Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Well, it's the summer doldrums, so posting has been light, and will continue so for a while, but here's a bit from out of town.

When I lived in Aiken, I worked in Augusta, so I ended up eating supper over there more often than not, but I certainly did eat at the Aiken Brewing Company a number of times over the years. They had a decent burger, and while I'm no beer connoisseur, I thought the porter or stout was pretty good. I guess I last ate there sometime in the fall of 2022, when it was still pleasant to sit outside on the sidewalk. When I went back recently, I found that the place was closed, and this story indicates that the owner was retiring. More recently, this story says a new restaurant will be locating there at the end of summer, but I did not see any indication of ongoing work, which seems a bit odd.

Looking at the Alphabetical Closings, I see I did not do a post for the 2022 Heroes Convention, though I'm sure I went, as I did last month.

The older I get, the harder it is to get up to Charlotte at a reasonable time, so by the time I got to the convention center, I really only had time to walk the convention floor without attending any panels or events. In fact, I didn't really have time to do the whole floor as well as I wanted to. I tried to make a plan to sweep back and forth and hit every booth, but as I got to the final stages, they called time on the day's session.

My impression is that it was not as crowded as it has been in some past years (not counting the Holiday Inn on Woodlawn years!), and there were somewhat fewer elaborate cosplay attendees.

I'm pretty disconnected from the current era of comics, but I always make it a point to pick up something from the writers & artists who put themselves out there. I got a YA indie novel for my niece, which she won't read, I'm sure, and the below swag which hopefully I will.

It looks like there are some issues, dating to May at this Forest Drive diet center. Since the posted date has passed, and the office is still there, things may be in the process of resolution, but for now at least they remain closed, and google has marked it as permanent.

The closing date here is just a guess, although I'm pretty sure I have driven this stretch of road early this year and did not notice anything odd here.

I actually spent a fair bit of time at these apartments back in the 1970s as my piano teacher lived on the ground floor. We had started out with her in a "modern" class at Havens on Devine before they went all-in on picture framing and still sold pianos. It was a group class where everyone wore headphones and played an electric piano which was (supposedly) audible only to you and the teacher as she switched between feeds. It's not an idea that every really caught on, possibly because it wasn't a great one. After that, we followed her to apartments out on Leesburg Road, and Forest Drive, and finally these. I was an awful and passive-agressive student since I *really* didn't want to be taking piano lessons, and I regret the hard time I must have given her.

Anyway, at the time the place was fine, though it appears to have gone downhill in more recent years. I didn't see any homeless activity, but it really didn't look like a place I wanted to get out of the car and poke around in, so these are all drive-by, drive-through, pictures. With the state of the area now, I don't rally see anyone putting a lot of money into these to refurbish and re-open, but we'll see what happens.

Here's a State story involving the place that ended better than it well could have.

(Hat tip to commenter Arthur P.)

I did a closing on the Lake Murray location of Alodia's back in June of 2021 when they were closed due to staffing issues. They re-opened after that, and I made it a point to go by for a meal, and thought it was fine.

Reently commenter Robin pointed out that the Main Street Lexington location was closed temporarily due to financial issues.

You can read more about that from The State, WLTX & The Post & Courier.

I couldn't park when I drove past last weekend, but there was a sign on the door and it did appear to be closed then. However, judging from the recentness of several of the Google reviews I see, it appears they may have already reopened. Can anyone say for sure?

(Hat tip to commenter Robin)

UPDATE 20 June 2024 -- There is definitely much more to this story than is suggested in the initial post above, as the saga has played out in the local media. Be sure to check the comments below. Anyway, at this point the place has closed again, for good, and all the branding is gone:

This place goes back at least into the 50s when it was The Friar's Club, then it was Mary's Celebrity Supper Club, and then it was Ole Place Club, and, possibly after Mary Dixon's passing, (The New) Ole Place. I believe through all those times, and the ups & downs of Two Notch Road, it remained a membership-only bar & grill. Judging from the activity on their Facebook page it appears they closed around November of 2022.

Be sure to checkout the Celebrity Club link, and I have a picture of the Friar's Club on a postcard somewhere I will try to get uploaded.

I noticed that a gym has moved into the corner space at The Shoppes At 4600 and realized I never did a closing for the previous storefront Consign It!. If I have a picture of Consign It! I can't locate it right now, but you can see the marquee on there Facebook page here.

According to this State story, they closed shop here on 1 October 2021, and according, again, to their Facebook, opened a booth at Red Lion on Hampton Street not too long after that, though I'm not sure if they are still there as there.

I believe that Arena Athletic Club is the first tenant in this slot since Consign It! left.

Well, this is probably going to be my last Tuesday Morning closing for a while, unless I end up somewhere I don't usually go. This one was in the Food Lion plaza near Carrabba's of US-17 Business in Murrells Inlet. Like the others featuring here recently, it was caught up in the chain's bankruptcy, and was selling everything down to the fixtures at the end. I don't know for sure, but I expect all of the Tuesday Morning locations in the state are now closed.

I ate at this Pizza Hut several times over the years while hanging around Baptist Hospital for various reasons. Like the books you read in a hospital waiting room, meals you eat in a hospital context are never really that good, but I suppose it was a standard Pizza Hut, well enough executed.

The move to the old Church's Chicken location should give them some parking, and some traffic from the development that is replacing the old Gonzales Gardens. Curiously, they will still be near a hospital as well. The long period between closing this location and opening that one does seem kind of odd though.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)