there is some sort of construction or gutting going on with the building, so perhaps we will see something new soon.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

New location:

I never ate at this Subway though I'm sure it would have been fine, but I had noticed it over the years, using Bush River Road to cut-through between I-20 & Saint Andrews Road. This little plaza is a bit awkwardly located though, right as Bush River goes from four lanes to two, and people are suddenly having to cut over. It also has to be said that Subway was the upscale tenant here, and were probably glad enough to move a little up the road.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

I was aware of Burn Boot Camp in this location, but I was never really sure what it actually was. Judging by the corporate website, it is a gym chain focusing on shorter, 45 minute, workouts to get you in-and-out and off to your day with no wasted time. There remain several in the Midlands, with the next closest one probably being at Sandhill.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

"Flowers by DeLoache" is the way I recall the advertising being done when I was growing up, but now this longtime Columbia florist is gone. After a 70+ year run (incorporating Branham's since the 1970s and consolidated since 2011), the owners decided it was time to take one of the offers for the property and retire. You can read the story in The State, or watch it on WLTX or WIS.

For some reason, these pictures didn't come out very well and I meant to go back for some more, but that's not going to happen now, other than getting some post-closing shots perhaps.

Columbia's only TGI Fridays closed back in 2013, with the building to bite the dust sometime this year probably, but the Grand Strand continued to have several locations.

I ate at this one back in January of 2024, and it was fine: A decent burger & fries an hour after most other places were closed. I did notice that it wasn't actually open as late as I expected from a Fridays, and that the customers were pretty sparse, but in general it seemed in good order, and I was surprised to see the signage down on my last visit.

This continues the trend of Inlet Square losing national chain restaurants, some thing that has included Hooters, Applebee's & J. Peters & Spinnaker's. In the case of all of those except the last, local operations have moved in after the chains shut, so we will have to see what happens here. I do know that some sort of redevelopment for Inlet Square is supposedly in the cards (of course that has been the case before with nothing materializing..)

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I took these pictures on 20 January 2024 after commenter Mall Guy predicted on 16 January that this location was closing. I haven't been back since, but at some point I will get shots of the closed store.

I like Cracker Barrel fine, but it doesn't come up on my rotation often, and I don't believe I ever actually ate at this location. I do know that I bought several gift items at the attached store. This Village At Sandhill outparcel seems like a decent location. It doesn't fit with the chain's Interstate preference, but there is a good bit of traffic on Two Notch, and with the growth of Killian Road, and the widening of Clemson Road to four lanes all the way to I-20, it's not too far off the Interstates..

However, both the media stories I see report the chain saying this store just wasn't making the numbers. You can check those out at WLTX & The State.

(Hat tip to commenter Mall Guy)

UPDATE 9 May 2024 -- Some post-closing shots:

PlantHouse in Cross Hill Market was

an experienced-based terrarium workshop and premium plant store.

Which doesn't mean much to me, but apparently they were as much about semi-social events as just selling plants.

Commenter Larry reports they were unable to come to terms for a new lease in this spot, but apparently they still have locations in Charleston & Charlotte as well as a number of other places.

Here is a State story on the store's opening.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

This State story about the opening of a House Of Raeford plant near Aiken, with the possible closure of the "Chicken Plant" in West Columbia as a possible knock-on, made me think of the now vacant Capitol Square shopping center again, and of the fact that I had noticed that the House Of Raeford office space there had moved shop back when I was checking on Jin Jin.

The new location is 630 Sunset Boulevard, so presumably the workers from across the street won't have to go too far to get up with someone.

Personally, I wouldn't be too sad if the plant closed as the smell can be teriffic at times, but I understand they do make an effort to help people in recovery and with other issues into the work-force, so I hope nobody loses a job if it happens.

I did a closing for the Harbison location earlier this month, and I suspect the Forest Acres location closed at the same time.

Unlike that one, the suite here in the Forest Park plaza (though that name seems to be de-emphasised since Lowes moved in..) has already been repurposed by what looks to be a New Age therapy salon: Integrative Roots Medicine.