Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I got a little behind the times here, missing two in a row.

The Southern Belly opened a location in this spot around 2018 after Spork closed. They lasted apparently until 2022.

After that, Krab Kingz opened on 21 April 2022, as detailed in this State story. They also folded in somehow the Hook Fish & Chicken operation from River Drive after they closed.

Krab Kingz seems to have folded sometime in 2024, with the last archived web page I can find from October 2023. I believe they were part of a national chain which still exists.

Now the place is Best Wings Of Columbia.

Hook Fish & Chicken is aparently a chain of sorts, though it's not clear to me that all the locations are closely related. At any rate, they were the follow-on operation in this building at 3600 River Drive to Lamb's Bread. Going by their Facebook page, they moved in January of this year to the row of shops on Colonial Life Boulevard which houses The Melting Pot:

We are more than happy to announce we will be back up and running THIS Saturday, January 14th.
We are coming back stronger than ever with a new partnership with KrabKingz! Come and see us at 1410 colonial life blvd Columbia sc 29210!!
We know you missed us, because we missed you!!!!!!! See y’all Saturday!

I didn't realize when I took the pictures that they had moved, or I would have tried to get some shots of the new location.

Here is The State on the opening in March of 2022.

UPDATE 19 June 2023 -- Here is the Krab Kingz location on Colonial Life:

UPDATE 1 October 2024 -- Hope springs eternal. Now River Grill House Of Pizza. I can't find any online presence, but House Of Pizza restaurants are traditionally run by Greek families:

UPDATE 5 February 2025 -- River Grill & Pizza is now open:

I am a little surprised that this storefront has a Bush River Road address, as it clearly fronts onto Colonial Life Boulevard, and is quite removed from the part of this strip mall which does face Bush River (though that part doesn't have a turn-in from Bush River either). Anyway, that aside, I'm afraid I never visited this Blimpie, and can't recall visiting any Blimpie. I certainly like sandwiches, but to me Dagwood's in Surfside is the gold standard here, and it's more table service than fast food.

(Hat tip to commenter Barbara)

I hadn't checked in on Colonial Village on Colonial LIfe Boulevard for a while, and driving through the other day noticed a spa storefront I don't recall seeing before.

I am unfamiliar with this type of salt spa, but apparently it is helpful with breathing issues. In late 2016, they moved to 817 Moss Creek Drive in Cayce, and you can check out their web site and Facebook page for details.

Furniture stores are generally kind of invisible to be, so I'm not sure exactly how long Havertys has been across from Dutch Square, but cerainly for decades. Now, like everything else, it is moving to Harbison.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 21 March 2018 -- The Harbision location is now open:

Well, I noticed driving down Colonial Life Boulevard the other day that Nutrition Warehouse has moved again.

I had mentioned some time ago that they had moved from one side of Boozer Shopping Center to the other, but now they have moved out of that strip entirely and across Bush River Road to the old Sounds Familiar location at 422 Bush River Road #4 (this lot actually fronts onto Colonial Life Boulevard, but that is not the official address):

I admit I'm not a big supplement customer, but I have shipped a number of items at the Forest Drive location, and their contract Post Office is quite efficient.

I have to admit I was not really aware of The Village Gourmet, but according to the nice little note currently still on their web site, the place had been there over 17 years. I have to say the lunch menu looks quite good, and I wouldn't have minded trying a grilled four cheese croissant at all!

It looks as though another eatery is already setting up shop in the space, Spork Food And Beverage Cafe.

(Hat tip to commenter Jason)

Fashion's Unlimited was the follow-on operation in this building to S & K Menswear. I had noticed it several times driving through the area, but had never managed to get pictures to update the S & K post until quite recently.

When I posted them, commenter Andrew mentioned that he thought Fashion's Unlimited was already itself gone despite the prominent "Now Open" banner, so next time I was in the area, I stopped to make a closer check.

According to the door sign, it turns out that Fashion's Unlimited has moved into Dutch Square and that this building is now on the market again. Given the length of time that the old Sounds Familiar storefront has stayed vacant, I don't expect any quick turnaround.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

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All I know about Curves is that it is a franchaised gym for women. I do rather like the idea the name suggests: that being fit isn't the same thing as being a bony stick.

Colonial Village, the little strip across from Dutch Square on the way to I-126, has never really seemed to thrive. To me it seems like it should be a good location, but the only thing of note that has lasted over there is The Melting Pot.