Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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.

Commenter James notes that bicycle shop Bike To Nature has pedaled across the street from its old location here at 5182 Sunset to the strip mall at 5175 Sunset. Commenter John R notes that this move (and the neighboring Enterprise move) are due to the prospective widening of Hope Ferry Road.

Apparently they have moved everything except the kitchen sink.

(Hat tip to commenter James)

UPDATE 17 February 2014 -- The original building (along with the adjacent Enterprise Rent-A-Car building) has now been demolished for construction:

Looks like Airport Inn in Cayce, where ironically all the rooms are ground-floor, is renovating.

I like the blue, white & yellow color scheme on the signs. The building actually looks to be in pretty good shape, at least from a distance.

UPDATE 10 August 2013: Changed incorrect 935 address in post title to correct 1935.

UPDATE 13 May 2014 --Open again:

Well, while this was not unexpected (as commenter Jay raised the flag months ago), it was still a shock when I drove downtown the other night looking for some Harvest Grain & Nut Pancakes.

I guess that over the years I have eaten at this IHOP dozens of times. It was kind of like riding in an airplane to go in there: You were always sitting closer to someone else than you really wanted to be -- the positive spin would be "intimate", but the place was *tiny*, and you never knew quite what sort of conversation you would be overhearing. Still I enjoyed my visits. The waitresses seemed to keep an eagle eye out for my glass needing a refill, and the fare was basic enough that it was always pretty good.

The State has an article on the tear-down and rebuilding of this IHOP. Apparently it has been there since 1968, which sounds about right to me. The new building will be bigger and have a patio. From going by the site, it appears to me that they will be extending their site onto the vacant lot on Assembly between the IHOP and the neighbooring law office.

This was the last classic look IHOP in the Columbia area. The other one was torn down in the early 2000s and not rebuilt.

(Hat tip to commenter Jay)

UPDATE 21 January 2014 -- Laissez les bon temps rouler!:

Somehow I never made it to this Monterrey in all the years that it was there (and they were considerable) despite the fact that I often visited the adjacent Sounds Familiar and comic store.

I believe with this closing, the chain is down to the one in the Vista and the one on Knox Abbott.

(Hat tip to commenter J.P.)

UPDATE 12 February 2020 -- Now El Paraiso:

This Subway was in The Vista Lofts on Gervais Street just above the train cut, a building which lost another restaurant Mezza fairly recently.

I'm guessing that they closed shop at the end of July as that is a logical time as far as leases and bills go, but I don't know for sure. At any rate, all the signage is down and the interior is stripped. The only clue that it was a Subway is the drink cup on the floor.

(Hat tip to commenter Joe)

UPDATE 17 July 2014 -- It's now Black Bean Co.:

UPDATE 17 June 2022 -- Updating tags and adding map icon.

Regular posting resumes tomorrow.

Normal posting to resume in two weeks or so.

As Sir Elton said, it's "The Circle Of Life". This building in the heart of Shandon at the corner of Devine & Woodrow was a condo back in the 1980s and in fact one of my cousins lived there for a while. Then at some point it became a botique hotel (catering to exactly whom I never understood), and now it's to be condos again.

The State had the story recently on what is to become "700 Woodrow". Of course, at this point it's a pretty old building, and it's going to need a lot of work to become "luxury apartments". It appears said work has already started.

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Here's another case of Enterprise Rent-A-Car shifting locations, something they have done several times recently in the Columbia area.

In this case, they have moved from a location at the corner of Sunset & Hope Ferry near Uno to a location close to I-20 at 4835 Sunset, the former Sunset Tatoos.

UPDATE 17 February 2014 -- The original building (along with the adjacent Bike To Nature building) has now been demolished for construction: