Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I stopped at this Bi-Lo on Sunday, and while it was rapidly emptying out, there was still a good bit there, and they hadn't started randomly consolidating the shelves. I picked up some long lasting sundries like shampoo, hot sauce & spices at a 15% discount.

According to The Post & Courier, this store is not going to be converted into a Food Lion and there are no current plans for a new tenant in the building.

(Hat tip to commenter Alan, and possibly others -- there has been a lot of talk about Bi-Lo).

Welp, here's another Bi-Lo closing to become a Food Lion. Google calls out the name of this strip mall as Crossroads Commons, which I don't believe I had ever heard. I meant to get inside over the weekend and didn't, but perhaps I will before the end.

(Hat tip to commenter DB)

This is one of the Bi-Lo locations slated to become a Food Lion, and the closing was announced so long ago that I have kind of lost track of who pointed it out to give a hat tip. Perhaps commenter ED, certainly it has been mentioned many times by many people. In fact, I took some pictures a good while ago, and then nothing ever happened, leading me to think I had read something wrong. Of course, as is usual, I have misplaced those pictures, so above are some from 10 January, just a few hours after the final closing.

(Thanks to all!)

When commenter Sidney tipped that this store was closing on the 19th, I thought I would have the whole day to get out there and get some inside pictures. In the event, I think they closed for good at 5, and I got there around 6. I have to say that just from what I can see through the doors, it does not look as picked-over as I expected.

This store was part of the initial troubles faced by Sandhill, as the chain went bankrupt during the great recession, along with another Sandhill anchor (Sofa Express iirc) leaving the shopping center hurting for rent income. Bi-Lo eventually came out of bankruptcy, though it certainly has not had smooth sailing since then. I have forgotten all the details about who bought whom for all the Bi-Lo locations , but the plan is for this one to become a Lowes Foods.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

UPDATE 14 October 2020 -- That was fast! This place is now open as a Lowes:

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.

Well, I would rather not take pictures through the passenger side window just to keep the camera semi-dry, but those are the conditions that prevail lately..

This Bi-Lo is on Emanuel Church Road in West Columbia in a spot where I am fairly sure I have never been before. In fact, I drove out there last week, headed down that branch of Emanuel Chruch Road, decided that things were petering out and turned around and went the other way.

This store is part of the latest round of Bi-Lo & Harveys closings, and presumably will be gone by the end of the month as these closeouts don't usually take too long.

As mentioned by commenter ED a while back, this Bi-Lo in Spring Valley Commons is the only one in Columbia currently slated to close and re-open as a Food Lion.

The process has now started, and while the shelves are getting rather bare, there are definitely some good deals to be had, as everything seems to be at least 40% off. I do find it rather curious that they have eschewed the normal Closing signs here. I was not in fact sure the clearance had begun because there is no indication in any of the windows. The closest thing is a small paper sign posting reduced hours, but not saying why.

It will be interesting to see how much work Food Lion does on the interior here.

(Hat tip to commener ED)

As mentioned in Have Your Say, all Columbia area Harveys supermarkets are closing. You can tell how dire the trouble the parent chain is in by the fact that they spent a lot of money rebranding these stores from Bi-Lo to Harveys less than two years ago. I did not do a closing on this location as a Bi-Lo at that time, so I'm including it in the post title and Alphabetical Closings now.

At this time, none of Columbia's remaining Bi-Lo locations are closing, but that is probably another shoe waiting to drop. The full list of closing stores across both nameplates and over all affected states is here.