Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I was not aware of this Palmetto Pig location before commenter Beth pointed out that it had closed.

AJ AMick Road is off of US-76 in Ballantine, across the street from the local Food Lion. I'm not exactly when they closed, I take it that it was a recent surprise to Beth, but the place has been closed long enough for all the Palmetto Pig signage to be taken down and for the interior to be stripped.

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

UPDATE 24 September 2013: Commenter Mike R. puts the closing at 1 September 2013, so I have updated the post title to reflect that.

I noticed this little liquor shop in Irmo on Woodrow Street behind the Bi-Lo. It was raining a bit so I didn't get out and peer inside, but I believe that at this point they are still in close-out mode, though the space is already listed with a real-estate sign.

UPDATE 6 October 2021: Adding "North" to "Woodrow Street" in the title. Adding map icon.

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The intersection between SC-277 and I-20 is almost a Malfunction-Junction writ small. Unlike Malf-Jay, it's only a partial cloverleaf, but while the transition from northbound 277 to eastbound I-20 isn't bad, the transition from westbound I-20 to northbound 277 has that stretch just like Malf-Jay where cars are trying to merge left onto 277 at the same time others are trying to merge right onto the I-20 ramp.

Why anyone thought that putting up a row of metal lane pickets at the point where the merge starts would help anything I don't know, and in fact it didn't. The pickets did nothing but annoy people and turn an already quite short merging area into an even shorter one. Fortunately good sense prevailed after about a month, and the pickets are now gone as you can see here. It is hard, in fact, to even see where they were planted at this point.

Here's another storefront in Irmo's Quail Valley Plaza.

As far as I can tell, this tailoring and alterations shop closed in 2009.

Driving down Millwood the other day, I noticed that longtime fixture Branham's appeared to be closed. Closer inspection reveals that while the building is indeed up for sale, Branham's has consolidated operations with the next door DeLoache.

I only remember this building (across from Dutch Square) as a Visionworks eyeglass operation and not at all as ReMax real estate.

Perhaps that's because I wear glasses but have no interest in property. Anyway, it was apparently Visionworks longer ago than I would have thought -- it appears from the phonebooks I have at home that they closed shop or moved sometime between 1998 and 2005. This LoopNet listing shows the place in operation as ReMax, which apparently moved out in 2011.

According to WIS, Bella Vista closed their doors in late August filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

An update to the story notes that the owner plans to sell the inventory during the bankruptcy procedings. Unfortunately it seems that this inventory includes already spoken-for (and deposit-paid-on) wedding dresses for soon-to-be-brides. Certainly not a good situation. When I took these pictures on 8 September 2013, that sale had apparently yet to take place (though signs for it were in place), as the store, while closed, looked fully stocked.

The adjacent bakery, Lady Antoinette's, is apparently associated and also involved in the bankruptcy.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

Interesting tidbit in The Sun News.

Here's the thing, this store, the one at Pawleys Island / Litchfield Beach and the recently closed store on Garners Ferry Road are all relatively new and upscale stores. This one in Forest Park is especially nice, and the one at the beach is in the same class (though a bit smaller, I believe). When you're abandoning your best stores, that can't be a good sign.

Interestingly, while I never really heard of Mac's On Main (I was vaguely aware it was there in the Walker building), the upcoming closing of the place was big enough news to make both The State and The Free Times, with The State story apparently one of their most popular for the last few days.

Clemson Road eatery CW's Grill will be opening their second location in the Mac's building while Mac's owner (whose name is "Barry", not "Mac") will be concentrating on his fruit cobbler and catering businesses.