Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

While there are certainly still restaurants in this area of Decker, the relocation of this Chick-fil-A is yet another hit to this intersection.

In the past, we have seen the loss of Applegate's Landing, Zorba's, The Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Rush's, Little China, Sonic & Taco Cid.

This store has now moved to a new building at the former location of Atlantic Bedding & Furniture at 7515 Two Notch.

I believe commenter Haley was the first to report the actual closing, though it had been anticipated and discussed in the comments for a while.

(Hat tips to commenter Haley et al).

UPDATE 10 August 2022: Added a picture I missed before.

UPDATE 1 September 2022 -- Here is the new location in operation:

According to The Free Times this West Columbia bakery closed on July 9 with the retirement of the owner. I have not driven over there since then, but also according to the article, a new deli-bakery, Breads & Such, should be opening in the spot this month.

I noticed while I was driving behind the Food Lion strip mall on Decker the other day that this small car lot in-between the plaza and the U-Haul storage facility was gone. Their website is still extant, and lists this site but their Facebook suggests they have relocated to Ridgeway though it's a bit unclear if this is permanent.

UPDATE 8 November 2022 -- There is major work going on on this building, not sure what for:

I was unaware of this bin based discount operation in East Forest Plaza until commenter Kody mentioned that it was gone. According to The Free Times they closed due to the high cost of fuel as shipping was eating into their small margins. I suspect there may have been more to it than that, but at any rate, they shut down at the start of June.

Interestingly, the same guy who started this chain started the Zoe's Kitchen chain.

(Hat tip to commenter Kody)

UPDATE 26 September 2022 -- Now the conceptually similiar Where Ya Bin:

Once in the 1970s, when some out of town cousins (who I had never met) were coming through town, my father checked out all the hotels in the vicinity (not that many then), and decided that this Marlboro Inn (which was at that time fairly new) had reasonable prices and acceptable quality and suggested they stay there while visiting us. There's no punchline to that story: Apparently the place was OK, and there were no issues.

Since that time, the place had become obviously not new, and was renting out one suite to an accountancy to bring in some extra money or provide a familiy member a reasonable office. I never heard of any trouble there, but with many newer motels, with national reservation systems, in town in recent years, I suspect the writing was on the wall.

According to commenter Larry, the property was bought by Lexington Medical as was the adjacent building. Perhaps that means they will merge the two lots and build something large there.

I think the motel in the triangle where Wildcat Road runs into Fort Jackson Boulevard was also a Marlboro Inn at one time, but I don't recall ever seeing another, and as far as I know, there as no connection to the cigarette brand.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

UPDATE 23 February 2023 -- All gone now:

Over the years I have always wondered exactly what this Cosmetology Center on Fontaine Road was. The answer seems to be that it was a banquet hall and event center.

Over the past few weeks, a new marquee has gone up announcing that is is now Kandy Shop, though I'm not clear on exactly what that means.

The Harbison Chick-Fil-A is getting the remodeling treatment that several locations in the area have gone through. In this case, that involves a complete razing of the existing building (already done) and rebuilding on the same lot. The State has the details:

In 2021, the Columbia Planning Commission approved the demolition and reconstruction of the Chick-fil-A at 294 Harbison. Documents filed with the Planning Commission indicated the original 3,844-square-foot restaurant building on the site would be demolished to make way for a 4,345-square-foot building. There also would be a new multi-lane drive-thru on the property, no doubt a key addition at a site where customer car lines can be long in the popular shopping district.

If all goes well, they plan to re-open this fall.

(Hat tip to commenter Sean)

This storefront first featured here as Stein Mart, which closed in 2020. Last fall, it was briefly a Spirit Halloween popup, and then Furniture & Mattress Overstock opened in the spot.

It now appears that they are closing after less than a year at this location.

One curious thing is that Stein Mart was listed as 934 North Lake Drive, while Furniture & Mattress Overstock lists as 932 North Lake Drive. I'm not sure why that is, and which, if either, is actually correct.

Driving by this site the other night, I noticed that Capital City Rides has relocated. This site originally featured here as Payless Car Sales, and I see on that post that after that it was Pro Bowl Motors which also seems to have closed at some point.

Interestingly, I cannot figure out just from online references to where Capital City has moved. I should have gotten out of the car and read the door signs, but I figured since their marquee sign had a website, the info would be there. In the event, it's not, and not on their Facebook page either.

Here's another CVS closing, this time in a down-at-the-heels plaza (which used to house Walmart & then Netbank),at the corner of Two Notch & Polo Roads.

Commenter Thomas says this one started as a Revco, and that rings a faint bell.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 12 July 2022 -- Here are some post-closing pictures:

UPDATE 16 September 2024 -- Now (for few months) a Spirit Halloween: