Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

20!20 Vision has moved to 1600 St Julian Place, leaving this Blossom Street building in Five Points vacant. This building has always had a slightly odd look to me, and the LoopNet listing says that's because it was "the first bank in 5 Points". Not sure what the bank affiliation was, but that does explain the boarded up spot that was a teller window I guess (though Blossom would have had to have been less wide then).

The Horseshoe replaced Kildare's Irish Pub in the summer of 2014, and is the most recent of a long line of bars and restaurants in this spot (going back, at least, to Kester's Bamboo House). The building is now for sale, so we will have to see what happens.

According to The State, this place is a casualty of a work to rule enforcement of SC's liquor laws, which has hit a number of college bars in Five Points. It strikes me that it may be a case of killing the golden goose, but the scene had been getting out of hand, sometimes fatally, in recent years.

Cellar On Greene is on the West side of the Claussen's building, and adjacent to another restaurnt under the same ownership, Mr. Friendly's. I have never been by, but google says:

Creative pub plates are doled out in a chic space with wines, craft beers & a retail wine shop.

The owner says the place will probably become a catering operation, Fat Beagle Catering. The State has the story here.

To the best of my memory, I have only eaten at the Korean/Southwestern Blue Cactus Cafe once, probably in the late 80s, when it lived up to its reputation of being quirky and slow, but with good food. Since then, it has changed ownership within the family, and has now finally closed.

The Free Times has the story.

The storefront is in an interesting location: A sort of sunken walkway along the front (back?) of a large building with many other tenants. It's not hard to get to, other than the usual Five Points parking issues, but if you are just driving by, you would never know it was there.

(Hat tip to commenter ED)

I did not realize until I googled Portfolio that these pictures are of the back side of the gallery: 2007 Devine Street. I'll have to get some pictures of the main entrance next time I am in the area.

I am always nervous to go into commercial art galleries because I know that although I like art a good bit, there is approximately a zero percent chance that I will buy another painting I have no place to hang. I am particularly afraid of being the only potential customer in the store and having to dissapoint the owner. Of course there are a lot of topics like this that I'm neurotic about. So anyway, I never went into Portfolio but The State story on the closing makes it sound quite an interesting place which had been there since 1980. The owner is going on to a well deserved retirement.

(Hat tip to commenter Summer)

UPDATE 6 April 2020 -- Here's one more picture, from 1 February 2015:

Costume store Hip-Wa-Zee in Five points is closing next month. The State has the story. Most of this block has been in flux in recent years as it is apparently going to be completely redeveloped:

The developer, California based Campus + Main, has said it plans to build a mixed use space with the possibility of retail, office and residential units. Most likely a complete rebuild of most of the 900 block is in store.

The store opened in 1999, making for an impressive twenty year run. But in the end, as with so many other stores currently, the Internet was the deciding factor:

The one change that proved hardest to deal with was the growth of internet retail. When a developer who had bought up the rest of her block on Harden Street approached her about selling, she put him off for a year while she looked for a new location. But after an extensive search and seeing the changing retail landscape, Minerd came to the hard decision that it was time to sell and close up shop.

I didn't see a final closing date in The State, or WOLO stories, but the closing sale is ongoing, and you should probably get there soon.

According to The State Delany's which has been open for almost 20 years will be closing on Friday 30 November 2018.

Delaney's Speakeasy, a jazz club down the street, was once under the same ownership as Delaney's. It was sold first, and then Delaney's itself was sold last year (it's not clear from the story, but I'm guessing not to the same party that bought Speakeasy).

In theory I have Irish roots, but in practice I've never been a pub goer, and never took the opportunity to visit Delaney's. From these pictures (taken several years ago), it looks like it would be a pleasant al-fresco experience in the spring or fall.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

Hmm. I'll admit I wasn't really aware there was a jazz club in Five Points. And I guess now, there's not. The State has the story. Apparently the place has been sold, though there is no information yet on what the next tenant will be.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin S)

I guess this train-stationesque building just was not meant to house a fast casual Mexican chain. If you will recall, this was the location of Qdoba until May of 2015, meaning that Salsarita's lasted about three years. The State's report is here.

Despite some stumbles locally in recent years, I have always been a Moe's partisan in the burritto wars. I hate the ambience at Chipolte, Qdoba burrittos always fell apart on me, and Barbaritos, at least locally, is Moe's lite, without the availability of ground beef. I had not really had an opinion on Salsarita's, not having been to one until recently. Finally having done that (though not at this location), I was a little weirded out when the staff took over my tray and brought it out to a table which was not the one I had been planning on. I honestly can't recall much about the food itself.

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

UPDATE 12 March 2019 -- Now a TD bank:

Jimmy John's is pretty much my goto sub chain(*). I have walked into Jersey Mike's several times, never seen anything I wanted to eat and walked out, Sub Station II doesn't have unsweet tea, Subway is OK, but the one I had most access to for several years kept the thermostat on sub-zero and I had to stop going. The only issue I have with Jimmy John's is the way they core out the bread for your sandwich. If they are going to do that, you ought to get the bread core too -- you paid for it.

That said, I have never eaten at this one as Forest Drive is closer and has parking. At any rate, as reported by commenter MB, it is now closed. I find it curious how completely it is stripped as they were still doing Facebook postings as late as 19 May.

The only other things I will note about this location is that my cousin worked there at one time, and that it was robbed at gun (or maybe finger) point in 2016.

(*) Here: At the beach, Dagwoods in Surfside is the holy grail.

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

UPDATE 12 March 2019 -- Now a Sub Station II:

UPDATE 28 September 2022: Updating tags.