Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

It appears that the Broad River Road Lizard's Thicket is the latest location of the chain to undergo renovations. I noticed that it was closed coming up Dutch Square Boulevard this last weekend.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think the Sunset Boulevard location may be the next closest.

Although I go into Dollar General with some frequency, I don't believe I have been in a Family Dollar since 2015. Of course that's mostly because there is a DG in Ravenwood. At any rate, as I recall it, this one on Broad River Road across from the new mini-Wal-Mart was fairly new. I can only speculate that having the Wal-Mart there was not good for it.

I used to be obsessive about many things, well, I guess I still am though the things have changed over the years. One of them was records in general, and record stores. Since I spent most of my teenage years broke, after I discovered rock music in 1975 or so, I was all about the "cut-outs" and used records. At garage sales, I would flip through every album, at record stores, or even Woolworth's and Kmart I would look at *every* LP in the cut-out bin.

If I recall correctly, I first visited Manifest when it was on Main Street somewhere near Jefferson Square (though on the other side of the street). Two items I recall in particular buying there, were a The Nails album with one version (there are at least 3) of 88 Lines About 44 Women (nsfw), and Songs Of The Spires by The Gleaming Spires.

By the time the moved to Boozer Shopping Center, I was living out of town and listening almost exclusively to CDs (more accurately, to tapes of CDs in my car). In its way, this was sort of a Golden Age, because I had a job (and spending money), and used CDs, if they would play at all, sounded just as good as new CDs. When I was in town, I spent many hours flipping through all the "used" bins, as well as buying some of the more interesting "import" CDs which usually only turned up at Manifest or Sounds Familiar in Myrtle Beach.

The Golden Age didn't really last too long. By the end of the 20th Century, it was clear that the future of music was digital, and unclear where record stores fit into that future. In the event, it turns out that they more or less don't. Carl Singmaster, the founder of Manifest sold the store in 2004, and as I recall there was a closing scare at that time, or not long after.

Also, at some point, the name of the store changed from Manifest Records & Tapes (or at least that's the way I recall it) to the current name of Manifest CDs & DVDs. Unfortuneately, the bottom dropped out of the DVD market not many years after CDs crashed and burned, and that puts us here in the twilight of an era.

UPDATE 5 February 2019 -- Now closed:

Well this one is a shame. Pizzera Opa was the new name for Zorba's Express which was here in the Publix plaza for many years, and was the follow-on restaurant for the crew from The Parthenon in Five Points. The Parthenon was my favorite pizza in town, and when I was living in Aiken, I would come back to Columbia on weekends and take my father to The Parthenon Saturnday evenings.

When I discovered Zorba's Express, the pizza was just as good as ever, and the manager, who remembered me from the Five Points days, would always come out and say hi. Unfortunately, the new location was just too far out for me to visit more than a handful of times; I wish it would have been more, and I wish them well.

(Hat tip to commenter IrmoJeff)

UPDATE 30 September 2021: To be Puerto Rican restaurant A Fuego:

UPDATE 15 March 2022: Updating tags.

UPDATE 20 November 2023: Fix typo.

I was driving down the Old Bush River Road section of Bush River Road the other weekend, coming from Lexington into Irmo, and I noticed that Century Glass has moved their Bush River location to the other river road at 4059 Broad River Road. I believe they may still be using this building for non-customer space though as it is still listed in the phonebook, and Google Street View from March 2017 shows the moving sign already up.

Well, I find this a bit surprising: I go by Boozer Shopping Center fairly frequently, but somehow I entirely missed a new restaurant in there until it had already closed.

It appears that down-home/soul-food joint Hungry Moments started sometime around April 2016, and lasted at least until March of 2017, when the last Yelp review appears. The reviews are mixed, but it seems if you hit it at the right time, you could get a good old-fashioned Southern meal.

I also apparently missed the previous tenant in this slot, Generations Bakery & Catering.

UPDATE 20 October 2018: Added picture of Boozer marquee.

I noticed this empty storefront in Boozer Shopping Center the other day. I know they were licensed for business here in 2014 but don't see any other information about this shop.

However, they were either a branch of a Greenville operation, or moved to Greenville, and you can see their colorful clothes here, here and here.

I don't believe I ever at at this Applebee's, though I was certainly aware it was there. In general, I find the chain to be a decent late night spot for a good burger though they are a bit stingy with the fries.

Judging from the sign, I guess the Two Notch, Blythewood & Devine Street stores must be under different ownership.

UPDATE 12 May 2020 -- As pointed out by commenter Andrew, this is now Pon.Di.River Caribbean Bistro (assuming it makes the transition out of COVID-19 closure):

(Hat tip to commenter Ken)

Here's another Rite Aid this one where the River Roads come together at Boozer Shopping Center. I am having a little trouble thinking of a Walgreens within a mile of here, which is the usual closing criteria for this transition.

Apparently the LoopNet folks decided they already had a photo on file and didn't need another one -- that's certainly a blast from the past.

UPDATE 20 June 2021 -- As mentioned in the comments, this place has been razed:

Also adding a map icon.

UPDATE 24 June 2021 -- The canopy for the Murphy USA already going up:

UPDATE 11 August 2021 -- Construction continues:

UPDATE 27 September 2021 -- Getting there (picture from 18 September):

UPDATE 26 February 2022 -- It's open:

Atlantic Seafood in the old Taco Bell building on Broad River Road has closed shop, and the place is prepping to be Chicki's Wings. The Decker Boulevard location (interestingly, in another former taco restaurant will remain open.