Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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.

I'm not real sure what Southern Armature did. The place has bays like a garage, and an armature is part of a generator or alternator, but I can't imagine a business based on just fixing alternator parts. Perhaps they specialized in alternators as a whole, or electrical systems. Anyway, they are listed in this year's (Feb 2013) phonebook, so the sale and rezoning for City Gas is a pretty recent development.

When I first noticed the "sold" sign, the place was still intact. As of 18 August, they have ripped most of it apart, though so far they have kept the endpieces.

UPDATE 18 September 2013 -- Construction continues:

UPDATE 15 October 2013 -- work continues. The canopy looks done:

UPDATE 21 February 2014 -- City Gas is open:

There's been a fair bit of musical chairs going on at the old Dick Dyer Toyota lot on Two Notch. The latest is that this Prestige has moved from the old gas-station-looking building at the Northeast corner of Two Notch and Albritton to the old Dick Dyer Bodyshop building at the corner of Windover Street and Two Notch. Meanwhile, the body shop has moved into the old dealership building proper.

UPDATE 15 October 2013 -- It's now Spunky's Auto Sales:

Well, it took me quite a long time to get the interior shot here, largely because every time I would come in the door of the food court, a sample tray holder from the Asian restaurant would make a beeline on me. I really appreciate that kind of hustle, but it makes it difficult to inconspicuously take a picture when you are the sole focus of someone's attention! I finally recently got a bit of a zoom from the back end of the court. You can see the boarded up section where Chick-Fil-A used to be just to the right of China Max.

I was actually in the place to look at lawnmowers at Sears, and I note that they seem to be giving up on the mall. The mall stays open until 9PM, but Sears turns out the lights at 8PM, at least during the week. It certainly surprised me.

UPDATE 13 August 2013: Forgot the hat tip to commenter Trina.

UPDATE 28 January 2021: Adding full address, tags and map icon.

Here's a brick industrial building under the water-tower out on Two Notch near the Spring Valley area. This LoopNet listing has an aerial view.

For several years, Crawford listed this building and a location in Lugoff, but in the 2013/2014 directory only a fax number is given. It seems that a North Carolina location has the domain name, so perhaps that is the headquarters now.

UPDATE 25 July 2013: I've learned that the company has definitely moved to Lugof, and the North Carolina company is not connected with it.

UPDATE 14 April 2016 -- It's now a Harbor Freight: