Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

As pointed out by commener Justin S., the Advance Auto Parts store across from the Aldi at 7613 Garners Ferry Road has now moved just a little up the street to 7531 Garners Ferry. In the meantime, this, very checker-boarded, storefront is empty.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin S.)

To me, AAMCO always brings to mind a distinctive radio ad from the 60s or 70s. It went like:

Double-AY (beep! beep!) EM-CEE-OH!
AAMCO

That said, I've never been to a place that specialized in transmissions, though I might have if my '96 hadn't ended up getting totaled again. Anyway, this building is in Lexington at the point where US-378 splits away from North Lake Drive, and is now Tint World, which does "Automotive Styling and Window Tinting".

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

C & J Automotive is nestled on a narrow strip of land in between the train tracks and Saint Andrews Road in the Seven Oaks section of Irmo. It is not too far past Sno Biz.

It appears to me that the lot remains in business while they are looking for a buyer, so I am just putting an indifinite "2022" as the closing date.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

I don't know anything about this used car lot in Lexington, other than it was in a nice little legacy brick house, and they had somebody with a sense of humor doing their art.

Currently the lot is for sale -- and will be, I'm sure, another bit of development for this burgeoning corridor.

(Hat tip to commenter JohnR)

Commenter Gypsie mentioned that this place was being razed. As far as I can tell, it is just the showroom, shown in the main pictures here, and the rest of the dealership remains in business (although at some point the name changed to Mazda Of Columbia. I'm not sure what the issue with the showroom was. I never paid it too much attention driving by, but it looks to have been an attractive building.

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For those of us of a certain age, this building is best know as the home of Continental Sound: That building that looks like a car radio with the "Sounds Real Good!" girl...

Since then it has been a number of things, with this most recent incarnation being an auto repair shop.

Given the street address on the county notice, and the specified size of the lot, I'm not sure if perhaps this property doesn't include the adjacent, defunct, nightclub as well.

Some time ago, the Toyota Center franchaise moved from Airport Boulevard to Sunset Boulevard and branded as Fred Anderson Toyota. As reported by commenter Alan, the franchaise is now Peter Boulware Toyota. I can't find any media stories about this online, but it apparently happened around May of 2021. Fred Anderson appears to still have dealerships in at least Charleston & Raleigh.

(Hat tip to commenter Alan)

I did not see any sign on the door, and google doesn't know anything about it, but there are no cars on the lot, and the website is down, so I believe commenter Robert is correct that Chris Polson Automotive on Lake Murray Boulevard has closed its doors.

(Hat tip to commenter Robert)

Apparently this Havoline Xpress Lube was officially C & T Automotive LLC. I don't really have much to say about this closing, as I wasn't really aware this place existed. It's a nice little building with pretty easy access on and off of Sunset (although there is no light). Given the design, whatever comes next will probably be car oriented as well.

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

UPDATE 22 March 2022 -- Now Vivid Finish And Films:

Commenter Thomas notes that this location of Pep Boys is transitioning away from auto parts, and into a garage only busines model and is running a closeout sale during the interim.

This turns out to be a chain-wide thing, as the stores have been struggling of late after having been bought out by Carl Ichan five years ago.

According to the linked story, some stores are trying to work a deal for a different parts operation to take over the retail space, but I don't know if that applies to this location. There are already a number of parts stores in the Dentsville area, so I'm not sure how attractive such a deal would be to another chain.

I guess I am the demographic the change is aimed at, as I have never bought parts there, but have had minor work done a number of times. In particular, I found that when I could not get same-day service at places like Goodyear or Firestone for things like punctures, batteries or headlights, this Pep Boys could get me in and out in an hour or so.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)