Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Last time I drove down Fernandina Road, I realized I missed seeing the colorful mosiacs on this building at 3202. Doing a little research shows that local design shop N-Graphix moved down the road to 4046 Fernandina Rd, Suite F sometime after mid-2015.

I wish Lawyer Lisa well, but will miss the distinctive look of the building.

UPDATE 12 March 2020 -- I found some better pictures. Also adding the map icon I forgot:

I think the only time I have ever stayed at a Super 8 was once when I drove to Florida not knowing it was Daytona 500 weekend, and ended up driving hundreds of miles looking for a place to stay. Given the circumstances, it was OK.

This closing puzzles me a bit as this property was renovated just a few years ago after it closed as The Cambridge Plaza Hotel in 2014 (before which it had been a Best Western). I don't see why it should need a re-working just 5 years later, but apparently that is the case. Of course plans change, and LoopNet says the property is on the market, so any upfit would be on the buyer. It also notes that only 84 of the 115 rooms are "rentable", so I guess it definitely does need some work. This site also notes the availability, and has a nice aerial shot of the property.

In passing, I will note that I really dislike frontage roads like Cherokee Lane which get double-duty out of an Interstate on-ramp.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

UPDATE 6 June 2023 -- Now open as a Motel 6:

You have to wonder how bad things are when The State story on the closing of this motel doesn't even list prostitution as one of the problems:

There have been 169 calls to law enforcement about incidents at the hotel in the past 90 days, city officials said. In 97 of those calls, charges were filed for crimes that included drug trafficking (meth), strong armed robbery and attempted murder, according to the release.

On Sept. 12, Cayce officers filed a report about an alleged rape of a juvenile that occurred at the hotel.

I have actually stayed in a Knight's Inn once. It was somewhere in Florida, and in my opinion was a real dump. The table seemed to have been picked up from the side of a road somewhere and everything was sticky. However, I never felt unsafe, or worried about my car. It was just a very basic, low-end experience.

There is a hearing on 24 October to determine if the business license should be permanently revoked. Whatever happens, I see a re-flagging in the future for this location.

UPDATE 11 January 2023: The place appears to be up for sale, and the rooms are being cleared out (possibly in advance of a demolition?)

UPDATE 17 April 2023 -- As mentioned in the comments this place is coming down. The office has already been razed, and I'm sure the rest will follow. I would have liked to have gotten out and walked around, but although I didn't see any suspicious activity, it just didn't seem like a good idea, so this is what you get:

American Deli replaced Burger King in this slot in the Columbiana Centre food court sometime around October of 2017. I'm guessing that it probably closed at the start of January 2019, as that would be a logical month/year boundry for a lease, and commenter Matthew Benjmain reported it closed as of 11 January 2019.

It looks like there are two remaining American Deli locations in the Midlands, one on Garners Ferry Road, and one on Decker Boulevard.

(Hat tip to commenter Matthew Benjmain)

Nathan's/Chester's was the follow-on operation in this I-26 rest stop location to Maggie Mae's.

I'm wondering, since the closing sign is somewhat similar, if it were under the same ownership as the Dutch Fork Nathan's. I'm going with late 2017 as the closing date as the place is not yet fully stripped inside.

(Hat tip to commener Frank Mancuso)

UPDATE 30 August 2021: Add a real street address, update tags and add map icon.

Well, a number of people have mentioned this place recently, and for that matter going back a good while, but for some reason, I just recently got around to visiting. It's quite a large and interesting property that is currently going to pot. I see from the real estate sign and LoopNet listing that it *is* on the market, but for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be moving. Maybe $2,000,000 is just too much, though as I said it is a big property.

As nearly as I can tell based on this Facebook page, Hampton closed at some point between December 2013 and February 2014. In fact, we can corroborate with the Internet Wayback Machine, noting that the Hampton web site was up on 24 December 2013 and gone by 22 February 2014. (As an aside, it seems that phonebooks are less and less help for this sort of thing lately. For some reason the current Feb 2017 phonebook still has an active listing for Hampton..)

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I blogged the relocation of Prestige Appliance from Sunset Boulevard to Fernandina Road in November 2014 when they moved into the former Fireplace Center.

Around the same time, they were building and opening a new store in Augusta. I'm guessing that they tried to do too much at the same time and got overextended. At any rate, as reported in The Augusta Chronicle, they declared Chapter 7 (simple liquidation) bamkruptcy on 7 September 2017.

I say "simple" liquidation, but apparently it is actually a bit more complicated than that since as you can see here, the merchandise and fleet are still intact at this location.

(Hat tip to commenter John)

UPDATE 15 January 2018 -- Drove by on 13 Jan 2018, and they were having a liquidation:

UPDATE 9 July 2018 -- Not a great picture (shot from I-26), but now Chocolate Factory & Coffee Shoppe:

As mentioned several times in Have Your Say, the Burger King at Columbiana Mall is closed "temporarily". There's not any explanation on the sign making that claim, and apparently it has been several months. Ordinarily after such a length of time, I might write off the sign as wishful thinking, but in this case the equipment clearly has not been stripped, so who knows.

Almost as soon as I got inside to take this picture, somebody pulled the fire alarm, and everybody headed for the exits.

(Hat tip to commenter Deb)

UPDATE 9 October 2017 -- As mentioned in the comments this spot is setting up to be an American Deli so I'm taking the "temporary" off the post title:

UPDATE 6 February 2019: Change the location from "Columbiana Mall" to "Columbiana Centre". Add location icon.

Here's another upfit: The Raceway at the intersection of I-26 & Airport Boulevard. I think I actually stopped here once for gas. I have to say the motel looks like it needs an upfit more than the store does.

UPDATE 27 September 2017 -- This place is once more open:

I did not realize it, but Banana Republic is a sub-brand of The Gap and apparently both are in trouble. Though I have not found any news of a bankruptcy for the firm, they pulled out of the U.K. and have struggled with badly declining sales, leading to a number of store closures:

As consumer shopping habits have moved increasingly online, Banana Republic has struggled to carve out its niche to drive customers through the door. The biggest problem for the brand is its lack of clear, unique identity -- coupled with the rise of fast-fashion competitors like H&M, Zara, and Forever 21, said New York-based retail consultant, Bob Phibbs, CEO of Retail Doctor.

“The reality is no one has figured out who they are,” he said. “Gap is [a] forgettable brand, and that spills over to Banana Republic...they need to cut the number of SKUs, cut the number of employees, and justify why I should pay $90 for a shirt with something compelling and interesting.”

As an added tidbit, while I was googling around for Banana Republic, I came on the news that Gymboree may go Chapter 11 and close 350 stores. Brutal times in retail indeed.

(Hat tip to commenter Em)