Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I first used The Key Shop some years ago when I was having an issue with getting a key cut for one of my cars that actually worked without having to jiggle it all around. I think that by that point all I had was a copy of a copy of a copy and the standard hardware store copy process was just barely working. Anyway, they fixed me up in a few minutes with a perfectly working key.

I was a bit alarmed when I saw the building empty a while ago, but it turns out they moved to a better location at 1815 Barnwell Street and when I recently bought a used car which came with only a valet key, they were able to look at it and cut a full master with no problem so I can now actually unlock the trunk.

Here is a State story on the move.

I am not sure what's next for this little building, it's got good visibility, but the Park Street side parking is a bear.

This is yet another downtown place of which I was unaware. While I was unlikely to be in the market for a casserole, looking at their web site and menu, it appears I could have had a very nice lunch there.

The last message on their Yelp page is from 26 October 2020, so they made it through the start of the pandemic, but apparently not to the end of the year.

I like the brick facade, glass bricks and columns on this building, though I am not sure that the "eye in the pyramid" topwork really suits the rest of it.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

I was out driving US-1 through Batesburg-Leesville the other day, something I have not done in years, possibly not since I started this blog. Anyway, I noticed this old Winn-Dixe location, which is now a Roses Express, which I suppose designates a smaller Roses, though I don't believe I have seen one before.

Winn-Dixie left the state in 2005 after a bankruptcy, so I will use that as the closing date here.

Base 10 Fitness was the follow-on operation in this building to Rosewood Florist. According to The State, they moved from the Fairgrounds area to this location sometime in the spring of 2018. Here are a few more details from a real estate site.

While I don't see anything online as to the cause of this closing, I would guess that COVID-19 was the proximate cause.

(Hat top to commenter MB)

Some time ago, I did a closing for a vacant diner/gas-station on East Palmetto Street heading east out of Florence. Here's another one.

In fact Ms Annie's was closer to Florence than INS was. I think the reasons I hadn't noticed it before were twofold. First, if I'm going to go to the beach by this route, I usually take the cut-off from the I-95 exit that comes out by the Dunkin' Donuts which is past this stretch of US-76/East Palmetto. Second, more often than not, I would be driving by during the night even if I skipped the short-cut.

Anyway, I can't find out much about the place. The address comes from an online menu site, but the menu has been taken down, so I can't say what they served other than it was "Home Cooking", and the shattered window signage emphasizes breakfast. I'm just guessing about the closing date -- it certainly appears to have been several years ago.

I did find the historical marker quite interesting and a bit scary.

Be warned that the place has been heavily tagged by folks with foul mouths and strong political views as you can see if you continue to the rest of the pictures.

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I noticed last time I drove by Very's to see if they were doing dine-in yet that the thrift store in the same Two Notch plaza was gone. Judging by their Facebook, they were open into at least December of last year. I used to stop into places like this all the time to look for old books and records, but both are digital for me these days, so I never did stop here. The full name seems to have been Refreshed & Restored (R&R) Ministries Thrift Store, so I guess they were associated with a church.

Commenter Larry points out that this furniture store in Cross Hill Market is "moving" to Greenville, though it sounds mostly like they are shipping the inventory to an already existing store there. According to their Facebook, tomorrow (21 April) will be their last day.

I think of Cross Hill Market as still a fairly new place, but there has already been a good bit of turnover there.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

Commenter Thomas notes that this location of Pep Boys is transitioning away from auto parts, and into a garage only busines model and is running a closeout sale during the interim.

This turns out to be a chain-wide thing, as the stores have been struggling of late after having been bought out by Carl Ichan five years ago.

According to the linked story, some stores are trying to work a deal for a different parts operation to take over the retail space, but I don't know if that applies to this location. There are already a number of parts stores in the Dentsville area, so I'm not sure how attractive such a deal would be to another chain.

I guess I am the demographic the change is aimed at, as I have never bought parts there, but have had minor work done a number of times. In particular, I found that when I could not get same-day service at places like Goodyear or Firestone for things like punctures, batteries or headlights, this Pep Boys could get me in and out in an hour or so.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

I've made some pretty bad mistakes about Spanish language businesses here before, but I *think* Latino Express offers a variety of services including insurance, tax preparation and vehicle registration assistance.

It appears that they have relocated from this strip mall on Meeting Street, to 1735 Augusta Rd.

It appears that Always Original Bakery is setting up to occupy this spot.

I know The Clock Doctor has had several locations as I can remember hearing about it growing up. I figured that eventually I would take the big hall clock that I "fixed" as a teenager and actually get it working again, but in the event I never did, and am not at all sure anymore that I would want that making noise all night anyway.

The only previous location that I know of was on Covenant Road in a building that was recently demolished.

The pictured location is one of the odder strip malls on Two Notch: It is all trailers and sheds. My guess has always been that zoning doesn't allow any permanent buildings right up against a railroad track like that, but in the event these have been here so long they might as well be permanent. It appears to me that a new business is already setting up in the Clock Doctor trailer.

(Hat tip to commenter Dan R)