Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

If you look at the right of the first picture above, you can (barely) see Palmetto Beauty & Wigs in operation back in June 2013. Looking at their Facebook page it seems that they carried on for about another year, closing on 27 June 2014, which would mean this slot in Irmo's Quail Valley Plaza has been vacant for about a year and a half.

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This is the only store I have ever been lost in.

It was probably about 1965 when my mother took me here to do some clothes shopping. Now of course the clothes displays are shorter than almost all adults, but taller than almost all four years olds, and at some point I lost track of her among the racks and panicked, racing around the floor trying to find her. Since I didn't spend the rest of my life in the clothes department, I must have located her at some point, but *that* part of the debacle I can't remember..

This store was a regular stop for us throughout the 60s and 70s. We preferred the store brand jarred roasted peanuts to Planters and in those days when Sears was still in Five Points and Dutch Square was the only mall this store was always the closest place to pick up whatever odds and ends we needed. I brought my first record album here, which I still have, the Beach Boys two record compilation set Endless Summer for which I paid $5.25. Here I also bought the Focal brand camera tripod which I still carry in my trunk today.

After I left town in 1985, I rarely visited this Kmart and I remember noting when I came back to town in the early 2000s how threadbare it looked. Since it was still close, I did visit it every now and then, but invariably noted that whatever I had gone in for, they didn't have it, and gradually stopped trying.

(Hat tip to commenter joelc)

UPDATE 30 January 2016 -- As noted by a number of people, the store is now closed:

UPDATE 7 October 2019: Add map icon.

Fish & More opened in the old Blue Ocean Seafood Market location sometime in mid 2014. I thought I had some pictures of it in full operation, but so far have only found the "coming soon" pictures at the Blue Ocean closing.

At any rate, I noticed as I was driving down Forest Drive last weekend that the place is now Forest Island Bar & Grill.

As shown in the first picture, the main suite for Bike Street USA was what is now Jackie's Uniforms, but the Bicycles signage remains on the second suite they had to the right of that. As you can also see from the firt shot, the store started as Bike To Nature, which moved here from across the street when its original building was slated for demolition.

After moving, the store was bought by the Bike Street USA chain, which went bankrupt in November 2014 as described here.

I'm not entirely sure what the focus of The Outlet Store in Boozer Shopping Center was. Given the embroidery and printing aspects, I guess they did custom clothes and perhaps uniforms, though I'm not sure exactly how outlet fit into it.

They listed in the February 2013-2014 phonebook, but not the February 2014-2015 one, so I'm guessing they closed in 2013.

Star Music in the Seven Oaks Shopping Center has closed their storefront and moved in with adjacent Hannah Piano. According to their sign, they are looking for another Irmo location, and remain open on Two Notch & Assembly Street.

Here is another Anna's Linens closing, part of the continuing fallout of the chain's bankruptcy. This storefront is in the Wal Mart plaza on Two Notch, and is the former site of Ya Food.

These pictures were taken in mid July 2015, and I expect the store is actually closed by now, though I have not driven by there since.

UPDATE 23 January 2026: Update tags, add map icon.

I noticed the other day that this ABC storefront next to Solstice on Sparkleberry is now vacant. I had actually pulled
in there because I thought Solstice might be closed, but apparently it is just never open whenever I drive by..

Commenter mamarose notes the upcoming closing of Jack and Jane Sport in Trenholm Plaza.

I have to admit that since I don't like clothes shopping and since nobody has ever mistaken me for someone who does sports, I couldn't place this storefront in my mind and had to drive around the plaza looking for it. In the event, it turns out to be in the suite formerly occupied by La Bag Lady which closed in 2012.

It appears to be chilly in there.

(Hat tip to commenter mamarose)