Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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)

Golden Chick was the follow-on to Wendy's in this (extensively remodeled) spot.

When I did a closing for the Manning location of Golden Chick, I wondered if the Columbia location might be next, as they opened about the same time. Interestingly however, google does not pull up any stories about closings or the chain being in trouble. To the contrary, there are several stories to the effect that 2019 is looking to be a banner year for Golden Chick, so perhaps this chicken is only crossing the road locally.

(Hat tip to commenter Kenneth)

UPDATE 21 February 2019: Fixed transposed address in post title and tags.

Well, this is a shame. Rosso was the follow-on operation in this corner of Trenholm Plaza to Tuesday Morning, and as you can see from the shots above, the space was completely gutted and remodeled in preparation for Rosso's arrival.

The place was a bit more upscale than I am, but over the years I liked to sit on the patio and have the Margherita Pizza (they didn't really have "normal" pizzas) while reading and watching the people go by. They often did have very good soups as well. If they had any weaknesses, it was that the bread was often some sort of rolls rather than something fresh baked and that they liked to monkey around with the Creme Brulee: No I don't want raspberry lemon-peel Creme Brulee or whatever, I want Creme Brulee Creme Brulee.

The place sold a few years ago, and went slightly more upscale with individual cloth towels in the bathroom. At that point, it also exhibited one of the warning signs, when the hours were changed to a significantly earlier closing. After that, I was rarely able to make it any more though I was hoping I would get a chance to revisit sometime during the Spring. Hopefully they will find a new spot.

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

UPDATE 4 March 2023 -- To become CO Noodles & Sushi Bar:

UPDATE 20 July 2023 -- Work on the new restaurant upfit has started:

After running as a Rite Aid with a Walgreens pharmacy counter for almost a year, this store on the deep corner of Forest Drive & Trenholm Road has finally made the switch to being an official Walgreens location. I'm a bit surprised that it took so long, and also that they slated it in the first place, as it is not that far from the Walgreens on the corner of Forest Drive & Beltline.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

There's a little confusion on the name of this place in Trenholm Plaza. First of all, it is clear that the actual name of the place includes a degree sign as in 32 °. Second the current signage calls the place 32 ° Soft Serv while the original signage (and current posted closing note) calls it 32 ° a Yogurt Bar. Also, the current marquee (which is not really readable in the night shot above) also calls out custard in a subheading, which I wish I had noticed before they were slated to close.

At any rate, 32 °, which opened in 2010, replaced Hair Cuttery which closed at the end of 2008. I believe I noticed that the adjoining storefront was papered over, though for some reason I did not get a picture, so perhaps the plaza has something new and larger in the works for this wing.

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

Update 4 February 2019: The Free Times puts the actual closing date as 27 January, so I have updated the post title from "February 2019" to reflect that.

According to KEYT, the parent company of Fallas (and of Anna's Linens) went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August of 2018, with store closings starting on 9 August:

The National Stores, Inc says that they have also suffered financial setbacks from certain underperforming stores and that this has been exacerbated by severe weather in various regions, such as Hurrican Maria which resulted in prolonged, temporary closures to damaged stores and loss of revenue. The Company says they also suffered further financial losses resulting from the acquisition of Conway Stores. The strain on liquidity was worsened by the aftermath of the Company's data breach as access to operating funds diminished.

Apparently that didn't help much, and this store, which survived the initial wave of closings was put on a new list of closings starting 12 October 2018:

National Stores will begin a store closing sale at 184 of its remaining locations today. The store closing sales are being conducted by a joint venture consisting of Hilco Merchant Resources, Gordon Brothers and SB360 Capital Partners. The specific stores that will be closing are currently branded as Fallas and Factory 2-U stores across 12 states and Puerto Rico. The store closing process is the result of the Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing by National Stores, Inc. and certain of its affiliates. As part of the restructuring, management at the retail chain has conducted a store rationalization process resulting in the shutdown of these specific stores.

Aside from this store, the South Carolina stores affected are Factory 2U stores in Spartanburg and Sumter.

This is the second time East Forest Plaza has been hit, as the Anna's Linens here closed due to bankruptcy in 2015. It's not clear to me if Anna's was owned by The National Stores at the time, but I don't think so. If that be the case, picking up the defunct chain can't have helped the new owners any..

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

That was pretty quick work. The pictures of the store in operation were taken on 9 October 2018, and by 16 October, the signage is down and the store is empty save for a few mattresses stacked against the front wall -- No closing sale, no bargains, just gone.

This is the second vacancy in the still fairly new Jackson Square (which replaced, most recently, Liquids Gentlemen's Club). Earlier in the year, the adjacent Tijuana Flats closed, and has yet to be replaced.

UPDATE 15 November 2021 -- Now a Club Champion gym:

UPDATE 13 December 2021 -- Here's the other side of the Club Champion:

Locker Room was the follow-up operation in this suite to Corma's Nutritional Supplements & More, which closed in 2015. With both Locker Room and Ed Robinson now recently gone, the building is completely vacant, and I have to wonder if it is long for the world. The building was clearly built as an old-school service station, and I have to think that property on this stretch of Forest Drive leading to the Interstate interchange is too valuable now to leave something like this taking up a lot. (Though I personally like the canopy look).

I'm forgetting what this place used to be called, but it has only been One Main for a few years. At one point, they apparently had my P.O. Box, and I still get important looking mail for them 15 years later..

They left the Forest Park shopping center (if it indeed is still called that) a month or so ago, and have moved into the old VK Nails location across from Richland Mall.

Hmm. When I saw the signs being changed out at this NBSC driving by Trenholm Plaza today, I assumed that the bank had been bought out recently and I just had not heard of it (I don't bank there, so in general, I wouldn't).

As it actually turns out, according to Wikipedia, NBSC has always been a local nameplate for Synovus (nee: Columbus Bank and Trust Company), which operated under different names in different states and

In early 2010, Synovus consolidated their thirty separate state charters into one Georgia state banking charter and is transitioning to operate as a more centralized single bank.

I guess they are doing South Carolina now.

UPDATE 21 June 2018 -- Check the comments for some details, but apparently the Wikipedia info about is, at best, imcomplete. NBSC was apparently originally a local bank and not part of Synovus until (historically speaking) recently.