Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

LensCrafters in Richland Mall was on the upper level across from the barbershop, in the far left of the first picture. I had another picture of the facade, but it didn't come out, and Richland Mall is locked on weekends now, so it will be a while before I can get another.

They moved to Cross Hill Market in an outparcel across from Duck Donuts sometime in the fall. I believe that with this move, the barbershop is now the only business in Richland Mall which does not have outside access.

J. Crew apparently has the distinction of being the first major retailer to file for bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 infestation, and this store at Trenholm Plaza, which was the only Midlands location, closed as a result of that.

ColaDaily has the story, as does WLTX which also points out that this leaves the shopping center with four vacancies.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

The B.L.D. Diner is the follow-on operation in this Trenholm Plaza space to Hooligans (which was a follow-on to Edisto Dairy). The name is an acronym for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, but the one time I went there, they were still ramping up, and started closing during my late lunch.

I presume this closing (which is "until further notice") is due to our old friend COVID-19. I hope they do come back, but Trenholm Plaza has certainly taken some unexpected hits this year, and this is one more.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

UPDATE 17 May 2021 -- Open again:

UPDATE 17 January 2023 -- Closed again:

UPDATE 8 February 2023 -- Defintely gone for good, and the signage is down:

This one has been mooted about in Have Your Say for a couple of days now, but Circle K on Bethel Church Road closed today.

This store was once a Kangaroo Express and went to Circle K a few years ago when Kangaroo was bought out. The building is smaller than the new Circle K concept you see in recent construction like Forest Drive & Harbison, plus another convenience store recently opened across the street in the old Ravenwood Pharmacy, neither of which can have helped.

The gas prices were not particularly low here, but I enjoyed the fact that if I filled up here, I didn't have to go out on Forest Drive or elsewhere out of the neighboorhood. I also generally found the ladies at the counter here to be very friendly, and the new coffee machines (as at all CKs) made a quite decent cup.

(Hat tip to commenter Matthew)

UPDATE 12 November 2020: Adding The Pantry & Kangaroo Express to the post title.

UPDATE 18 November 2020 -- As mentioned in the comments, the gas tanks have been excavated as seen in these 17 November pix:

UPDATE 29 March 2023: Updating tags.

When I finally got over to Forest Lake Park after commenter Sidney mentioned that the gym was being torn down, I found the whole place fenced off and closed. Presumably there is an upfit planned here, but oddly, I can find no mention of it on the Richland County Recreation Commission site. Elsewhere on the site there is a ten year plan for the system, but the only mention of the park there is that it is in "fair" condition and could be better. I don't see any news stories about it either.

I actually did not realize this was a park -- I thought it was all part of the adjacent elementary school. It looks to have been a pleasant enough place.

Also, for the record, I have used the term Forest Lake Park on this site before to talk about the park attached to the old Forest Lake Shopping Center, which is apparently technically incorrect.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

I last wrote about this space in 2008, on the closing of The Happy Bookseller. Even before that venerable institution closed, the Happy Cafe had been inside functioning as a bookstore cafe. After that they went standalone, and have had a good long run.

Unusually in this snakebit year, they are not closing due to the pandemic, but to move on to new ventures, including selling the cafe's well known caramel cake online. This ColaDaily article has the story and says:

Hodges and Reynolds said they would love to see customers dine-in, order to go and stock up on favorites like the pulled chicken barbeque, casseroles, and Sue's famous caramel in the coming months. They said their plan is to close the cafe on a celebratory note.

That would come near the end of the year. I really should try to get over there and eat lunch before 3:00 for once.

UPDATE 23 March 2021 -- As reported by The Free Times, this is to become burrito spot Boca Grande:

I'm not sure how long, Yummy II has been here, but quite a while I while, I think. Initially I thought there was a real estate sign in the window, but in fact it is simply a placard for the construction company which is doing the asbestos removal and interior demolition.

Google has Yummy II marked as "termporarily closed" so I am going with that in the post title, but the absence of any "See you soon!" type of sign is not a good omen.

(If there is still a Yummy I, I don't know where it is.)

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 9 September 2020: I have taken the "Temporary?" notation off the post title as it appears from the comments while that was the hope for Yummy at the start of the crisis they are now gone and this is to become a Kudzu Bakery. I have been in the Litchfield & Georgetown locations of that chain a few times and recall both of those spaces as larger than this. Also commenter Thomas calls out the previous occupant in this storefront as Little Caesars, so I have added that to the post title.

UPDATE 23 March 2021 -- Kudzu Bakery is now open in this spot:

Judging by reviews, this Fatz may have been closed on a temporary basis since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, but now they have made it permanent.

To the best of my memory, this location is the only Fatz at which I have eaten. It would have been while I was living out of town, in the late 1980s, or early 1990s I think, and I was not impressed. I remember distinctly thinking something like Secret Sauce?: Mayo!

Now, I may have come on the wrong night, or ordered the wrong thing, because the Yelp reviews of the three Fatz locations I have looked at (this one, the one on Broad River Road and the one in Conway) show plenty of people who used to love the chain. They also show a recent precipitous decline in perceived food quality, service levels and physical plant maintainence. I just guessing here, but there seems to be a viscious circle going on with declining income leading to a decline in the things that bring in income. (By the way, what's up with both Yelp and Google showing reviews in other than newest first order? The recent ones are kind of the most important!)

It will be interesting to see what happens to this location, because while it is at an Interstate exit, it really isn't that easy to get to.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 25 May 2021 -- This spot is now setting up to be another crab restaurant, The Juicy Crab:

UPDATE 13 September 2021 -- The Juicy Crab is now open in this spot:

As noted by commenter Andrew and others, Stein Mart filed for Chapter 11 on 12 August 2020 and is expected to close most or all of its 281 stores across the country.

This story focuses on the Trenholm Plaza store, pictured above. A list of all of the announced store closings is here.

To the best of my recollection, I have never been inside this store, at least as Stein Mart. It is hard to say after so many years and upfits, but I believe this is the space once occupied by Tapp's Twig, a "smaller than a branch" storefront run by storied local department store Tapp's. If so, I would have been inside a number of times growing up.

Looking at the store closing list, I see the other local store is in Lexington, and I will try to get by before it is gone. In the meantime, the closing sale is already on, so we'll see if this location lasts into September.

(Hat tip to commenter Andew)

UPDATE 21 September 2021 -- Now a Spirit Haloween:

I was at Baskin Robbins the other day, and noticed that the adjacent Pizza Hut delivery/take-out storefront was empty. I'm not sure when they left, but I know for sure they were there this time last year.

I used to go to Pizza Hut all the time, but I don't think I've been in one during the last five years, and didn't even consider this place for takeout during the crisis. I'm not sure when exactly they fell off my list, but there are so many options now. (For instance, I did use Marco's up the block several times for delivery during the lockdown -- it's not bad).

This plaza used to be called Forest Park, but I'm not sure it still is. The roadside marquee used to have an "FP" logo, but lately it has been replaced by whatever grocery store is in the main slot at the time.

UPDATE 26 June 2023: Updating tags.