Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I've always had a soft spot for Fred's. That's probably because they came to Fernandina when I was in my teens or twenties and were a nice store withing easy walking distance of my Aunt's house to get pretty much any item we might need while visiting. I also liked that they left the big spanish-moss covered oak in their parking lot (inherited from the previous store) alone:

Some years after they moved into the Fernandina area, they started a big push into South Carolina, and on the whole, I think it has not been a success. I feel that perhaps they have too much overlap with Dollar General which got here first, and would have done better to put more Fred's in areas where people already knew the brand than pushing new stores into areas where there was no brand recognition. Of course, the economic crunch can't have helped any either..

I had not expected this Fred's to close as quickly as it did, especially given the protracted proceedings at the Saint Andrews Road Kmart. When I took the interior picture above on 19 May, the store was still almost fully stocked, and the discounts weren't really that good yet, but just a couple weeks later it was gone.

I have to admit I didn't know there was such a thing as The National Fireplace Institute -- it seems, at least, that all the classrooms should be warm and toasty. At any rate they certified Southeastern Stone,the former tenant of this handsome masonry building on Fernandina Road near the I-26 & Piney Grove interchange. There are some nice pictures on their still extant website as well.

I'm not sure what is going on with the building. It is up for sale, but there is some sort of landscaping work already going on.

This almost vacant site on Airport Boulevard at the south-west corner of the Airport Boulevard/I-26 interchange was definitely a restaurant, and not that long ago -- certainly into the late 1990s. As I recall it was bought up and razed for some sort of road construction.

I remember eating there a few times for late night fare, and was 100% positive that it was a Denny's. However, I can't verify that in either the 1997 phonebook, or the 2005 one, and I'm not getting any definite google hits for a Denny's on Airport Boulevard (except in other cities).

I'm not a big fan of Denny's -- somewhere there must be one with exceptional service and food that looks like the pictures, but I haven't found it yet. They have their uses though -- I'm reminded of this web comic (though it is for another late night institution). I remember working a project on Fort Benning and the only good part of my day being when we hung it up at midnight and being able to have a grilled cheese sandwich on the way back to the hotel..

Anyway, whatever they plan to do on this lot, it seems to be taking them a long time to do it.

UPDATE 24 April 2013: Added a street address, took the question mark off of Denny's? and added the Kettle Restaurant based on the comments.

Somehow I've never gotten around to trying Thai food, though I think I might like it. Thai Lotus on at the top of the hill on Saint Andrews Road is no longer an option for that though. The online reviews look mixed, but the place lasted for a good while. In fact, if you look through the foyer window, you can see *two* payphones, which tells you something about the vintage. Most places ripped them out a good while ago, leaving either odd little alcoves near the bathrooms or bereft cables on the wall..

I quite like the picnic terrace on the left side of the building. It has a nice tree growing up through it, and overlooks the activity farther down the hill.

(Hat tip to commenter Nobody.)

UPDATE 22 April 2013: Added Lowcountry Cafe and Yesterday's to the post title based on the comments and the 1985 phonebook (Yesterday's).

UPDATE 28 January 2020 -- Now Steve's Classic Burgers:

This old service station, now a tire & brake center, is on the Charleston Highway, in that little corner in between I-77 and I-26.

I'm pretty sure it was an Exxon at one time (and may even have gone back into the Esso era). The vending machine bay to the left of the station is very typical of the old days -- a station generally would not like you hanging around inside, which was as much or more "the office" than a retail area.

I'm just guessing "1970s" as a closing date. It could have been much later, but that's when the classic "gas station" started to go into decline..

Growing up, Merita was one of our primary breads, along with Sunbeam ("It's batter-whipped!"). Gradually it seemed we moved away from white-bread a bit, and Roman Meal became our staple. Nowdays I tend to go with something denser like Arnold's. Still, I was rather shocked to find that Merita was part of the Hostess collapse (along with Wonder Bread and Butternut, which we never bought). I saw those diamond wrappers at the breakfast table many days in grade-school, with the scent of toast in the air..

Here's a heart-themed post for Valentines..

I don't know a lot about Heart 2 Heart (or "♥ 2 ♥" as the sign would have it) other than it was apparently a gift shop, sat in the old Piggly Wiggly Plaza on Lake Murray Boulevard and closed in 2010. The local news site has this and other locations up for comments on what should go there...

Not sure what happened here, as the location doesn't seem too bad to me, and it has fairly easy access to the Wal-Mart stoplight, but the Raceway at Bush River Road and I-26 has closed. The only site negative I can see is the separate bathroom building, which I personally don't like because there's often a locking hassle and you end up splitting your time at three locations.

(Hat tips to commenters Tom & Frank)

UPDATE 22 June -- As mentioned in the comments, this place is open again:

UPDATE 27 January 2016 -- This place is closed again:

I'm pretty sure that when I first became aware of TCBY, their advertising slogan was This Can't Be Yogurt!. That's because at the time(I'm thinking maybe mid 1970s), yogurt, to the extent that anybody knew what it was at all, was thought of as a sour-ish dairy ingredient, something along the lines of sour cream or cheese. Certainly not something you would eat by itself, or for desert.

That certainly changed over the years, and gradually it seemed that the TCBY slogan became The Country's Best Yogurt!. Personally, while I like non-frozen yogurt, I never really was a huge fro-yo fan, and in particular if I walk into a shop and every spigot is "low" or "no" fat, I walk out again. Give me some high fat ice cream or soft-serv instead..

At any rate, this TCBY location hung on in the shopping center at the corner of Lake Murray Boulevard and Columbiana Drive for a good few years after the anchor Piggly Wiggly closed. I'm not sure of the exact date, but given that it was reported early in January 2013, the end of 2012 makes sense.

(Hat tip to commenter Soxinsc)

While I agree in theory that flame cooking burgers the way Burger King (and now Cookout) does is superior to griddle-frying them, for some reason that has never actually translated into my liking BK, or at least hasn't since I was in middle school or so. Perhaps I should give them another try as its been probably twenty years or so since I've had a burger there. At any rate, that won't be an option at this store on Sunset Boulevard by the Waffle House and I-26. Unlike the many remodeling BKs in Columbia, this one seems gone for good.

(Hat tip to commenter William)

UPDATE 15 June 2020 -- Now a Denny's: