Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

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)

This building was originally a Bojangles and was next and an Asian barbecue restaurant.

In 2016, Nick's Gyros & Seafood set up shop, and lasted until this year. Or at least I noticed driving by recently that it was now Charlie's Wing's & Seafood and I think I would have noticed that fairly shortly after it happened as I drive that way frequently.

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 have tried to go to The Mouse Trap three times, but in the event only managed it once.

The first time was years ago, probably the early 80s, and I just could not find the place. I had seen it once at that point, and knew it was in the office complex off Forest Drive, but after driving around twenty minutes or so, I gave it up as a bad job and went somewhere else. (Was it originally at a different location in this plaza? Because I have no problem now).

The second time was with some folks from the CS department at USC during a homecoming event. No problem finding it this time (I may have been following someone) and the food was fine, though I have very little memory of it.

The third time was a year or two ago when I decided, Hey, it's been 10 or 15 years; time for another visit!, but it turned out to be one of those places that close between "lunch" & "dinner".

Anway, they are now closed for remodeling. The inside looks a bit torn up and there is a storage container out back, so I think work has started, though the sign doesn't give any ETA.

(Hat tip to commenter Midnight Rambler)

UPDATE 30 January 2019 -- As reported in the comments, this is open again:

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.

My memory is a big vague, but I believe this restaurant (in the former Redbone Alley/Corky's building) actually started out as a San Jose, but that was causing some heartburn at the old Forest Drive San Jose which is now Pasta Fresca, so it was reflagged as Pancho's while still being in the San Jose family.

For whatever reason, that was undone on 7 March, and it is now officially a San Jose again (though some of the signs have yet to be changed).

My sister mentioned that she had heard this place was closing, so I was able to get some interior shots in advance of that last week. I wish I had gotten the hot sauce bar, which was an impressive array of pumps.

Initially, I wasn't quite sure what to make of Tijuana Flats (and kept thinking it was Tortilla Flats for some reason..). It wasn't like a Moe's or Qdoba building hand-held burritos, and it wasn't really a sit-down Mexican restaurant, but somewhere in between the two. I finally figured it out though, and liked the place pretty well. In the summer, the front sidewalk was generally in the shade by the time I would get there, and it was nice to eat outside. In the winter, I liked to go the the back of the store and sit in the sunshine coming through the back windows. My only real criticisms are that I thought they needed a drink stand so you didn't have to go begging for refills (which they were happy to provide, but it's a quirk of mine) and I thought they should go with the sit-down Mexican restaurant concept of free salsa with the chips.

I'm pretty sure this is the first closing for the fairly new Jackson Square strip mall, though of course the whole former strip mall on the site was closed and razed years ago. The Tijuana Flats Lexington location remains open.

(Hat tip to my sister)

UPDATE 13 December 2021 -- Now a Vampire Penguin:

Also adding map icon.