Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Here's an old country store I ran across recently just south of where Bluff Road (SC-48) ends at US-601.

The sign claims it was founded in 1856, which would make it a fairly rare atebellum business still in operation until fairly recently. I think this particular building is much newer than that however -- to me it has kind of a 1920s look. The nearest landark I can find an actuall address for is St. Luke AME Church at 4990 McCords Ferry Road (US-601) which is probably about half a mile south of here.

I don't know when the place closed, but it is now surrounded by a fence so clearly there has been no customer access for a while.

View Larger Map

Today's post is an update.

(Hat tip to commenter mamarose)

But do give a few minutes thought as to why we are able to celebrate it.

I was not aware of this little roadside market on Assembly at Ferguson until commenter Matt mentioned that it seemed to be closed. That does in fact seem to be the case as the signage has been taken down, and the inside looks fairly hollowed out. You can see a nice picture of the place in full operation here. Also, the webpage is still up, but seems not to have been updated since March 2013.

I enjoy stopping and poking around in this type of place and am sorry I missed it. Often I manage to convince myself that I actually will use some honey or salsa *this time* and end up buying a couple of jars, though in fact it always ends up in my cabinet for years. Given the move of the State Farmers Market from Bluff Road, I can't think of another such market in the nearby vicinity.

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

Here's another defunct car wash, this one on US-1 across from the Bi-Lo, and next to Danwood Shopping Center where we have already seen Taqueria Mi Pueblito II.

This one appears a bit smaller than our last car wash.

But not this small.

This little Mexican hole-in-the-wall got mixed reviews on the online sites, but seemed to have something of a following as a more authentic cusine choice than the standard Columbia mini-chains.

The LoopNet listing and indeed the roadside sale sign mention the slot is still a "fully equipped restaurant", and you can still see elements of the prvious decor through the windows. To me this says that a) the equipment was owned, not leased and b) the end came unexpectedly.

UPDATE 15 February 2022: Adding map icon.

I wrote about this building a while ago while it was in the process of becoming It's All Good Grill. As of now, it looks like that operation is on temporary hiatus.

Until commenter James reported this place closed, I had no idea it existed. And it's not closed so much as simply not open -- there's no signage indicating, well, anything.

(Hat tip to commenter James)

UPDATE 29 October 2014 -- there is still no sign on the door or any formal indication that the place is closed, but they have started taking out equipment. For instance, the Touch Tunes console is gone.

I also note that the vines covering the porch wall have loads of fruit on them now, and it almost looks like it should be edible though I have no idea what it is. Can anyone identify it?

Also, based on the comments, I have added Doc's Gumbo Grille to the post title.

It's back to Cherokee Lane today for this little Western Wear shop which lists under two names. I have to say the building looks the part.

It looks like their move was to the old Piggly Wiggly #102 location at the Southwest corner of Saint Andrews Road, just as it kinks to the North.

UPDATE 22 May 2014 -- Here is their new location:

A little googling establishes that this corner suite in Airport Plaza was a pawn shop -- not too surprising given the bars on the windows. For some reason, can't find it in any of my phonebooks, so I don't have a real closing date.