Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I like Smashburger burgers, and their choice of buns (espically the chipolte one), but the fries are so bad that it's not really a competitor to Five Guys in my mind. Nonetheless, every few months I do eat at the Devine Street location.

This particular location is in the new shopping center that was built after tearing down the old Cherokee Trail Veterinary Hospital. I believe that Smashburger was the initial tenant in this suite, and the first tenant of the strip to exit. (Even its Mattress Firm still survives).

(Hat tip to commenter ED)

UPDATE 17 January 2023: Update tags.

I took these pictures after the store closing was announced, but before the closing signs went up. I had meant to swing back by there at some point, but in the event did not get around to it.

The State article said the last day of March was expected to be the final one, so I presume they are now closed.

Here's a vacant restaurant space in the Flight Deck complex. I was not familiar with this place, but the description google gives is

Vibrant hangout featuring contemporary Latin dishes, handcrafted cocktails & a rooftop bar.

Doing some more googling around, it appears that the original Arkos changed ownership some time ago, and at closing the place was officially Stella's At Arkos. In general, the reviews seem to have dropped after the changeover.

(Hat tip to commenter Brian)

Domino's would not be my go-to for pizza unless I were in a strange city and needed something likely to be acceptable delivered to the hotel. That said, when I've had it, it has largely been OK, and certainly better than some of the other things the boss could order for a working lunch.

This location was in a fairly pizza-ed area of Lexington -- next to a Mellow Mushroom and not far from an Uno. It looks like the new location at 205 Columbia Avenue is also near to a number of other pizza places, but I guess, where isn't these days?

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 12 May 2019 -- Little Caesar's signage is up:

I believe the only time I have eaten in a Beef O'Brady's was at Pawleys Island, in the unit behind the Waffle House that became DeRoma's Pizza. I thought it was a pretty typical sports/casual dining type of place and had a decent burger.

Not only did I never eat at this one, but I'm pretty sure I have never in my life been in this spot, or near this spot before. I'm fairly sure that sites like this busy Publix plaza are a pretty new development in the area. Yelp says that this location was open at least until the end of August, so I am just tagging the closing as "Fall 2018". Interestingly, the new Yelp listing for "B's" has the same phone number as for Beef O' Brady's, and the reviews tag it as very similar, so I'm thinking that perhaps the owners just wanted to disaffiliate so they could add their own touches to the same general formula.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

Here is another Sunset Boulevard location of Eagle Cleaners. They also had a location in West Columbia at one time.

Just going by my experiences of getting in and out of Topspin Plaza taking pictures of things, I suspect drop off and pickup might have been somewhat difficult during rush hours.

The sign is referring to the 3010 Rosewood Drive location, which is right beside Dano's Pizza

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

I was not really aware of Rue 21 in Lexington as I'm not in the target young women demo, and don't like shopping for clothes anyway. After commenter Jimmy mentioned that this store was closing, I did a little research and found that the store was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy from May to September of 2017 and closed 420 stores during that period. They also took on a new CEO as of 25 June 2018 who 'resigned' mid-November 2018 after less than a half year tenure. Apparently the teen apparel sector continues to flail, and Rue 21 continues to shed stores.

(Hat tip to commenter Jimmy)

UPDATE 7 June 2024: Updating tags.

It's been a awful week or so for taking pictures, but at least it wasn't actively pouring this afternoon.

Consumers Feed & Seed Store in Lexington just announced their upcoming closing after 61 years in business, which is certainly a good run. Looking at the Facebook page, it strikes me as the kind of place my mother used to visit in the 60s for bird seed and gardening necessities. I don't have any inclinations in either direction, but it's sad to watch an era pass as everything goes to Lowes & Home Depot.

(Hat tip to commenter ED)

Commenter Beth noted a while back that this Chick-fil-A location was being torn down and rebuilt with double drive-through lanes.

The last time I looked at it, it was still open, though with some lot construction going on. Now they have definitely gotten into the rebuild phase.

Eat mor bef!

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

UPDATE 26 April 2019 -- Last time I drove by, the rebuild looked nearly done:

UPDATE 12 May 2019 -- Open again:

UPDATE 28 January 2021 Add tags.

Tijuana Flats closed their Forest Acres store back in March. Apparently the Greenville stores closed in March as well. This store opened after the Forest Acres one, and soldiered on for a few months longer, but with this closing, it appears the chain has totally left the state, which is a shame as I rather liked it (though their salsa policy was rather odd).

These pictures were taken shortly after the closing date, and the store was still being stripped.

(Hat tip to commenter TahoeChic)

UPDATE 22 March 2022 -- Now Shomars Southern + Fresh + Greek: