Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Back in the days of Speedy McGreedy & Gilbert Giddyup, Hardees was our goto place on road trips because unlike McDonalds or Burger King, they had "chewy" ice in all their stores. That changed sometime in the 70s or 80s, and with them adding chicken, and with me hating the smell of Chicken, I don't think I have eaten there after breakfast in 30 years or so.

This store was co-located with a convenience store/gas station at the I-20/US-378 interchange, and you can still get your burger on there, as both McDonald's and Chili's are still at this exit.

I like the glass blocks, btw.

(Hat tip to commenter Steve)

UPDATE 19 June 2021: Updating tags and adding map icon.

Noticed this abandoned Hardee's on South Lake Drive/SC-6 at the I-20 intersection the other day. From what I can tell, Hardee's of Red Bank has relocated to 1910 South Lake Drive, inside a service station. I'm not sure when this happened, but judging from the codition of the building, it was a good while ago.

It sits on a surprisingly large lot, LoopNet says 2.09 acres of which apparently 1.6 acres is included with the building (which, would, I think, have to be razed at this point).

UPDATE 13 March 2018 Updating the closing date in post title from 2000s to Circa 2005 based on the comments.

UPDATE 21 July 2018 Updating the closing date again.

UPDATE 19 August 2019 -- Some new pictures in advance of the tear down to build a truck stop:

UPDATE 19 June 2021: Adding tags.

I've still never had a Nathan's dog though it's on my list somewhere. This one was co-located with the Pitt Stop in Ballentine. Looking in the new phonebook, I don't see any other locations listed though I am pretty sure there is still one slightly out of the area at an I-26 interchange heading for Charleston.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 30 August 2021: Updating tags, adding map icon.

As commenter Andrew noted, another McDonald's is undergoing an upfit. This one, at the corner of Saint Andrews & Ashland Roads is apparently not going to be razed and completely rebuilt like the Forest Drive store.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 26 March 2018 -- Open again:

Well, here's the latest McDonald's to undergo the chain's current style makeover. This one is at East Forest Plaza, the Wal-Mart anchored strip at the Forest Drive/I-77 interchange.

In general these upgrades have been going pretty quickly, so I don't expect them to be shut for long.

I do have to say that I have found this store to be hard to get in and out of from Forest Drive. I've gotten coffee there a few times, but have kind of crossed it off my list.

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As mentioned by commenter Andrew, this Landmark Square Wendy's is being remodeled into the style of the Assembly Street store (though not as tall).

Now, I have only eaten in this Wendy's once, when I was working out on Bluff Road and didn't have time to go all the way to Panera. My observation at the time was that they seemed pretty unclear on the concept of exchanging food for money, or at least on implementing that concept, which a new building won't help.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 21 February 2018 -- Open again:

As mentioned several times in Have Your Say, the Burger King at Columbiana Mall is closed "temporarily". There's not any explanation on the sign making that claim, and apparently it has been several months. Ordinarily after such a length of time, I might write off the sign as wishful thinking, but in this case the equipment clearly has not been stripped, so who knows.

Almost as soon as I got inside to take this picture, somebody pulled the fire alarm, and everybody headed for the exits.

(Hat tip to commenter Deb)

UPDATE 9 October 2017 -- As mentioned in the comments this spot is setting up to be an American Deli so I'm taking the "temporary" off the post title:

UPDATE 6 February 2019: Change the location from "Columbiana Mall" to "Columbiana Centre". Add location icon.

As mentioned by commenter Andrew, here is another McDonald's undergoing upfit to the new style. This one is on the Charleston Highway adjacent to the recently closed Church's Chicken. The setup with two signs seems a little unusual to me, but perhaps I just haven't been paying attention.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 7 February 2018 -- As mentioned in the comments, this store is open again:

This is the second Sonic in Columbia that I am aware of closing. The Decker location closed in 2015. I like the idea of drive-ins with carhops, but in the event I never seem to end up wanting to eat in my car. I do get a milkshake every few years.

(Hat tip to commenter Toby)

As commenter Jason notes, this McDonald's on Sunset Boulevard near the I-26 interchange has closed for remodeling. This is something a number of the local McDonald's have done recently, including ones on Garners Ferry, Hardscrabble, Two Notch and Decker.

I don't expect this

but you never know.

(Hat tip to commenter Jason)