Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Sunrise Florida chain Pet Supermarket opened in the old Eckerd's / Rite Aid on Harden Street in the fall of 2017, and The State had the story here.

Now, three years later, the place is having a liquidation sale prior to shutting down.

Interestingly, The State story mentions that the building was subdivided with about 25% left for another business to occupy, something, which as far as I know, never happened.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

The Barn was the follow-on operation in this Harden Street storefront to Pop's NY Pizza.

The State notes this place's closing in an October 2019 story, and puts it down to the Harpootlian crusade. Ironically in the story they ran to note the opening in February 2017 the focus was on how The Barn would *not* be just another college-catering late night joint.

This LoopNet listing for the property has a picture of The Barn signage still in place.

This one came and went before I had even heard of it.

Sneaky Pete's was the follow-on operation in this below-street suite to longtime Columbia fixture Blue Cactus Cafe.

According to The State, Sneaky Pete's opened in October of 2019, and according to The Free Times closed on 9 December 2019, with the owner stating:

[it was] an environment unsuited for his “family-style restaurant.”

ColaDaily profiled the place during its brief run and gives some interesting information on the theme:

Occupying the former Blue Cactus location, Sneaky Pete’s seeks to evoke an atmosphere of Depression era dining from the art deco sign at the entrance to entrees like Booze Runner Wings, Prohibition BLT, and Tommy Gun Nachos.

And so it begins..

When my parents were still living, we ate at Yesterday's fairly often. In recent years, I have only gone a few times, but never worried about it, as I figured it would always be there. Hopefully they will come back.

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I was not aware of the tea-derived drink called Kombucha until I saw the news of this place closing. From the Coladaily article on the opening of The Favored Life in March of 2019, it sounds like an interesting process:

For those who are unfamiliar with the fermented drink, Gramblin described the process the tea undergoes to become kombucha: “First you start with sweet tea, and you put it in a fermentation jar. I use a ‘scoby,’ which [stands for] a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast – you have to grow it,” she said. “You stick them inside the gallon jar, and that eats the sugar out of the sweet tea, and outputs CO2. It takes all the sweetness out and replaces it with that fizzy taste.” She then removes the scoby, strains the liquid, and adds flavor with organic juices. The whole process takes approximately two weeks.

I like tea, but I'm not sure about fizzy tea. I guess I'm not against trying some. At any rate, as the Free Times reported, Columbia was possibly not ready for Kombucha, and The Favored Life closed its doors as a retail establishment in September or October of 2019.

I don't believe I was ever in Pecknel Music in Five Points, but I was certainly aware that it was there for most of my life.

The State had the story a while before they moved. It was basically a changing market, the lease being up, and certain physical issues:

For instance, the present store’s repair shop is on the second floor, with no elevator.

“You get tired of carrying tubas up the stairs,” Morgan said.

The new location is 930 N Lake Drive in Lexington, which seems to be the Food Lion/Books-A-Million plaza.

And let me refer back to this converstation between commenters Terry & Dennis for some ancient Pecknel Five Points history:

I thought John Futch worked in a music store in 5 Points back around 1970. They had this high powered amp with a huge metal horn mounted on a base with a dolly called The Mother Dude that they kept by the front door. I'm thinking this place was on Harden near the location of the original Backpacker.

Terry

Terry -- wow! I saw the Mother Dude! I heard it in action once in the middle of Five Points and the police showed up immediately. This was at Pecknel's right after they had moved to their current building. For years before that they were across the street where Sid & Nancy's is now.

Dennis

(Hat tip to commenter Matt)

UPDATE 5 April 2020 -- Here are a few pictures I just found of Pecknel from 1 February 2015:

I didn't have time to stop and get good shots, but longtime Five Points staple, Sylvan & DuBose is closing. The State has the story:

Sylvan & DuBose Jewelers in Five Points is closing after nearly a century in business.

Owner Bruce DuBose is retiring., and his children, Matthew and Laura, who are the fifth generation to work at the store, don’t want to take over the business, he said.

“”I’m old,” DuBose, 68, said with a laugh. “I’m tired. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

The store at 622 Harden St. will close at the end of the year, he said.

I only go to jewelers when I have wristwatch issues, so I don't think I've ever been in this store, but I've certainly been aware of the name for my entire life. It will be interesting to see what is next here. Apparently the family owns the building, and will nix a bar as the follow-on operation.

Currently, the closing sale is ongoing.

(Hat tip to commenter Beth)

I noticed today that the One Stop / Shell at the corner of Gervais and Harden streets is remodeling. A lot of Circle Ks have been doing this recently -- I don't know if this is to compete, or if it was just time.

UPDATE 26 November 2019 -- Open again:

This bar in the Old Parthenon location is another casualty of the drive to enforce liquor license terms in Five Points establishments.

I don't know anything specific about The Thirsty Parrot, but it did make the news in 2018 when there was a shooting in the doorway.

UPDATE 23 July 2019 -- Commenter Sidney points out this place is not closed. I had read this State story which mentioned the building was being sold, and jumped to the wrong conclusion. D'oh!

Well I don't have a lot to say about 5 Points Roost, having never been in. The place is another casualty of Dick Harpootlian's liquor license enforcement project.

I suspect the most fondly remembered operation in this spot remains Frank's Hotdogs.