Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

The story at The State.

My first thought is that the headline is a bit sensational since we learn in the second paragraph that the tracts in question are currently vacant.

My second thought is that if Kahn Development loses the land, it loses control of the future of VAS.

Unless I am missing the entry somehow, this storefront busness center to the right of Food Lion in the strip mall at the corner of Pine Belt & Two Notch Roads seems to have opened and closed without being listed in a yearly phonebook.

The name is a bit vague, but I believe they offered impromptu meeting and office space and services.

Wow!

When commenter badger mentioned that the Columbia Mall outparcel Bakers Sports Pub & Grill appeared to be closed, I thought I might run over there after work to take a look. I certainly did not expect what I found.

On the east side of the building, things looked almost normal, but I noticed as I walked over from my car to the front door that part of the entrance was boarded over. Then I just figured that this was not a business related closing, but that probably they had had a fire. Looking in through the door though, there were no burned sections, just a lot of devastation.

Then I got off the porch and noticed the crime scene tape around the front and west side of the building. Then, walking around (outside the tape boundry..) I saw this:

Once home, a bit of googling established that it was exactly what it looked like -- someone had driven a pickup truck into the west side of the building. And furthermore, it was part of a police chase that saw the truck drive through *another* building, run over one suspect and leave the other suspect (the driver) shot dead by police. It's a pretty incredible story, and in fact I had glanced through it last week without making the connection with Bakers.

The State has a dramatic picture of the pickup truck after it hit the wall.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

When I drove by the other day and saw that It's All Good Grill would be opening soon in this spot on Two Notch near Pine Belt, I tried to remember what had been there before, and found I couldn't do it.

Just googling the street address leads to Jimmy's Transmission Service (as does the big sign by the road :-), but this property tax link suggests that there are two buildings on the lot and I'm guessing that Jimmy's is in the larger one. I'm pretty sure I have seen a number of businesses in here over the years, but none that stand out in my memory...

I don't think the post title is quite right. At one time, this place was Video Magic & Mags. That incarnation closed for a few weeks, then re-opened, apparently under the same ownership, but with a new name and more emphasis on lingerie than videos or "mags". That new name eludes me now.

Anyway, I noticed earlier this month that that operation has closed or re-flagged, and the place is now a second location for longtime Broad River Road "Couples store" Nancy's Nook (which name it always strikes me lacks a syllable).

Well, at least nobody was hurt.

When I heard about this fire, my first thought was It probably started in the Self Storage, and it seems I was right. The self storage (and office) facility was carved out years ago from the old Spring Valley Commons Theater, and I figured there was probably somebody storing something they shouldn't. It seems I was wrong about that second part though: The Fire Department is calling it arson.

The blaze looks to have taken out stores starting with Adams Cabinet Works and working clockwise from there, through @ The Office, Tatiana, the self storage facility and Tripp's Fine Cleaners.

Just from the looks of it, I think they'll have to knock down most of that wing. Given that there are a number of vacancies in the plaza, perhaps some of the stores can re-locate within Spring Valley Commons.

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This little cell-phone storefront is in the Food Lion shopping center at the corner of Two Notch & Pine Belt Roads.

Judging from the Facebook page, they opened in late May of 2012 and closed possibly as early as late June 2012, or at least that's when the updates to the page stopped. At any rate, I don't think they made it into 2013.

There are currently several other vacancies in this plaza, despite Food Lion drawing fairly well.

Update 22 November 2013: It turns out this place has moved. The current address is 3950 West Beltline Blvd, Columbia, SC 29204, phone: 803-363-1353.

This little house, just past Null's Exxon on Two Notch Road was built in 1945 according to this listing, and that seems about right. To me it looks more like a city house than one for what was I think a pretty rural area at the time. I'd say the left side with the big window has been remodeled a good bit. This listing has some interior shots.

While I'm sure that the place has been many things since it was last a residence, apparently the last tenant was Cedar Printing & Office Supply (sometimes listed as Cedar Terrace Printing & Office Supply, which is in the February 2005 phonebook, but not the February 2007 one.

I'm not seeing them in any of my phonebooks, but from what I can tell online, the I. A. P. Company is the Irene A. Palmer Company and is involved in real estate. According to the Secretary Of State, the company was founded in 2003, and is still active.

At any rate, this Two Notch vacancy is in Tillman's Plaza just to the left of the old Book Dispensary / Books Revisited location.