Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Carolina Barber Shop in Five Points is moving after being in this spot since 1937, making it about 87 years by my math, which is pretty extraordinary.

The Post & Courier reports that the property was sold in 2021, and now the owners want to make space for a restaurant. I don't see a definite date for the closing, and there is still nothing on the shop's Facebook or web site, but apparently they must be gone by sometime in July (depending on when the 90 day notice the story mentions started).

The owners want to move, but I have seen no information on a new location yet.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

When I went to do a closing for Swiff, I noticed that it was in the old Strictly Running location, and I had never done one for that, so let me do that here as well.

Athletic gear retailer (and event sponsor) Strictly Running moved to 2515 Devine Street some time ago -- Google Reviews suggests around 2016.

Swiff started as a popup store various places around town such as Soda City Market and opened this storefront for locally designed fashion in February of 2022 as reported in The State. The Free Times reports a bit more about the motivation and background for the brand.

Although the store is closed, Swiff remains online.

(Hat tip to commenter Deanna)

As mentioned in the closing for New Brookland Tavern, that operation will be moving to this famous storefront on Harden Street. What wasn't clear to me from the stories (The State & The Free Times) was exactly what was to happen to The Cotton Gin. When I went by Five Points a few weeks ago, it appeared to still be open, and there are recent Google reviews. I still have not seen anything in the media pinning things down, but judging from their Instagram feed, it appears that 25 November will be the last day for The Cotton Gin.

It appears this storefront, once home to Sylvan & DuBose Jewelers was the leasing office for student housing complex The Nine Columbia sometime after the jewelers left and before Febuary 2022 (judging by Google Streetview). The marquee was still up at least until January 2023, but has now been taken down.

I was not really aware of The Nine, but apparently it is at 1400 Huger and part of the radical increase of off-campus student housing which has sprung up over the last few years. I was a bit curious to see that the reviews are very much mixed.

I still think of this store as fairly new, but according to all the closing stories, it's been here about 20 years now. I also had it in my head that it stayed open later in the evening than the other local stores, but I can't verify that now, and for the final run, it's only open to 6PM, which is kind of ridiculous for a coffee bar in an entertainment district.

The company hasn't given any specific reasons for closing this stor, but I do note that it has no drive-through. You can read the story in The State, or at WLTX.

I'm trying to think if I ever stopped at this store, and I believe I did, once, about five years ago. It was your standard Starbucks experience.

(Hat tip to commenter Russell)

This location of The Southern Belly opened in the 2015 timeframe, and apparently ran concurrently with their Rosewood location for a while. There was no media notice of this closing, and google still thinks they are open.

Their Facebook page, however, suggests that they were "Gone With The Wind" as of 11 December 2022.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

Upstairs Audio had been in this location for as long as I can remember, and I just noticed the other day that it was gone.

I never actually went there, but for years, every time we would go to The Parthenon next door, we would end up parking in one of Upstairs Audio's very ominously marked "Upstairs Audio Only -- Towing Enforced!" spots. Of course it was after hours, so nothing ever actually happened, but it was always in the back of my mind that this could be the night some new guy on the tow service wanted to enforce the letter of the law.

Looking at their still extant web site, the final message is a, in retrospect, worrying one:

BIGGEST Sale Ever
We're changing thew way we do business.
(We are going to start selling by appointment only.)

Judging from the google reviews dated only as "A year ago", it appears that they closed shop sometime around mid 2021.

UPDATE 8 November 2022: Fixed grammar. Added a picture.

When we were growing up, I got the feeling my parents thought paying someone else to wash your car was a bit frivolous. They weren't wrong, but we still went to Constan from time to time, as much, I think, because it was an adventure for us kids as for any other reason. There was Happy The Tiger, and then the whole experience of watching your car go through the automated line, like something out of a futuristic TV show. Not only that, but once you were inside, the lobby had its own odd ambiance with a genuine elevated shoe-shine stand on which you could sit like a king on a throne, and various sorts of ice-cream novelties and candy you could get if your parents were in a good mood.

I don't know that much about the business other than the name came from combining that of the two owners "Connie & Stan", and that they once had a second location on Forest Drive, somewhere around where McAlister's & Bonefish now are.

Once I had a car, I would sometimes take it to Constan when I was back in town for the weekend, but once I moved back to Columbia, I found that Frank's on Forest Drive was more convenient to me. I thought from time to time about going back to Constan for old times' sake, but in the event never got around to it. Folks in the comments are saying that it had gone down hill, but it had been at least ten years since I stopped by, so I really can't say.

Here is the story The State did on the closing.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Bill)

Update 4 November 2023 -- Being razed:

This little building on the stub end of Senate Street has been many things over the years, including The Cock Lounge, Ribby's, Gilligan's, Your Mom's House & Good Times.

Harambe's Ethiopian Restaurant was the most recent tenant, and judging by this owner's response to a google review:

Harambe Ethiopian Resturant had flood a week a go everything is gone the Resturant is closed for good

shut down sometime in June or July.

After walking that boardwalk to the front door, I think the first thing the next owner will have to do is tear it up or fix it -- I felt like it could give way at any step.

(Hat tip to commenter Deanna)

UPDATE 9 March 2023 -- Apparently to become The Village:

UPDATE 30 October 2023 -- The Village is now open, but I am unable to find a menu or any info online yet:

Here's the flipside of a previous post. The Turning Pointe recently moved to this, the former site of Cribbs Bakery from Forest Drive.

In between those two operations, this was a customer service center for Time Warner Cable which later rebranded as Spectrum. I'm not sure exactly when they moved out, but I'm thinking around 2020.

UPDATE 30 August 2022: Adjusting tags, adding "Moved" to the post title, and adding this picture of the new location: