Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

The Sandy Monkey was in Murrells Inlet (or possibly Garden City depending on what you go by) in a small plaza next to the now razed Jungle Lake Golf. At one time there were at least three businesses in this area, including a little walk-up hut-style operation which seemed to change names and cusines every few years. I seem to remember a coin laundry in the strip as well at one time.

I believe I ate in the building once when it was an Italian operation, and was not impressed enough to go back. The pictures on their Yelp page suggest that The Sandy Monkey set up here in 1990, and the reviews, Yelp & otherwise, suggest that while it had its partisans, the non-regulars were not impressed. The whole plaza has been razed now, which is a bit surprising as you would think that meant they had a plan going forward, but it's been a number of years now since this building and the golf operation were gone and the area is still vacant.

Interestingly, their Facebook is still up.

Carolina Mattress was the follow-on operation in this Forest Drive storefront to Nutrition Warehouse. I'm not exactly sure when it closed, but the Google reviews suggest sometime around the start of 2022.

It seems it's kind of a tough time to be a mattress store.

Folks, with today's Forest Acres redevelopment announcement, I thought I would go ahead and throw up a Richland Mall post, even though I don't have anything prepared, so we can discuss it here rather than in Have Your Say.

So have at it!

(Hat tip to commenter John for the heads up).

UPDATE 10 November 2022 -- A question from commenter Russell below reminded me that there commenter Dennis worked of a map of the original open-air mall, and I got the tenant lists for 1926, 1975 & 1985 here. (Also changed to post title to add the word 'Redevelopment' at the end, added the street address and added the map icon.)

Also a note to folks popping in for the first time due to this post -- If you will go to Alphabetical Closings, you may find your favorite vanished spot in the site index.

Upstairs Audio had been in this location for as long as I can remember, and I just noticed the other day that it was gone.

I never actually went there, but for years, every time we would go to The Parthenon next door, we would end up parking in one of Upstairs Audio's very ominously marked "Upstairs Audio Only -- Towing Enforced!" spots. Of course it was after hours, so nothing ever actually happened, but it was always in the back of my mind that this could be the night some new guy on the tow service wanted to enforce the letter of the law.

Looking at their still extant web site, the final message is a, in retrospect, worrying one:

BIGGEST Sale Ever
We're changing thew way we do business.
(We are going to start selling by appointment only.)

Judging from the google reviews dated only as "A year ago", it appears that they closed shop sometime around mid 2021.

UPDATE 8 November 2022: Fixed grammar. Added a picture.

When we were growing up, I got the feeling my parents thought paying someone else to wash your car was a bit frivolous. They weren't wrong, but we still went to Constan from time to time, as much, I think, because it was an adventure for us kids as for any other reason. There was Happy The Tiger, and then the whole experience of watching your car go through the automated line, like something out of a futuristic TV show. Not only that, but once you were inside, the lobby had its own odd ambiance with a genuine elevated shoe-shine stand on which you could sit like a king on a throne, and various sorts of ice-cream novelties and candy you could get if your parents were in a good mood.

I don't know that much about the business other than the name came from combining that of the two owners "Connie & Stan", and that they once had a second location on Forest Drive, somewhere around where McAlister's & Bonefish now are.

Once I had a car, I would sometimes take it to Constan when I was back in town for the weekend, but once I moved back to Columbia, I found that Frank's on Forest Drive was more convenient to me. I thought from time to time about going back to Constan for old times' sake, but in the event never got around to it. Folks in the comments are saying that it had gone down hill, but it had been at least ten years since I stopped by, so I really can't say.

Here is the story The State did on the closing.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Bill)

Update 4 November 2023 -- Being razed:

While I was looking at the adjacent Subway, I noticed that formalwear outfitter Catz Formals had recently relocated from Beacon Hill Block to 1056 South Lake Drive in Lexington. There is at least one other vacancy in this plaza, which seems to be in a bit of a slump right now.

The address is a bit of speculation based on gazing at Google Maps, but I noticed this decrepit old house last week when I was driving down Sunset towards Lexington.

They are doing some wastewater work along the highway, and had trimmed the foliage back alongside the right-of-way, exposing this old place. It looks like at one time it could have been a starter-home with some character, but it has pretty much gone to the weeds at this point. I was surprised to see some furniture, newer than I might expect, still inside, but given the way the floor had collapsed under it, I did not venture from the (concrete slab) front porch any further inside.

If the address is correct, then this LoopNet listing suggests the house is on a four acre property that might go upscale someday, as the next lots to the south are a medical complex of some sort.

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This is a nice little building on Lake Murray Boulevard, though I'm guessing it had a better setback when the road was two lanes. They are still in business, but moving (presumably after they sell the building).

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

I considered renting a car here once, as it is within walking distance from my home, but in the event ending up taking a taxi to the airport instead. I noticed in the last few months that there were no cars on the lot, and finally looking at the door sign confirmed that the place was closed. There appear to be two suites in this building, but I don't recall any other business signage other than "Best".

Well, the South Carolina State Fair is once again over, and I'm sure they've already started tearing down the rides. The weather was good this year, not at all chilly, and the event seemed to me to be completely recovered from the dark days of 2020. If you have followed these posts over the the years, you know the kind of thing I like, and the Fair continued to provide that with plenty of neon, questionable foods, games where chance is not as big a factor as the players think, and happy crowds.

I did notice two specific changes this year on the Midway, where one of the swing attractions that I enjoy riding was missing. That one had kind of an antique look to the paneled artwork that provided a classy touch. I had to ride the Yo-Yo instead, which was OK, but not as good. The second change is that usually the side of the midway facing the stadium usually has some sort of log-flume or water ride, and I don't believe I saw one this year.

As was the case last year, the empty park where the Steel Building used to stand was a frontier village concept (unlike the dinosaur exhibit which has also occupied that space). They had a glass-blower, which is always interesting, but unfortunately I wandered through between shows.

The art building has been re-arranged, with the flower exhibit put in the back where the student art usually goes, along with some kind of huge Moon exhibit. Unfortunately I got to the flowers pretty late, so the blossoms were definitely not at their peak, and many had been removed though there were definitely still some nice ones. I've always wondered about the student art, as I don't recall any of our classes in elementary school being asked to enter work, and I don't believe my nieces' classes ever were either. Whereever it comes from, it's a bit daunting that the Kindergarteners are still better at it than I am.

The vendor building seemed a bit less packed than usual. In particular, I did not notice the jerky vendor who is usually there, and there didn't seem to be any vendors pushing cool new Christmas toys.

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