Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Box & Bow was what I take to have been a wrapping and shipping store in the Piggly Wiggly plaza (Forest Park, I believe) on Forest Drive just west of Trenholm Plaza. I know my holiday experience vastly improved when I vowed to never wrap another package, but in this economy, perhaps fewer people are doing the same. The closing note is a classy touch during a hard time.

While the plaza and area are fairly upscale, there has been a fair bit of churn there in recent times, with LA Weight Loss, Tiny Treasures, Ten Thousand Villages and a photo-finishing outfit all closing. The plaza Pig itself is a new one and quite nice with noticably more space and better parking than the nearby Publix.

(Hat tip to commeter MPB.)

The intersection of Mccords Ferry Road (US-601) and The Sumter Highway (Garners Ferry Road / US-76) used to be a rather important cross-roads back in the day when "US" routes meant something and there were no Interstates. (The nearby historical marker dates Mccords Ferry Road to Colonial times). Even today there is a legacy motel hanging on there along with a fading country-store/Exxon gas-station/restaurant.

This building is on the north-west side of the intersection, and has been out of business for a good while, around ten years, I think. My memory is that it was the barbecue/breakfast place (which certainly had an actual name, but I don't know what it was) for many years, then that place sort of half burned down, and when it was rebuilt, it never went anywhere.

The parking lot of the building now seems to be used for roadside vegetable and boiled peanut sales from a truck, but there does appear to be some renovation work being done inside. (Note also the old sign warning against profane language..)

Spinnaker's was at one time a fairly popular casual dining restaurant along the lines of Bennigan's or TGI Friday's. To differentiate themselves from the casual pack, they had two branding gimmicks.

First, they would generally locate as part of a mall rather than in a free-standing building, and second, they would bake the complimentary table bread in a glazed terra-cotta flower pot and bring it still in the hot pot to your table.

When I started working in Augusta, Regency Mall was already on the way down, and Augusta Mall was in its prime with a Spinnaker's on the Rich's side of the mall. On the Grand Strand, Spinnaker's had locations at both Briarcliff Mall (now Myrtle Beach Mall) and Inlet Square. In fact, I blame the loss of Spinnaker's at Inlet Square for the start of that unhappy mall's long (and continuing) downward spiral as the space was never re-leased.

The Inlet Square closing was the first one I noticed for Spinnaker's, and my memory is that it was fairly early on, perhaps in the early 90s. After that, it seemed as though every time I drove by a former location, it was gone. I believe the Briarcliff location closed next, followed by the Augusta one. According to The State's archives, this location at Columbiana Centre was open as recently as November 2001. At least one location was open as recently as November 2009 (picture also here). I'm thinking that one lived on as a legacy on the strength of the local operators as I can't seem to find any corporate site for the chain.

While I don't know why Spinnaker's went into decline, I can only say that I personally found it rather average. In particular, I recall two things: The French Onion Soup was chicken based rather than beef based, making it distinctly sub-standard in my opinion, and the Flower Pot Bread was a better concept than actuality as it tended to stick to the pot giving you a mangled loaf when you tried to get it out and was actually a very bland and uninspired recipie.

Until quite recently, the interior mall corridor at Columbia Centre still had the doors into the vacant Spinnaker's space. Within the last year, they have covered the whole facade over with a mural of a walking girl sporting Rapunzel hair and vending machines.

UPDATE 2 March 2010 -- Here's the empty Spinnaker's spot in Inlet Square Mall in Murrells Inlet:

UPDATE 26 march 2010: Changed closing date to "mid-2000s" based on comments.

UPDATE 9 October 2017 -- Finally a new restaurant! This spot is now a Red Robin:

According to this Loopnet posting, there were three Larrry's Giant Subs up for sale at the same time, either retaining the Larry's franchaise, or as restaurant space. I would guess then that they were all run as part of the same operation.

I have not checked the Sunset Boulevard location, but both the Broad River Road and Garners Ferry locations have already been taken on by Steve's #1 Sub Contractor. In the case of the Broad River Road operation, this puts Steve's back very close to to their former location at Broad River & Saint Andrews.

I find it a little odd that the places flipped from one "guy's first name" chain to another "guy's first name" chain!

Also look how Steve's has pulled the "Giant" from the Garners Ferry sign. I know that it's just because it's not part of their branding, but it almost leads one to think that perhaps the size of the subs will be decreasing..

(Hat tip to commenter Alicia.)

UPDATE 28 Oct 2010 -- Well, Steve's didn't last long at all:

UPDATE 23 October 2011: Well, I wish I would have done this post as two separate entries, one for each location, but the Garners Ferry Steve's location is set to become Japan Grill:

UPDATE 3 November 2011: Well, it turns out I did do a separate entry for the Garners Ferry location, but never indexed it. What a mess! I'll copy the Japan Grill pix over there too and index it, but it will still be a mess!

UPDATE 25 October 2018: Add tags for both locations, but still a mess.

I've always thought there would be a great routine for a Southern comic like Jeff Foxworthy to do. It would go something like:

So you forgot your Anniversary, and you're in the doghouse with your wife. Well, fellas, your wife is always waiting for you to say those three little words -- those three little words that can make it all better, make her remember why she married you. So just put your arms around her, put your lips to her ear and say: "Hot Doughnuts Now?"

Ok, that probably explains both why I'm not a comedian and why I'm not married, but still Krispy Kreme is kind of woven into the fabric of the South, such that the brand's troubles of the last few years have had me worried that the over-expansion to new areas might bring on a collapse in the heartland.

That made me a bit nervous when I started seeing hits on the blog from people searching on various keyword combinations of "Krispy Kreme Columbia closing", but when I went over there last week, everything seemed fine. There were no signs up warning of anything, and late evening business was very brisk.

Then I saw the comment this morning from Kenneth that the Knox Abbott location was in fact closed, followed by a comment from Rebecca saying

I don't know why I didn't see any fliers last week, but when I drove over there today, I was quite reassured: There were actually plenty of guys working on the remodel. Often a"closed for remodeling" sign is just hopeful wish, but in this case it seems to be the real deal.

Of course, this location was remodeled fairly recently -- within the last ten years, I think, and it was not an improvement. The old setup had nice padded booths for seating, and I could sit by the east window with my doughnuts and coffee and watch the Jiffy Lube to see if they had pulled my car around yet. They yanked all those out and replaced them with a bunch of really uncomfortable and unsightly industrial tables and chairs.

I'm a bit worried about he Kool Kreme thing Rebecca mentions as well. That makes it sound like they are trying to emulate the Dunkin' Donuts / Baskin-Robbins co-location concept, which I think would be brand dilution and a big mistake. (Among other reasons, I'll bet they find they're not selling much ice-cream at 11pm and start closing early.)

(Hat tip to commenter Kenneth.)

UPDATE 9 April 2010 -- Well, there is obviously some more cosmetic work to be done to the exterior, but the store is open again, with a new doughnut assembly line and soft ice cream:

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

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I was sitting in Moe's this afternoon, reading The Free Times when I saw that they are tearing down the old Comfort Inn at Main & Elmwood to build a new homeless shelter (despite having no money to do so..).

I dislike taking pictures in the rain both because I hate cleaning the lens and because the results always look dreary. I also hate going downtown during rush hour, but I thought I probably wouldn't have another chance to get some shots while part of the structure was still standing, so I did a drive-by and got a few pix from the car.

The ad is from the 1998 Bellsouth Yellow Pages, and while the building was a Comfort Inn at the time, I think it moved down the hotel food-chain a few times in the 2000s before The Salvation Army ended up taking it over.

UPDATE 25 Feb 2010: Added Golden Eagle Motor Inn ads from 1970 Southern Bell Yellow Pages.

I've been with Bank of America since it was North Carolina National Bank though it seems to change names often enough that sometimes I just think of it as North Carolina Nations Bank of America (actually there are even more other names it has absorbed as well). I'm afraid they haven't had a very good last few years, and I suspect it will be a while before they start absorbing anyone else (and indeed, it could go the other way..).

None of which is appropos as to why I have no memory at all of ever having seen this branch at Landmark Square before I noticed it closed driving down Garners Ferry Road the other day.

UPDATE 1 Oct 2010: According to The State, this building is to become a Krispy Kreme. (The story is a bit vague on whether it will be a full Hot Dougnuts Now! location, or will get doughnuts bussed in from Cayce).

UPDATE 9 March 2011 -- Work has started, presumably on the Krispy Kreme conversion:

UPDATE 28 March 2011 -- Work proceeds, and the official Krispy Kreme "coming soon" sign is up:

UPDATE 20 May 2011 -- The Krispy Kreme is open!

I'm not really sure this Raco station closed in 2008, but it looks decrepit enough to have been gone longer than a few months, and the listed gas price is too high to have been any earlier than that.

I'm not sure what the deal with "Raco" is. Googling turns up a few other Raco stations, but there doesn't seem to be any Raco company or company web site. There are certainly not common at any rate, and had you asked me "what's that station on Gervais called?" I would have drawn a total blank.

I was a bit surprised walking up and down The Vista Sunday that there are a number of properties for sale. I wonder if when they closed this station down, they figured they would be able to unload the lot quickly and at a good profit..

I really don't know anything about this building on Leesburg Road near James Browder Road. It does have that classic "country general store" look though. From the construction, I would guess that it was built pre-war. Even the electrical connection with the obvious insulators has kind of a 1930s look. The closing date I assigned, 1960s, is a total guess. The place has obviously not seen any maintenance in quite a while, but it could have easily lasted into the 1970s or even longer. Even today, the area is very rural, and some odd retail establishements (like Mr. Bunky's on the Sumter Highway) still survive.

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