Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Commenter Badger points out this old quonset hut on Garners Ferry Road just east of the Old Garners Ferry Road fork. Regular google search doesn't bring up a lot of information about it, but we can get some old StreetView pictures to tie down two incarnations:

September 2007: A window tinting operation; I can't quite make out the name:

June 2008: I can't quite make out the name here either, but some sort of plant and/or produce stand:

August 2011: Still the same place I think, but with a better sign saying something like Produce & Plants Food Mart. If you move around a little the first word might be Mulligan's:

The plants and produce operation was gone by November 2014, and the place seems to have been vacant since then.

Discount Beer & Tobacco in the Luce strip mall on US-1 in Lexington is moving 1o 1600 West Main Street. This is several blocks East of the current location, and looks like it would be replacing perhaps Boost Mobile or Eagle Express at the corner of West Main (US-1) and Westside Drive.

This place was apparently also known as Day & Night Minimart. I thought it had been around forever, but the Google reviews suggest it was only since around Summer of 2023.

When I took these pictures, it was setting up to be a restaurant called The Flavor Spot, which may be open by now.

Commenter Gypsie notes that there is some kind of work going on here, which I also see. I wonder if it's to become a Seven-Eleven? If you google the address, that's one of the hits that comes up, though if you actually click on the link it's not available at the Seven-Eleven corporate site. Of course it's also possible it was previously a Seven-Eleven at some time.

UPDATE 16 April 2025 -- Interesting. There was work going on here as you can see in the previous pictures, but now the place is for sale:

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

Google Maps gives the name of this place as Pops Pops Pops, just as it is on the sign, but the Welcome To Pops sign inside suggests the official name is the more sedate (and simpler) one. It also appears they may have been a Pantry Express affiliate, though I did not see that branding displayed anywhere. At any rate, looking at Google Streetview, they have been closed since at least 2021. I find it a bit odd that the building has not been re-purposed by now, and that it is in such good shape.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

I'm not sure what the issue was here, this location, at the corner of Two Notch & Alpine, seems like a reasonably good one for a gas station, and closing shop leaves all the traffic to the Pitt Stop on the opposite corner. The store does look like it is a little smaller than the current Circle K buildouts, so that could be an issue, or they just could have gotten a good offer for the property, I suppose. At any rate, this circle is squared.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

UPDATE 18 March 2025 -- The place has been sold, though there is no indication yet what is coming:

As I was out looking for Shealey's PDQ Too, I ran across this old "Pure" sign, and had to get some pictures. I figured it was a remnant from the distant past, as I haven't seen a "Pure" station, well, ever, but maybe not so fast.

It turns out that the "Pure" brand was resurrected in 1996, and is now actually headquatered in Rock Hill. Google maps tells me that this sign is actually associated with a "Pure" gas & convenience location just to the north which apparently closed around 2023, and if I ever get out there again, I will get some pictures of that as well. Anyway, I still like the sign.

As far as I can tell this former Harbison Hess store is notable only for having a $300,000 lottery winner in 2021. I am pretty sure I never stopped there, and couldn't even remember where the place was the first time I went out to get some pictures. I know a number of local Speedway stores have closed recently, but if I had to guess, I would say in this case there was a specific plan for the property rather than the company having issues, or at least that's my assumption as the property is already fenced with demolition having started, I would not expect this spot to stay vacant for long.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

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:

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