Columbia Closings   What’s not in Columbia anymore

This "No Longer A Car Wash" is on US-1 next to the Woodberry Plaza Wendy's.

Google StreetView shows it still in operation in 2011, but by sometime in 2012, the suds had blown away..

Woodberry Plaza is on US-1 West of I-26 and East of the Flea Market. I believe the last time it figured here was a mention for the old Winn-Dixie. Family Dollar was to the left of that store, and appears to have closed sometime in 2013 (or, at least it is still listed in the February 2013 phonebook).

There seems to have been a good bit of activity in this general type of store lately, with Dollar General making a big push, and Fred's largely giving up.

UPDATE: Commenter Andrew remarks that this store relocated, so I have added "moved" to the post title.

Based on the available evidence, it appears to me that Monday 6 January was the last day of operation for the Lexington Wild Hare, on US-1 north of I-20. This closing leaves the chain with two restaurants: one in the Vista and one on the Western segment of Bush River Road near the former Irmo Kmart.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

I had a hard time finding this Kentucky Fried Chicken in the phonebook because they actually still listed as "Kentucky Fried Chicken" rather than KFC. Good for them! (Interestingly, other KFCs are listed some at the front of the 'K' section with the acronyms and others alphabetically after the "KE" businesses..).

Anyway, they are definitely listed in this year's (February 2012) phonebook, and I'm guessing from commenter Brandi's heads-up that they probably closed very recently. Certainly, as you can see, the store has yet to be stripped of all the equipment and fixtures, and the place doesn't yet seem to be listed as for sale.

(Hat tip to commenter Brandi)

Tomlinson's was the follow-on operation to San Jose Restaurante Mexicano. I'm not sure when it closed, but I did the San Jose post in January of 2010, and I can't find Tomlinson's in either the 2011 or 2012 phonebooks, so I'm guessing 2011 by default. I know I've been down US-1 a few times in the past year, but I can't actually ever recall noticing it before. The red sales-ticket shaped sign is quite nice.

Well, Badger's theory aside, I think we can pretty surely say that the Carolina Wings & Rib House in West Columbia by the Bi-Lo is gone for good.

I think this almost certainly has to be the result of their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 9 November 2011. The chain supposedly owed between $1 and $10 million to various creditors, and I would guess that this was not one of their more profitable locations.

(Hat tip to commenter Jay)

Arnold's Professional Garment Care (or Arnold's Cleaners as the building signage indicates) looks to have been in this building for a good many years. The plaza, at the North West corner of Meeting and 12th Streets is a bit of a hard luck location, losing its grocery long ago, but Arnold's kept going until this location (there are others) closed on the first of February. If you had clothes there, don't panic -- they've been taken to the North Main Street store.

(Hat tip to commenter Sam)

Here's a little antique store in West Columbia that I'm afraid I never got around to visiting. Here's what commenter Larry had to say about it:

Small but missed is the Attic Treasures on Meeting Street (I think). It was a typical antique mall with lots of booths offering things from lots of people. It was in this odd building and a bit smaller than most but still a great place to find neat things like an old manual typewriter for $15.

It sounds like the kind of place I would find interesting. I really don't like high-end shops with a lot of antique furniture, I like places with a lot of "old stuff" -- the warehouse antique mall on State Street being a prime example (as was the lamented Dixie Used Furniture in the Vista.

In fact, I bought the first Closing-Cam at an "antique mall" in Fernandina Beach, making it the first "antique" digital camera I'm aware of..

("Hats Off To Larry")

UPDATE 21 January 2012 -- It's now Perkins Jewelry & More as seen in this not very good drive-by picture:

There were three Goody's locations in Columbia, one on Two Notch Road, one on Bower Parkway and a final one here on Augusta Road in West Columbia. As mentioned in the other posts, the chain went Chapter 11 in 2008 and closed all their Columbia stores.

The one on Bower Parkway has has a couple of temporary tenants like a "Giant Book Sale" and one of those indoor flea-market type things they have at Jamil from time to time. The one on Two Notch is going to have Joann Fabrics as a new tenant, but as far as I know this one near the West Columbia Wal-Mart and I-26 has never had anything set up shop, even on a temporary basis.

The Loopnet listing says there's 31,609 square feet that can be subdivided, but it's been two years already, so I'm not going to hold my breath.

I really like this building on US-1 near Wal Mart, or at least the classic part of it -- I could do without the two prefab sheds at each end. Whenever I see a gull-wing light tree like the one on the left (west) side of the lot, I get a real feeling of nostalgia. When I was a kid in the mid 1960s, we would take US-301 to Florida every summer and Christmas, and somewhere along that route, there was a big abandoned truck-stop. I don't know where it was exactly, though it was fairly early on the trip, so it was probably in South Carolina (and as we went South, it was on the left). Anyway, the lot was strewn with those gull-wing lights and it always made a big impression on me.

Aside from the light, the canted wrap-around bay windows on the west end are another really nice touch, as is the trapezoidal riser on the east end. They don't make 'em like that anymore. I would guess the building started as a gas station, probably in the late 1950s, but I don't really know.

As of now, KC Customs & Detailing still has a web page up, and from that I can definitely say they were in this spot as late as February 2010. There are also some shots of the building with the KC signage still up.

UPDATE 15 Jan 2011 -- It's now Poppa Joe's New & Used Tires: