Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I had not noticed that this Truist branch was closed until recently. For various historical reasons (ie: Southern National) I have a Truist Visa, but have rarely if ever needed to go into a branch, and I have been going to the Killian Road Panera since the one next door to this lot started going downhill. I finally did notice it when I came out to take some Party City pictures.

Somewhat surprisingly to me, despite the fact that the next tenant is also a bank (Founders Credit Union) the building has been completely gutted, the landscaping has been torn up and the earth turned and trenches (for cables?) have been cut in the parking lot. It looks like quite a bit of work before Founders will be able to open.

Wells Fargo has been de-branching for a while now, a trend which has finally reached their iconic Main Street mirror building, which I always thought of as their local headquarters, though apparently their admin offices were on Greystone. Part of this is the trend of more online access to accounts and less need to interact with a teller, and probably part is Wells specific as they haven't exactly covered themselves in glory over the past ten years or so.

The State says that the firm will maintain an office in the building, so perhaps the sign on the west side will not be coming down. They also say there are no plans for the branch space other than to put it up for lease and see what happens (which they strike an optomistic tone about).

In the meantime, enjoy the mirror building:

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Sticking with Wells Fargo for another day, the company recently announced that they will close this administrative center on Greystone Boulevard next summer. The State has the story, along with the astounding statistic that they have laid off 40,000 people over the last few years. It is certainly a shame that so many folks have to suffer for a number of bone-headed and unethical stunts management has pulled over the last decade.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

Continuing the recent theme of abandoned (or demolished) walk-up ATMs, this one at the Dutch Square Wells Fargo has been closed for a good while.

The adajacent branch continues to be open, and people in the parking lot can, of course, walk up to the drive-through ATM, and in fact somebody did that just before I took these picture.

While we were talking about the Walk-up BOA ATM on Saint Andrews, I recalled this one on Greystone, and was curious to see if it were still there. It's not, and the Google Reviews suggest it probably closed around 2020. I think that if a place is not a natural foot-traffic spot, people are increasingly reluctant to get out of their cars and box themselves into one of these..

The ATM on this site was rather odd, in that it was a walk-up ATM not associated with a branch bank, like a survival from another era. The only other one like it that I can think of is on Greystone Boulevard.

I'm not sure what the fencing around the site signifies. Perhaps they plan to replace it with a more conventional drive-up machine. At any rate, I think the current next closest location is the drive-up beside the former branch below Tram Road.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

I believe the only time I ever visited this bank was to use the ATM some years ago. I had not even noticed that it was closed & razed until commenter Andrew pointed it out. For now you can see the old building in this LoopNet listing. I took these pictures a week or two ago, and the last time I drove by, construction on the lot had started.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 26 January 2023 -- Murphy Express is open:

UPDATE 6 March 2023 -- A better picture of the, now open, Murphy's building:

Well, here's another bank branch closure. This one is at the corner of Saint Andrews Road and Old Bush River Road in Irmo. The real estate listing is here.

About the only other thing I know about it is that it was robbed in early 2018.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

UPDATE 21 May 2024 -- Razed and on the way to being rebuilt as a Murphy's:

I had not noticed that All South Federal Credit Union on Bluff Road had closed, but apparently it has been for some time. As of yet, the lot is not re-leased, so the ATM continues in service.

Apparently First Horizon is merging with Iberiabank, which may have something to do with this location closing. It looks like there are two left in town, on Main Street and in Trenholm Plaza. The Trenholm location is in a building across from Starbucks and is a building that has reflagged several times in recent years.

This location is in the Publix plaza at the corner of Two Notch and Sparkleberry. Commenter Thomas reports that it was previously a Wachovia.

(Hat tip to commenter thomas)

UPDATE 22 May 2023 -- This is refitting to be a Chase branch: