Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I was driving down Rosewood the other day, looking for a site mentioned in Have Your Say when I noticed the For Lease sign on this building.

Rosewood Beauty Supply is just across Howard street from Rockaway Athletic Club, and is in the same building as the first Acme Comics location. Judging by the phonebooks I have, I think Acme moved to State Street in 2009 , so I guess this store has been there two or so years. Certainly it was already there in April 2010 when I took a picture for the Acme closing (and interestingly seems to have exactly the same collection of window signs then as now).

The original Columbia Hooters was on Broad River Road near to Dutch Square and Intersection Center. Keeping abreast of trends, the chain relocated from the distressed Broad River area to Harbison, and moved into the site of the former Hops brewpub at 5195 Fernandina Road. (Curiously, when Columbia got a second Hooters it also set up shop in a former Hops, this one on Two Notch Road).

After Hooters moved, the Broad River Road building (which was not built as a Hooters, but some other restaurant I can't recall right now) was knocked down, and rebuilt as a Taco Bell which itself was a relocation for the original Broad River Road store.

Also, as an aside, I just learned today that Hooters is part of a whole market segment, the name of which I just have to stop and admire: Breastaurants.

UPDATE 24 June 2024: Update tags, add map icon.

Back to Frink Street! Google only turns up one hit for Thayer Prop Shop on Frink, but from the name, presumably it specialized in theatrical props. It doesn't seem to me that would be a large market in the Columbia area, so perhaps they did a wider business both geographically and in the definition of what a "prop" is. On the other hand, I could be completely off base, and they might have sold bass-boat or airplane propellors..

At any rate, they apparently came before P & R On Frink as that operation's sign is what is still on the building. I can say with a little more certainty that this was a used car operation, though setting the closing date as 2010 is a total guess. I did not find any hit which told what the 'P' & the 'R' stood for either.

Holy Moley that was a blow! There was debris all over the streets of Forest Acres, the stoplights at Forest & Trenholm and Forest & Beltline were out (and Trenholm Plaza dark), trees in the road on Millwood, and this tree, with downed powerlines, in Shandon just across from Za's pizza.

Going home, I had to turn around and backtrack when I came across this scene:

and then found that of course my power was gone (though luckily I didn't seem to have any trees through the roof). I got power back around midnight so I could actually post this. Hope everyone is OK!

Commenter Heath noted this closing, saying:

An obscure one for you… a take-out place in Irmo in Friarsgate Plaza (7949 Broad River Road) called Joe’s to Goes (not a type-o) closed in the fall of 2010. They had great burgers, fries, and BBQ sandwiches. We loved to get burgers on Sunday night during football season between the end of the 4:15 game and start of SNF at 8:15.

When I went out to Friarsgate Plaza a while ago, it wasn't absolutely clear to me which space was Joe's, but given that Mudbone's seems to be still in grand-opening phase, and that there's a vacancy next to it, I figure odds are pretty good it was one of these slots.

Personally, I'm not big on take-out because part of the whole "restaurant" idea, for me at least, is to get out of the house for a while..

(Hat tip to commenter Heath).

Retail 101, you might think.

I need a gift for this weekend, and thought a pair of binoculars might be nice. As I was eating lunch at Ruby Tuesday, I decided I might as well check out K-Mart since it was right across the street, and on my way home. I didn't really expect a good result, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The place was like an uninhabited cavern, with seemingly about 5 employees in the whole store. The binoculars, as it turned out, were in Sporting Goods rather than cameras and electronics, and the section was completely unstaffed. Of course the half-way decent looking ones were all in a locked case, and totally unmarked as to price. (And all, even the best looking ones, were blister-packed -- Not the "classy" effect I wanted, or as easy to wrap as a boxed item, but I was willing to live with it).

I stood for about 10 minutes with no employees in the area and no bell or buzzer for the counter. When I looked further, there didn't seem to be any employees in that entire quadrant of the store. Finally I gave up and started walking out. As I passed Electronics the guy there asked me if I needed help finding anything, at which point I complained I needed someone to sell me something. He called on the PA for an associate to Sporting Goods, so I went back there and waited another 10 minutes, then left. That's a purchase going to Target, Wal-Mart or at any rate someone else..

I have to admit that when commenter badger mentioned this place (at the corner of State & Frink Streets) was closed, I had never even heard of Frink Street. As it turns out, I have crossed over it on my way down the 12th Street extension to I-77, but I'm pretty sure I had never actually been on it before this last Sunday. In terms of this blog, it presents something of a "target rich environment". Does anyone know where the interesting (and fun-to-say) name comes from?

From the look at the layers on the roadside sign, I'm guessing this place was a Philips 66 before anything else in the list, with that name being painted over for the Bait & Tackle name. The Secretary of State's web site says that Cayce Bait & Tackle went under in 2004, in some sort of forfeiture, and was followed by the Frink Street Social Club which has never been officially dissolved. I'm not sure if B & B would be the connected with the club or not, but kudos to them for not using the trendy (and incorrect) Grille spelling in their name..

(As an aside, the "look" of this building would tend to validate this one as a Philips 66).

(Hat tip to commenter badger).

UPDATE 12 June 2011: Commenter badger sends in this picture of the "Lizard Woman" mural that once graced Cayce Bait & Tackle:

Thanks!

But of course, I must remind folks of the real story of South Carolina's lizard infestation, related by my sister (who changed names to protect the innocent) in her book, The Lizard Man of Crabtree County

UPDATE 6 February 2012: Added Cayce Lunch to the post title based on information from commenter Sid whose family used to own the place -- be sure to read the comments! Also, apparently the Philips 66 was a separate building (now gone?).

While I was taking pictures out on Harbison the other day, I ran across this Subway in the Shell station lot at the corner of Harbison and Park Terrace.

From the way an access lane leads right to the building (and out out the non-pictured side), I can form no other conclusion than that this Subway was once a drive-through carwash!

UPDATE 31 May 2011: Change closing date from "2000s" to "Mid 1990s" based on the comments.

UPDATE 14 February 2019: Add location icon, tags.

I had been wondering about this vacant lot at Fore Avenue just past Husqvarna and across from Sandhill for a while, but it seemed that whenever I was in the area I would forget exactly where it was and drive past it.

Given the poster I found in the ditch, I thought for a minute it might have been a trailer operating as a botique, but instead, and unsurprisingly, it turned out to be another of Two Notch Road's many car lots.

It's obviously been closed for more than a few years as the whole lot is becoming verdant and overgrown (even including small trees). There are for-sale signs just past the paved frontage, but it's not clear to me whether it includes this lot, or just the wooded area at the next corner (Two Notch & Burmaster Drive). In theory these should be valuable properties due to the Sandhill proximity, but given that Sandhill can't even get full occupancy at present, "in theory" may be the operative words.

UPDATE 7 June 2016 -- Now Hobby Lobby and associated fronting strip-mall:

Commenter Jonathan reported this closing, saying

Quizno’s on Sumter is now closed…The owner left a note on the door that he has closed immediately due to health concerns. He always had a smile on his face, and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Let me second those wishes!

This corner spot (on Sumter & Washington) is directly across from the old RCPL site, so I know I must have seen it many times over the years, and I know that it hasn't been Quiznos that long, but I'm drawing a total blank on what may have been here before, even to as basic a piece of information as whether it was a restaurant or not..