Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

It appears that missionary organization Operation Go International has moved to Saginaw and has put their Bush River Road building up for sale.

Looking at their area of operations, I think coming back home to Michigan is going to be a bigger shock than coming back home to Columbia!

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

Molly Maid was the follow-on in this building to its original tenant Waffle House, opening in late 2016.

It appears that they have either moved to an Elmwood area office, or consolidated with an office there. At any rate, the phone number is the same, and the company is definitely still around.

The floor looks very well swept!

I can't find out much about Soda City Art, but from these third party profiles here and here, it appears they more into the fun side of printing than brouchures and the like, mentioning

Cosplay, Helmets, Armor, Prop Weapons, Digital Printing, Custom Decals, Banners & Signs.

Looking at Google Streetview, it appears they opened sometime after 2019, being definitely there in September of 2022 and being definitely gone in April of 2023.

7 Spices was the follow-on in this building to The Villa and opened in the Summer of 2023. I ate there twice, I think, and it was pretty good. Driving by recently, I noticed that it was gone and replaced by another Indian restaurant Hyderabad House. This appears to be more than a re-branding as the phone numbers are different, and the reviews (mostly positive) suggest the new place focuses more on "Nawabi style" dishes. I'm not exactly sure what that means given my limited knowledge of Indian regional cusine, but I will try to check it out at some point.

Commenter Tom mentioned that this hotel on Bush River Road at I-26 behind Cracker Barrel had a blank nameplate on the Market Pointe marquee. He thought it had been a Travelodge, and that looks correct, but that was some years ago. Most recently it was a Quality Inn & Suites. I can see from Google Streetview that that lasted at least into June 2023, so I'm guessing the latest reflagging was this year, and the place is now operating as Suburban Studios.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

When Schlotzsky's was on Parklane I made it a point to eat lunch there once a week. It wasn't that the veggie sandwich was that good in and of itself (it was ok), but the fact that I really liked the sourdough buns, which were always a nice change from other sandwich places.

When that location closed, I noticed that some of the staff had made it to this location abuting Dutch Square, on the corner of Bush River & North Arrowwood Roads. In the event given how far it was from home, this location never made it into my regular rotation, and I probably only ate there a half dozen times over the last ten years. I liked the fact that they had a Cinnabon concession, though I think I only partook once.

Driving by lately, I had noticed that the Cinnabon part of the sign looked to have been painted over, and recent reviews suggest the place was having other problems, but it's still a shame to see them go (though Google marks the closing as temporary, so we'll see).

Looking at the other closings for the chain, it appears that at some point they dropped the word "Deli" from their name, something I just noticed.

(Hat top to commenter BrianTR)

UPDATE 16 September 2024 -- The Schlotzsky's branding is down, and the place is prepping to become Wings Co.:

This is one of those places that I was never sure if it were still open or not. It certainly appeared not, but there are reviews up until a few months ago.

At any rate, it appears to be closed now, joining a long line of former restaurants in this building on the spur of Bush River Road sometimes known as Old Bush River Road.

New location:

I never ate at this Subway though I'm sure it would have been fine, but I had noticed it over the years, using Bush River Road to cut-through between I-20 & Saint Andrews Road. This little plaza is a bit awkwardly located though, right as Bush River goes from four lanes to two, and people are suddenly having to cut over. It also has to be said that Subway was the upscale tenant here, and were probably glad enough to move a little up the road.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

I'm not sure what's going on with the Murphy Express in front of the old Walmart on Bush River Road, but I noticed for two weeks running that there wasn't a gas price posted on the big roadside sign, so I drove back in there and found the station partly dug up and only selling premium gas. I didn't get any good pictures because the attendant came out and was giving me the stink-eye, though people driving around the place looking for a pump with regular could hardly be unusual...

If they are having tank problems, I don't know why they wouldn't put regular in the premium tank and continue on that way until the issue was fixed, but it struck me as very odd.

UPDATE 24 May 2024 -- Whatever issue they were having, it is resolved. They have posted the price for "Regular" again, and in fact since it was the best I saw all day, I stopped and filled up:

McCary's Bar & Grill (the sign suggests McCary's Sports Bar & Grille, but the Facebook page doesn't support that) shares a parking lot with the phone & loan building that featured here last week.

Judging from the Google reviews, this place probably closed around September of 2023, though given their last Facebook post was 22 June 2023, and there was a shooting there on 28 June 2023, it's possible they did not re-open after that.

I'm not sure how long ago this incarnation started, but the building has been a bar as long as I can recall. The reviews suggest there was not much Irish about it beyond the logo and name at this point, so possibly the ownership changed sometime in the past.

UPDATE 6 December 2023: Adding Kentucky Fried Chicken to the post title based on comments from KC & Brandon.

UPDATE 18 September 2024 -- Open again as The New McCary's Bar & Grill: