Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

When commenter Sidney tipped that this store was closing on the 19th, I thought I would have the whole day to get out there and get some inside pictures. In the event, I think they closed for good at 5, and I got there around 6. I have to say that just from what I can see through the doors, it does not look as picked-over as I expected.

This store was part of the initial troubles faced by Sandhill, as the chain went bankrupt during the great recession, along with another Sandhill anchor (Sofa Express iirc) leaving the shopping center hurting for rent income. Bi-Lo eventually came out of bankruptcy, though it certainly has not had smooth sailing since then. I have forgotten all the details about who bought whom for all the Bi-Lo locations , but the plan is for this one to become a Lowes Foods.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

UPDATE 14 October 2020 -- That was fast! This place is now open as a Lowes:

As reported by commenter JohnR, this Urban Nirvana in the Lexington Towne Centre plaza on North Lake Drive between the closing Stein Mart and Food Lion is gone.

Looking at the Yelp reviews, it was open as late as June 2020, so they actually came through the lockdown period. Perhaps the customer volume just wasn't there in these trying times.

I think the plaza name is overdoing it a bit: Misspelling *two* words for "class"?

(Hat tip to commenter JohnR)

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To the best of my memory, I've only eaten at a Maurice's Piggy Park once, last year at the Charleston Highway location. I thought it was fine, but the chain seems to have hit a rough patch in the last few years with several locations closing. COVID-19 can't have helped, but I don't know if it were the deciding factor here.

This one is on US-1 in West Columbia to the east of the I-26 interchange and across from the Wal-Mart. I see from google maps that it is next to a Ruby Tuesday I had forgotten about, and which I did not check to see if it were open.

(Hat tip to commenter Lone Wolf)

UPDATE 9 March 2021 -- Now a Take 5 quick oil change operation:

As I drove past Dutch Square the other day, I noticed that the Goodyear location across from the cinema side of the mall had changed to a Tire Choice. Looking at pictuers on google, I see that as late as April 2018 it was still Goodyear, so it changed sometime after that.

I believe that closest I came to using this place as a Goodyear was once when I needed a headlight replaced (sealed beam) and they couldn't fit me in to the remaining time of the day. I think I ended up going to Pep Boys on Broad River and getting it done.

I did a closing for the Dutch Square Ruby Tuesday back in May. At that time I took pictures of this one, on a Columbiana Mall outparcel, as well. Since, unlike the other, there wasn't any clarity that this one was permanantly closed, I held off doing a post.

I drove back by today however, and nothing has changed. The "temporarily closed" sign is still up, but at this point I suspect that is no longer accurate. At the least, it's worth a mention and if they re-open later great! In the meantime, chalk up another one for for COVID-19.

UPDATE 7 June 2021 -- Razed:

I was at Pizza Palace last weekend, and noticed that the Jolidan African Hair Braiding salon in the same plaza had closed. Given how hard COVID-19 has been on all salons & barbers, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case here.

I could be wrong, but I don't think I've ever been down Wayne Street before, but after commenter Justin called out this address, I went to take a look. I don't know if Columbia Cooling & Heating has closed or just moved, but if there is a new address, google is not turning it up, and as far as I can tell they don't have a web site.

I really was not aware this part of Columbia even existed until I started this blog. I used to kind of wonder why Columbia didn't have a downtown section with houses like those in Fernandina Beach Florida, or Georgetown SC, even though the city was old enough. Shandon is nice, but not quite the same thing. It turns out it does, on the streets North of Elmwood & West of Main. It's an interesting area!

You can see a photo of this place in operation here.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

Steam & Ice seems to have been a coffee, smoothie, dessert & milkshake shop. Among other things, they were know for milkshakes topped with cotton-candy (which there is no way I can imagine liking, but your milage may vary), boba-tea, and acai bowls.

From what I can tell, they closed around January of 2020, so before the pandemic. Looking at the reviews, it appears that people liked it when it was open, but that there were ongoing staffing and early closing issues before the shutdown.

Bone-In was the only restaurant in the Bull Street stadium complex, for which big things have often been promised. They announced in early February of 2020 that they were terminating regular meal service, but would still be open for special events. By the end of the month that had changed to being completely closed, though they would still be doing catering.

I took these pictures on 13 September 2020, and while I was driving around the State Hospital area, I noticed a burnt out looking building and a WLTX news crew. Apparently someone set the old Babcock building on fire Saturday morning. Last I saw, they are now looking for persons of interest.

(Hat tips to commenters Beth & Heath).