Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This storefront on Patterson off of Garners Ferry has been a number of things over the years, including Peppers House Of Pizza, Ye Old Fashioned Ice Cream & Sandwich Shop, Anthony's Old Fashioned Burger & Fry Co, and possibly Ma's House of Pizza.

Mobay 2 seems to be getting some good Yelp reviews, but is currently closed for renovations. Hopefully they will come back soon.

While I was getting the Save A Lot pictures, I noticed that the pizza joint in the same strip has now been (partially?) reflagged as a King's Pizza.

Their (officially claimed) Yelp page gives the name as King's Planet Pizza and has a link to the main King's web site, which curiously does not list the place as a location (though it does still list Marshall Street, which I think has fallen through). Does anyone know if the Columbia Mall location has come to pass?

Commenter Badger noted the closing of this Save A Lot, which I had not noticed. If I remember correctly, this store was originally in Landmark square.

When the Harden Street Save A Lot closed recently, one of the articles about that noted that 10 other Save A Lot stores had closed in December of 2018. Perhaps this was one of them.

For the store not really having been here for that long, the label-scar is quite distinct.

(Hat tip to commenter Badger)

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Elite Pawn & Gun moved into this space after Ole Timey Meat Market. They last listed in the February 2017 phonebook, so I am going to mark the closing date as 2017.

The new tenant is SMP Phone Doctor, a cellphone sales and repair shop. I'm not sure what is going on with all the trucks.

UPDATE 11 July 2019 -- I'm updated the post title with "Moved", as I saw the new location for this place, which is in the old H. Rubin Vision Center closer to town:

I noticed this empty convenience store at the corner of Garners Ferry & Hazelwood roads the other day. A little research shows that it was a Pantry, which became a Kangaroo, which became a Circle K which was finally superceded by a more modern location.

You can see it here on the LoopNet listing with the pictures showing the gas canopy and island (with Marathon branding) still in place.

It's a pretty good location, with a corner spot and traffic light access, so we'll see what happens.

UPDATE 29 March 2023: Updating tags.

I like Dollar General well enough. It's kind of like a slightly down-market drugstore without a pharmacy, and can be easier to zip in and out of than a Wallgreen's and much easier than a Walmart. I'm not sure what the problem here was. It could be that they just want to build a freestanding store in the area as that is what most of their new stores are, and the area is building up. On the other hand, maybe it's not built up enough and they weren't making any money. (In other words: I don't know!).

There are some good exterior and interior pictures of the store in operation here.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

UPDATE 12 June 2019 -- Adding "Moved" to the post title as it turns out this Dollar General has moved to a new freestanding store per the comments.

UPDATE 11 July 2019 -- Here is the freestanding new location around the corner:

I'm not sure exactly what is going on at this BB&T next to Panera Bread on Garners Ferry Road, but it seems to be some sort of renovation.

What really needs renovation is the parking lot by the old Postal Depot, which has one of Columbia's more impressive potholes (which is saying something).

I think my dermatologist would prefer I dig a tunnel to the mailbox and not come out into the sunlight at all, so I have never really understood the allure of tanning studios, but there are still a number of them around. This one is next to the former Springleaf Financial Serveices at Garners Ferry Crossing, and you can see it in operation in the first picture above. They listed in the Feb 2016 phonebook, but not more recently, so I'm guessing this storefront has now been vacant for at at least two years. (And the same plaza Hibachi Grill P&G Buffet has now been vacant over five years.)

Old time hardware stores are a vanishing breed. As a kid, I remember visits to the old Forest Lake Hardware at Forest Lake Shopping Center, the old Hiller downtown, and Hiller in Five Points, and various stores at the beach and in Fernandina. They were mysterious places with big revolving bins of loose nails and odd brackets, and men behind well worn wooden counters who knew how to do stuff.

After Thanksgiving, there will be one less in Columbia, as Cedar Terrace Hardware is packing it in. The State has the story, and it's a case of the owner's well deserved retirement with nobody else willing to take the store on.

To the best of my memory, I have never been to this store. It's quite tucked away in the back of the plaza, and a case of out-of-sight-out-of-mind, but there's always something I need from a hardware store so perhaps I'll take a look before it's too late.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)