Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This old-school Exxon on Two Notch near the I-20 interchange, and O'Neil Court is currentl Go Used Tires, but apparently that will only last until the sale of the building, which is currently on offer.

This is a classic look for an Esso/Exxon of that era. Here is a similiar one (which I believe stayed open longer) in Yulee Florida:

Hopefully the Two Notch building will not be razed, but given the age, I wouldn't bet on it.

UPDATE 5 December 2011: Added Esso to the post title based on the comments.

UPDATE 10 October 2016 -- The Two Notch building continues to deteriorate. I don't see how the next operation won't raze it. I also note the sheltered area looks to have been something of a homeless campout:

Compared to your usual auto parts store, this warehouse space on Laurel Street is huge (the property listing says 20,000 square feet). It's also kind of out of the way. I don't know if the business model was that this is where garages got their parts (vs retail customers) or if they had their own machine shop in the warehouse space. Or perhaps Bumper to Bumper and All Pro split the space. At any rate, it's all available now.

Just when you thought ignoring all my calendar posts kept you safe, I have another way for you to handle your gift-giving needs and put money in my pocket!

A while back, at the end of a very unlikely chain of events, I had the opportunity to write a book with the great Holly Lisle. Hell On High has been out of print for a while, but it's finally back, and just in time for Christmas.

In today's terms, Hell On High is an urban fantasy, but since I had always thought of myself as a science-fiction writer, it has a space-ship too.

What can you expect? Well, it's a book for grown-ups, so there's a good bit of sex & violence (more of the former, probably), high comedy, low comedy, romance, fallen angels, demons, poodles and pizza.

The Kindle and Nook editions are in preparation, but right now there are two ways to order the hard copy version:

Here it is from Amazon:

And here it is from Createspace.

I read Hell On High for the first time in years during the proofing stage of this re-issue, and I think it holds up very well, and am quite proud of it. It this is the sort of thing you like, I think you'll like it too.

This little house on the west side of Broad River Road near the old George's Book Exchange really deserved better.

I can imagine that back in the day, before the road was widened, it would have been a nice place to settle down and start a family.

The construction permits are dated November 2009, and list First Community Bank as the owner, so Title Doc must have been gone by then. Curiously, the house next door, which I'll do at some point, was also a title-loan type place.

I've written here before about The Shops At Columbiana Crossing though not by name. It's a fairly new strip mall behind Columbiana Mall, and when it showed up here before, it was for D's Wings.

Great Wraps was several suites north of D's in a much smaller space. I've never really tried a "wrap" (other than burritos, I suppose), but I don't think it would be for me as bread is a big part of the sandwich experience. Nonetheless they seem very popular lately, though in this case, perhaps not enough so to brave Harbison area traffic.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

I noticed this vacant funeral home driving down Main Street near River Drive the other day. I could weed the pictures down further, but I like the clouds in the long shots too much to lose them.

You can still see the label-scar for the business name on the front of the building, and on the turned-inside-out roadside sign if you look closely enough. I had no doubts what the building was even before seeing them however as the design is pretty unequivocal. That's not to say it's generic -- I really like the sharp points and slopes of the roof-line. The online property data says it was built in 1960, which I have no problem believing, and LoopNet says it sits on a 1 acre lot, which I would not have guessed.

UPDATE 13 March 2025: Updating tags and adding map icon.

Here's another place I never visited. Inasmuch as I was aware of it at all, I figured it was probably too fancy for my tastes.

I hadn't realized how poorly focused my picture of the door sign was until looking at it on a normal sized screen. I believe it says something to the effect that they are closed for renovations and will re-open in November. If so they only have a few days to meet the posted deadline. I have to wonder if the sign isn't wishful thinking however, as the phone has been disconnected, and the web site is bringing up a default "no page" page. The only hopeful reason I can think of for those two omens is if a change in ownership is involved along the way...

(Hat tip to commenter Midnight Rambler)

UPDATE 30 November 2011: Added the street address to the post title having forgotten to do so initially.

UPDATE 24 January 2011: Added Ruff's Hardware to the post title based on the comments. I remember the Ruff's at Richland Mall, but don't believe I ever went to the Main Street one.

UPDATE 17 Feb 2013: Took the "(temporary?)" tag off the post title as it is plainly not coming back at this point. (Hat tip to commenter Justin for pointing that out).

Well, that's it for this week's posts folks. Get out there watch some football, eat some turkey, and hang out with the people that matter.

And stay home on Black Friday: You can do all your shopping right here!

Columbia Closings Large Format 2012 Wall Calendar

Columbia Closings Regular Format 2012 Wall Calendar

Pawleys Island Large Format 2012 Wall Calendar

Pawleys Island Regular Format 2012 Wall Calendar

The Columbia Closings Store

Given my disinclination to do anything before noon, buildings on the west side of the road are always a problem in pictures on this site, and these taken-against-the-sun shots of the location of the old Cycle Center and newer Rent-N-Roll are no exception.

There is a remedy in this case, so far at least: the LoopNet listing for this building has better lit pictures of both the cycle and auto incarnations of the spot and the still extant Rent-N-Roll site has a 100 picture slideshow of automotive candy sitting in front of the building.

The new tenant seems to be in now, and the place is a tobacco, beer and package store called Kings.

(Hat tip to commenter Jonathan)

This interesting looking "modern" building on Sunset Boulevard across from the Lexington Place shopping center caught my eye in the late afternoon sunlight a few weekends ago.

You can see the fenced in pet-run area on the far side of the building, but the vets have moved to 109 Palmetto Park Boulevard. Perhaps they were zoned out of this office. I note that the LoopNet listing for the place says:

Free standing building on 1 acre. Would make excellent Doctor's office, Dentist office, Salon, Spa or similar uses. Prohibited uses include veterinary related types.

I know dogs can be noisy, but it couldn't be any worse than the traffic on Sunset Boulevard!

UPDATE 25 May 2016 -- Now a strip mall anchored by Smashburger: