Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

My first thought at seeing this former First Citizens branch at the corner of the Charleston Highway and Platt Springs Road was that there must be some sort of sporting event in the area as the lot was packed full of cars taking advantage of the Sunday bank closure to park there.

A closer inspection revealed the actual facts, which are that the bank is gone, and the lot is being used as an impromptu (I could see no business sign at least..) used car lot. I've heard the old GM described as a bank that sold some cars, perhaps the concept is spreading...

UPDATE 20 October 2022: Adding map icon and updating tags.

The only real google hit I'm getting for this is RB Marine Service, but it's obvious that this little building at the corner of State & Poplar Streets in Cayce was originally a gas station of some sort. Judging from the general look of the building, I would probably put it in the 1950s, and I'm sure it was full service and the guy would check your battery and tires while the gas was pumping..

I suspect that in the years between then, and whenever RB moved in, it was good number of other things. There's some sort of label scar on the awning, but nothing I can read.

This old laundromat is across the street (Dunbar Road) from Frink Street's Town & Country plaza, and looks to have been vacant for a good while.

City Feet says it was built in 1970. To me it looks a little earlier. These places always had a certain smell, and a certain look, with the soap dispenser machine with its metal levers and slots, the hard plastic bucket chairs welded to a rail, and the plastic high folding tables. And of course, the whish-whish sounds of the washing machine agitators and the clinks of metal buttons each time the jeans got to the top of the dryer drum and fell down again..

UPDATE 14 December 2012: Updated the closing date from "1980s" to "mid-2000s" based on the comments.

This Cayce home cooking restaurant was at the corner of State & Jansen Streets, right across from Brookland Cayce High School, and right next to the old radio station studio. As you can tell, these pictures were taken on a very grey and gloomy day, otherwise the old brick building would look much more inviting.

I know for a while they advertised themselves online as either the follow-on or alternative operation to the old Southern Skillet when that restaurant closed.

In the event I had never heard of them until quite recently, and never got around to checking them out until it was too late.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

This little auto lot was at the corner of Airport Boulevard and Glenn Street in Cayce. The full name comes from the 2012 phonebook -- as you can see, the roadside sign stops at International Auto Sales.

To me, it looks as though the garage wing of the building might have been added on after the front part was built, leading me to believe this has not always been a car-related spot.

As mentioned in this State story, longtime State Street fixture Cafe Strudel is.. staying on State Street. They have however moved south two blocks to 300 State Street (certainly within easy walking distance from the former location), and have re-opened ahead of schedule. In fact they were still painting the new marquee sign as I walked by, but underneath the ladder were open for business.

UPDATE 1 December 2025: Update tags, add map icon.

Zeus Pizza was the follow-on operation to Tony's Pizza in Parkland Plaza, using in fact a good bit of the same signage and interior setup.

As you can see from these pictures, the restaurant was a long narrow space. I think it might have benefited from more window tables, but the one time I ate there, I found it pleasant enough. As I recall, I had the stuffed shells with garlic bread, and it was perfectly fine. At that time, the restaurant had a cloth sign for "Zeus" hung over the "Tony's" lettering, as you can see in commenter Andrew's photos at the Tony's link above. I presume that if they had made it over the initial hump, they would have eventually gotten permanent letters over the marquee.

I'm not exactly sure when they closed -- The April issue of Skirt magazine is still in the inside rack, but that may be bi-monthly. I'm going to say it was probably at the end of May giving them about an 8 or 9 month run.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

UPDATE 1 August 2012: Zeus is open again. See the comments for details, but here is the website.

UPDATE 4 October 2012: As mentioned in the comments, Zeus is unfortunately closed again:

UPDATE 8 October 2014 -- Monterrey will be moving here from across Knox Abbott when their current building (bought by USC) is torn down:

I was very surprised to hear that Dollar General had pulled out of Parkland Plaza. I guess that's because I think of the chain as downscale but savvy: A Dollar General store isn't going to be brim-full of high margin items, but they seem to know their customer base and to be quite competent at what they do.

I do know that in some places (such as Pawleys Island) they have pulled a store out of an underperforming strip mall to re-open it nearby as a standalone building, but I don't think that is the case here -- though certainly factoring together this pullout with the recent Hi-Lites pullout, Parkland Plaza has to be marked as underperforming..

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 1 April 2025: Adding map icon.

Hi-Lites Ladies'Clothing ("Name Brands At Outlet Prices") seems to mainly follow a small town strategy. Apart from this Cayce store, the chain's locator page lists the other Carolinas' locations as

Albemarle, Atlantic Beach, Clinton (NC), Laurinburg, Lincolnton, Monroe, Mount Olive, Newton, Sanford, Shelby, Whiteville, Bennettsville, Dillon and Lancaster

It's interesting that by putting their "Columbia" store in Cayce, they got a somewhat similar area, but inside a fairly major Metro. Of course, apparently it didn't work out for them.

Parkland Plaza had been on a bit of an upswing lately, with the Ace Hardware re-opening, and the Dollar Discount being replaced, but this closing and that of Dollar General (which I will probably get to soon) along with the continuing vacancy at the old Parkland Pharmacy/CVS site put the place back almost to square one.

(Hat tip to commenter tonkatoy)

UPDATE 4 April 2012 -- I went back when I could stop and got some better pictures:

I am reasonably certain that this old building on Frink Street in Cayce was a non-retail business at some time (though it may have started life as a small residence), but can find out nothing about it. Usually a google of a street address will bring up some sort of tax assessment or tax info, old references to departed businesses or some sort of "For Sale" listing, but none of that seems to be the case here.

UPDATE 22 February 2012: Changed post title from "Building" to "Barber Shop" based on the comments. Also changed closing date from 1970s to "Early 2000s"

UPDATE 29 March 2012: Added "Creamer's" to the barber shop name based on a comment from Mr. Creamer's grandson.

UPDATE 25 November 2012 -- Looks like work is going on here, or at least the next door neighboor's fence is now in front of the property.