Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I'm pretty sure this location was one of the ones that closed during the chain's bankruptcy, though I did not get around to visiting it then, and then came back after the sale of some stores to Variety Wholesalers, but now they are closing again. A local Facebook post says that the building owners went up on the lease prompting this, but I'm not sure if that was speculation or well-founded. At any rate google reviews indicate that the place is mostly stripped, but that there are deep discounts on anything remaining. Given that report, I am using a September 2026 closing date though the end is not quite yet.

This building is a former Winn-Dixie, and you can see a picture of the original Big Lots incarnation at that post.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

When I went by this location on 11 July 2026, they still had the World Cup promotional signs up as if the closing caught them by surprise. I don't believe I ever ate here, so I don't have much to say about it, though I will note that the Post & Courier story on the closing namechecks Columbia Closings.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

You can also read about in The State.

The State calls Mardel a "faith-based bookstore and gift shop", and a little googling reveals the fact that it is sort of affiliated with Hobby Lobby, currently being owned by the same family. Beyond that, I know very little, and the article is not particularly informative, other than yielding the information that the store had been here since 2019.

You can read the article here.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

I think gyms are a bit like hotels in that they sometimes go flag-shopping. If I recall correctly the local Muv outlets were originally another brand which, for whatever reason, didn't want to rapidly expand in the Midlands.

At any rate, this Muv, built as a Goody's is now Revolution Fitness.

(Hat tip to commenter Lavender, who mentions that the Google reviews are interesting)

Commenter Payne mentions that this restaurant in Mills Corner just to the left of the old Pig/IGA has closed.

Other commenters in Have Your Say mention that there are still a number of Chen's restaurants in the area, though it is not clear if they are connected. For what it's worth, I believe the Egg Roll Station on Crowson is officially a Chen's.

(Hat tip to commenter Payne)

Commenter Cats provides the closing date here, but the news has been out for a while. This site first featured here as a Bi-Lo, and for a while it looked like a successful bid to bring the IGA model into more urban territory, but in the event the one closer to Lexington closed in 2022, and this closure leaves Saint Andrews Road as their only location as far as I am aware.

(Hat tip to commenter Lavender)

New York Pizza & Pasta was the follow-on in this little US-1 building to another pizzeria, Palmono's, which was a follow-on to Reds On Augusta.

According to their Facebook they appear to have closed on 31 August. The menu looks decent, but I was never in the area at the right time to try it out.

(Hat tip to commenter JamesR)

Commenter Heath notes that JC's Lexington Bowl has announced on their Facebook page that they are closing at the end of August. From the posted message, it sounds like they would rather not, but the economic times are just too rough. That's a shame, as they have been open since 1989.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

Palmano's was in the small building below KJ's, formerly occupied by Reds. Judging from the google reviews, it was open until a few months ago, but has since transitioned to another pizza place (with mostly the same signage): New York Pizza & Pasta Factory. Google suggests the phone number is the same for both pizza shops, so perhaps this is more of a re-branding.

This building first featured here when it closed as a Pig in 2013. In late 2015 it re-opened as a KJ's IGA, lasting about seven years (which is longer than I had thought actually. WHere does the time go?).

I associate the IGA brand with smaller towns, but KJ's has brought several of them to the Columbia market, and as far as I know, the others are doing OK.

Now that two groceries have closed in this space, I would expect the next tenant to be something different.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath).

UPDATE 30 September 2022 -- Signage is down: