Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

While the restaurant proper was apparently not harmed, a major fire on Saturday night 26 October took down the offices, pits & distribution center for this longtime Midlands barbecue staple, forcing the chain to close at least on a temporary basis. According to the video links provided by commenters Logan, Dustin & Andrew, the cause of the fire is still unknown.

I have only eaten at Piggie Park once, but I thought it was pretty good, and figured I would be back some day. Hopefully that will still happen. The place has had a somewhat controversial history with the founder's politics being out of step with the modern South, but his heirs looked to have worked past that, and while various locations have featured here from time to time the chain has remained a local constant.

The pictures above were taken on 25 March 2012, well before the fire. You can see the news reports of the blaze here, here & here.

(Hat tip to commenter Logan)

This location of American Car Center has a much less distinctive building than the one on Two Notch, but like that one was caught in the bankruptcy of the whole chain in February of 2023.

As Fortune put it:

American Car Center told employees the business was closing its doors, a day after it pulled a $222 million bond sale from the market, according to people familiar with the matter.

The used car retailer, which tends to target consumers regardless of their credit history, said in an email to employees on Friday the firm was ceasing all operations, closing its headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee, and that all employees would be terminated by the end of the business day, the people said. The headquarters has about 288 people.

The closure email came a day after the company sent another message to staff saying management and advisors had been working with lenders to improve liquidity and continue operations, the people said. American Car Center, which has more than 40 dealerships across 10 states, is owned by York Capital Management LLC.

Interestingly, both Columbia locations have electronic signs that are still active. However, I can tell you that as I took these pictures, it was neither 6:52pm nor 38 degrees...

(The two pictures directly above come from commenter Jimmy -- Thanks! I have the feeling someone else sent me some others as well, but I can't get to that hard drive right now unfortunately)

Beacon Hill Block was the strip mall on the corner of Airport Boulevard & Boston Avenue which housed, among other businesses, the former Lizard's Thicket and Subway.

I have not been by lately, but commenter Brandon Brown says the signage indicates a Murphy's Express will be going in here.

Here is a not particularly informative notice from West Metro News.

(Hat tips to several folks, including commenters Gypsie, Matt & Brandon Brown)

UPDATE 26 January 2023 -- Work continues:

UPDATE 17 April 2023 -- The new Murphy Express on this spot is now open:

While I was looking at the adjacent Subway, I noticed that formalwear outfitter Catz Formals had recently relocated from Beacon Hill Block to 1056 South Lake Drive in Lexington. There is at least one other vacancy in this plaza, which seems to be in a bit of a slump right now.

I noticed this Subway in Beacon Hill Block on Airport Boulevard the other day. There is not exactly a date on the closing note, but apparently it's quite recent, as google still has the closing as temporary, and all the decor and fixtures are still inside.

I'm a bit curious about the name for this plaza. Is "Beacon Hill" a real name for the area? Is it an aviation history thing? Was there a beacon?

Save A Lot was the follow on in this building to Food Lion, and opened in 2011. I'm not exactly sure when it closed (especially since the phone company seems to have stopped leaving me phonebooks), but I'm guessing 2019 is about right given we had several others close within a year or so of that.

At any rate, it has been gone long enough for another follow-on to start up: Ahora Abierto which is a panaderia pasteleria which google translate suggests is a bakery & cake shop.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

ColaDaily reports that this and the Beltline Lizard's Thicket will be closed temporarily due to staffing issues during the COVID-19 crisis. (Old Chicago in the Vista had signage indicating the same issue). They do plan to re-open both stores at some point.

I can only recall eating at this store twice though I have probably been there more. The most memorable experience was when I had been working across the country for a month, and *really* wanted some comfort food, so as soon as I touched down at the airport, I was already planning what vegetables to pick!

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

UPDATE 5 January 2022: As mentioned in the comments, this closure is now permanent, so adding pictures and updating the post title to remove "(Temporary)":

UPDATE 17 April 2023: Now a Murphy Express.

Well, the story here is the same as for the the Lexington Kmart: It's a Kmart. It's closing.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to go inside, and I was shooting against the sun for the exterior shots, but it looks pretty much as you would expect.

There have been a good number of closures in this general area in the past few years. All of Ryans, Rite Aid, Taco Cid, and Toyota Center come to mind. On the other hand, there is a new plaza around the Walmart at the top of Knox Abbott, so there is some new growth.

(I continue to be confused by the boundries between West Columbia & Cayce. I would have guessed this location to be Cayce, but it seems not.)

(Hat tip to lots of folks)

UPDATE 22 April 2020 -- Commenter Mr. Bill sent in these interiors from the Kmart a while ago, and I managed to misplace them. Here they are now:

You have to wonder how bad things are when The State story on the closing of this motel doesn't even list prostitution as one of the problems:

There have been 169 calls to law enforcement about incidents at the hotel in the past 90 days, city officials said. In 97 of those calls, charges were filed for crimes that included drug trafficking (meth), strong armed robbery and attempted murder, according to the release.

On Sept. 12, Cayce officers filed a report about an alleged rape of a juvenile that occurred at the hotel.

I have actually stayed in a Knight's Inn once. It was somewhere in Florida, and in my opinion was a real dump. The table seemed to have been picked up from the side of a road somewhere and everything was sticky. However, I never felt unsafe, or worried about my car. It was just a very basic, low-end experience.

There is a hearing on 24 October to determine if the business license should be permanently revoked. Whatever happens, I see a re-flagging in the future for this location.

UPDATE 11 January 2023: The place appears to be up for sale, and the rooms are being cleared out (possibly in advance of a demolition?)

UPDATE 17 April 2023 -- As mentioned in the comments this place is coming down. The office has already been razed, and I'm sure the rest will follow. I would have liked to have gotten out and walked around, but although I didn't see any suspicious activity, it just didn't seem like a good idea, so this is what you get:

Well this one, across from Piggy Park and where Airport Boulevard intersects the Charleston Highway, was pretty much inevitable, but the closeout has now officially started.

(Hat tip to commenter Zach)