Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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)

I noticed the other day that this old McDonald's at the corner of Assembly & Rosewood across from the Fairgrounds is vacant. The last tenant was University Motor Company, which apparently moved in sometime around 2010, and in 2018 merged with Bluff Road Auto Sales with the combined operation at 1400 Bluff Road.

UPDATE 3 February 2023 -- Now Lyon's General Store:

I thought about going to Norton a few times, but they weren't open on Saturday, and Best Buy was, so that was the deciding factor there. I was a bit surprised to notice that there was a closing sign on the door (which I thought I took a picture of) saying they were shutting down temporarily due to COVID-19, but when I did a google search, I found that the building went on the market in October.

As far as I know the Broad River Road location is still open.

UPDATE 22 March 2021 -- Here are the pictures of the door sign I mentioned:

According to commenter JamesR, all the Frank's locations were acquired by Tire Engineers but before they could fully convert to that branding, Tire Engineers was bought by Mavis. There is a bit more information here.

(Hat tip to commenter JamesR)