Columbia Closings   What’s not in Columbia anymore

This is one of those storefronts and names (like another on Decker) that give away nothing about what the company actually does. The slogan General Merchandise Wholesale doesn't add much more to it.

Whatever Beniel did, it thought it was worthwhile to locate in a retail plaza rather than an office complex somewhere, so I guess they did count on the public stopping by.

High Point On Decker, with the Bi-Lo and McDonalds is one of the more successful strips on Decker, but I know this slot has turned over a few times in recent years. I don't recall the other tenants except that I'm pretty sure it was a computer store at one time. I distinctly recall taking my father's printer there for warranty work, and it being a bit of a problem that I hadn't bought it there.

UPDATE 23 March 2012: Added Pick-A-Flick & Moovies to the post title based on the comments. Also, apparently this was *not* the computer store, which was next door.

This building was built as a Taco Cid and I ate there from time to time in the 1980s. I believe that Bright Animal Clinic was the first, and so far only, operation to use the building since Taco Cid left.

The clinic's closing sign mentions that they were established in 1971, so a) This is obviously not their first location and b) That's a 40 year run, and sounds like a well deserved retirement.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the building. There still have been no takers for the nearby Olive Garden and Red Lobster buildings, but the nearby laundry does OK, and there should be a fair number of ofice workers in the area after the county finishes the takeover of Decker Mall.

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

UPDATE 18 April 2013 -- It's to be an Atlantic Seafood:

UPDATE 25 April 2013 -- The building sign is up:

Well, the curse of 2630 Decker Boulevard seems to have struck again.

La Estrella #2 after opening sometime after March 2010 has closed as of 5 January 2012. The sign on the door suggests that it will be back, but given that no date is specified, and given that the place was remodeled extensively already very recently, I am not optimistic.

I may have missed some, but I believe La Estrella #2 is the fifth Mexican restaurant to be in this building.

UPDATE 18 April 2013 -- Well, it's been obvious for some time that La Estrella is not coming back, but it's now official, with all the chain branding painted over, and the building up for lease:

Well, I'm pretty sure that this follow-up operation to Zorba's and The Captain's Kitchen is gone. Or at least I've driven by it several times on weekend evenings now with no signs of activity despite someone having left the roadside OPEN sign turned on.

I never quite knew what to make of the place. It was obviously a nightclub with a latin audience, but it seemed to be open erratically, and for some reason despite it having been a fully kitchened restaurant in all its previous incarnations, Patrons set up a cooking operation on the deck. I don't speak Spanish, but "Show De Bikini" seems clear enough, and the rest of the sign would seem to indicate that the place made it to its one year anniversary at least.

A realty "for-sale" sign remains on the property, and has been there a good long time. I don't know if the owners finally decided to get serious about selling and kicked out the tennants or if Patrons just went under financially.

UPDATE 9 February 2012 -- Well, it appears that the next operation to give this building a go will be Continental:

I was picking up some printer paper at Staples today, and noticed that the Goodwill in Fashion Place on Decker Boulevard at Trenholm Road Extension will be moving from the East (back) wing of the plaza to the North wing. The grand opening is slated for 15 September, and they have a moving sale going on now.

Their destination is, of course, the former Phar-Mor / Superpetz location.

UPDATE 30 September 2011 -- The move is done:

Well, another of the old-style "southwestern" Taco Bell locations has bitten the dust. This one is on Decker Boulevard sort of across from Dent Middle School and next to the old Popeye's / Aloha / Best China/ etc location. While I like the look of this older Taco Bell, the lot and building did have the disadvantage that the drive-through was done through the passenger side window, which is not optimal.

I also like that the manager (or whoever was assigned to do it) was apparently a gardener, taking care to put the "what variety is this" stakes out by the flower plantings.

With the closing of this building, the Taco Bell franchaise moves down towards Two Notch several blocks, setting up shop in a new building at the corner of Decker and Trenholm Road extension on the lot formerly housing Grandy's (whose forlorn building was finally torn down to make way for the new one).

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I was at Schlotzsky's on Parklane having lunch today when a guy came in looking for the DMV. Naturally, I sent him across Two Notch to Decker Mall: D'oh!

I realized my mistake as I drove down O'Neil Court just a little later, and saw that the DMV had relocated to the old Pro Golf of Columbia location in The Shops of O'Neil Court.

I suspect this has something to do with the purchase of Decker Mall by Richland County, though I would have expected the two different levels of government to work out a deal of some sort for the space.

V.I.C. Fashions was in the little Food Lion/Rite Aid strip shopping center in-between Decker Park Road and Brookfield Road. I don't know what V.I.C. stood for, but according to their still extant Myspace page:

We specialize in urban wear, New fashions, shoes, novelty items, anything thats hot, we have! From Request to Diesel, we have all the latest designs and fashion in stock.

I like the facade and walkway of this plaza. It has an old-time look sort of as I recall the original Forest Lake Shopping Center looking.

This south corner space in a Decker strip mall has been a number of things over the years. Columbia Importis a name I get by reading the label-scar visible in the picture, and not one I remember directly. The Pulse comes from reading the marquee on this building in Google Streetview, and finally Passion is the current sign, and the only one I specifically recall.

It was a latin nightclub, and when I would come off of I-77 onto Decker on Friday or Saturday nights, there would always be quite a crowd outside, until one night I drove by, and that side of the road was filled with flashing blue lights. I'm not sure what happened, or if that was the actual end of the club, but I don't recall having seen it open afterwards. I would say that at this point it has been boarded up for at least a year, which strikes me as a bit odd as the rest of the plaza is kept in reasonable shape, and it can't be helping property values.

I'm not exactly sure when this restaurant on Decker just South of Faraway Drive closed since it never really caught my attention until I noticed the ongoing work there. It appears that it will be re-opened as a bar, or at least as a place with an ABC permit. With the applicant's name being Seductive LLC, it might even be a strip club though presumably that would put paid to all the front window space.