Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This old service station, now a tire & brake center, is on the Charleston Highway, in that little corner in between I-77 and I-26.

I'm pretty sure it was an Exxon at one time (and may even have gone back into the Esso era). The vending machine bay to the left of the station is very typical of the old days -- a station generally would not like you hanging around inside, which was as much or more "the office" than a retail area.

I'm just guessing "1970s" as a closing date. It could have been much later, but that's when the classic "gas station" started to go into decline..

I remember going to this Doctor's Care, in Triangle City right next to the former First Citizens sometime back in the early 2000s for something or other. It was perfectly fine, and they set me up with a prescription with a minimum of waiting.

I had noticed it was closed sometime ago, but never got around to getting any pictures until recently. When I did, I found that it actually is *not* closed -- they actually moved shop to 2836 Augusta Road where they still are. I don't recall any issues with the building, so I'm guessing they simply get more visibility and drive-by traffic at the new location.

I was quite surprised to see this Hardee's, more or less at the corner of Percival Road and Forest Drive, closed.

As far as I could tell driving by daily, it seemed to do a reasonable amount of business. What's more, this section of Forest Drive is now an Interstate exit zone, so it should have been drawing from more than just the local area.

My first thought was that the opening of Cookout just a few slots down the road was the cause. The problem with that theory is that Hardee's does a brisk breakfast business, and Cookout, as far as I know, doesn't have a breakfast menu.

The more daylight shots above are from commenter kholler: Thanks!

(Hat tip to commenters Mr. Hat and Kholler)

UPDATE 12 July 2013 -- As mentioned in the comments, this is to become a Sonic:

UPDATE -- The place opens for business this morning (9 Sept 2013) at 6AM. Here is some more of the work from a few weeks ago:

UPDATE 19 June 2021: Adding tags and map icon.

In lieu of a new post today, I thought I would direct your attention here where I have finally added a lot of broken-out pictures to go with the photosets.

It's been an interesting transformation.

I've always liked this little extreme 'A' Frame building on Airport Boulevard just east of the airport entrance.

It appears that it switched real estate businesses from Sunbelt Properties to Lindy, Inc. sometime late last year or early this year as Sunbelt is still listed in the February 2013 phonebook.

I know the building predated Sunbelt by a good deal, but don't know what it was originally built for. The only other 'A' frame in town I can think of was a Mr. Swiss on Beltline but the look isn't really that similar.

Although I didn't realize at the time I did that closing, apparently Mae's On Main in Lexington has moved to the Round Robin location on Devine Street. I'm not sure where Devine Robin fits in -- as of yet, the Round Robin marquee is still up.

The Lexington location has a classic "old retail" look. A lot of interior work is ongoing there, so hopefully something new will go in before too long. Or before the fat lady sings, anyway.

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Here's the Village At Sandhill location of Carolina/Clemson sports memorabilia store Big Thursday.

As you can see this is in one of the best parts of Sandhill -- on the main drag and right next to Five Guys so I don't expect it will stay vacant too long. This was a fairly nice day if not yet really "Springlike" and there was a good deal of foot and car traffic.

As mentioned in the comments on the Lexington Blockbuster this adjacent old-school Taco Bell moved to a new store a couple of years ago. Personally I like these Southwestern style locations more than the "modern" style they have adopted recently. Several in Columbia have been repurposed recently (though the one on Knox Abbott is still vacant), but this one looks as though it may be too far gone for that.

UPDATE -- Work is underway:

UPDATE 17 February 2014 -- Now a Cook Out:

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