Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This urgent care beside Richland Mall had been up for sale a number of months, but continued to operate while that was ongoing. At this point it has either sold, or they have given up. At any rate AFC is now closed, and the building is undergoing renovations. The permits are made out in the name of a medical company, Prisma, so it is not clear to me if this is a completely new business coming in, or if AFC is part of Prisma and will be back after the upfit.

UPDATE 22 January 2020 -- Well, the construction is done (apparently), the branding is down, and the real-estate sign is out. The interior still looks like a doctor's office though:

King's Pizza was the follow-on operation in this spot to Charlie's Wings & Seafood. They opened sometime in the spring of 2019, and apparently closed in September. At one time, a number of other locations for King's were mooted, but they may have tried to build out too fast, and I don't believe any, with the possible exception of a co-branding with Planet Pizza came to pass.

UPDATE 4 February 2021 -- I'm not sure what is going in, but some sort of upfit is being done on the building:

UPDATE 23 August 2021 -- Now open as Starbucks:

UPDATE 13 September 2021 -- A more attractive of the new Starbucks:

I was not familiar with this photo services business in the little strip beside Richland Mall, but apparently it closed sometime in August. There is already a new operation setting up: Bad Daddy's Burger Bar which appears to be an up-and-coming chain of, well, burger bars. They apparently have locations in Greenville and the Low Country, but this will be the first location in the Midlands. I have to say the space seems rather small for a restaurant, and there's not a lot of parking either.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. BO)

I was rather surprised by this closing, although East Forest Plaza has certainly had its share of turnover lately. The chain is pitching this as a relocation as noted in this press release, with the new location being at 2209 West Dekalb Street in Camden. I guess the management team could have relocated intact, but surely for the rank and file, those jobs are gone -- nobody is going to commute from Columbia to Camden.

(Hat tip to commenter Rashaad)

I was not really aware of this little place on Forest Drive, behind The Happy Cafe and in-between Tombo Grille and The Village Idiot. What I can tell from its google reviews is that it sold clothes and shoes. I believe it had the same suite as the former Tag It Art

UPDATE 12 May 2021 -- This is to become Flour Power a kids' party cooking studio:

The de-branching of American banks continues with this Wells Fargo location at the southeast corner of Forest Drive and Beltline Boulevard being the latest example to feature here.

I had actually been inside this bank, as my sister and I took care of some shared business there. It was what you would expect, and a perfectably acceptable experience. The place is also actually a little easier to get in and out of than you would think, as there is a back exit to a road paralleling Forest drive behind the mirror buildings that brings you back out at a more convenient location.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

UPDATE 1 May 2019: Updated tags.

UPDATE 15 August 2019 -- As mentioned in the comments, this building has now been razed:

UPDATE 19 June 2023 -- For some reason, they are dropping this lot to street level before building. Perhaps they want an entrance directly onto Beltline?

UPDATE 8 August 2023: According to several local media stories, such as this from the Post & Courier, this is to be a 7Brew coffee location. They don't mess around with building those either, apparently. This lot was vacant yesterday, and today they have the prefab building already delivered and ready to be installed:

UPDATE 15 August 2023 -- The new kiosk is settled in:

UPDATE 2 March 2024 -- The 7 Brew coffee shop is up and running, and construction on a Prisma Health Urgent Care seems nearly done:

Charlie's took over fairly seamlessly from Nick's, and has now in its turn yielded to King's Pizza, though the sign changeover is less than finished.

I'm not sure if this is the same King's Pizza which replaced Chickadees on Marshall Street, but it would be an odd coincidence if not.

(Hat tip to commenter David Edwards)

According to The State, today was the last day for Gwen Rawls in Trenholm Plaza. Not being a woman or in need of Italian shoes, I was only vaguely aware of this place, but it is in the same wing of the plaza that 32 Degrees was (though about as far away from Rosso as it is possible to get).

It does seem odd to have three storefronts close fairly close together in time like that, but on the other hand, plaza management continues to bring in new businesses like BLD Diner. We'll have to see what happens.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

Payless filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 18 February 2019, and will be closing all of its stores, which includes three locations here in the Midlands.

This store is in East Forest Plaza at the intersection of Forest Drive and I-77. I don't have it in these shots, but the Fallas in the same wing of storefronts closed late last year as well. I have put March 2019 as the closing date, but the linked article indicates some stores may last as long as May.

I have never been in this store, but I have bought shoes at Payless several times, and they seemed reasonable in both price and quality.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)