Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

The Circle K at Clemson Road & I-20 is apparently undergoing the same teardown/rebuild of the gas islands that a number of other local stores have been through recently. I haven't kept good track of the time these conversions take, but it should be back in a month or so.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Guy)

UPDATE 2 October 2023 -- Still under construction:

This sort of gas station, with no convenience store, and kind of isolated restrooms seems to be on the way out nowdays. For a customer it has the advantage of easy access to pay, but from the store side, there's none of the goods where they really make their money. The corner seems like a good location for *something*, so we'll see what happens.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

As with the Circle K on Garners Ferry, this one, on Bush River Road just north of I-20 is undergoing some kind of pump-plaze remodeling.

I have stopped at this location a number of times, and I recall thinking that in the beginning it was a bit upscale for the chain, but the rest of them have passed it now with the latest upsizing and updating. One novel feature it has or had was the the extra wide sliding glass doors.

I keep meaning to go by and get some better pix and try to see what's really going on, but it looks to be the case that the whole pump plaza of the Circle K just east of Woodhill is being remodeled. I think I saw the actual store still open in the background, but I couldn't tell for sure.

Anyone know the story?

This building featured here a while ago as a Hot Spot, which was closed for a while, re-opened, and then converted to an O M Mart.

Now it appears that the O M Mart reflagged as a Sunoco at some point, and is now closed again, though apparently on a temporary basis.

(Hat tip to commenter Cindy)

UPDATE 6 March 2023 -- Not a good picture, but open again:

Commenter Tom mentioned that this Irmo Corner Pantry Exxon at the I-26 Peak exit had been torn down for the ongoing road work in the area. By the time I got to the area, there was really nothing left to see, but you can view the old building at this LoopNet listing and by clicking through to old images in Google Streetview.

(Hat tip to commenter Tom)

Williston Road is the connector between I-95 and US-301/US-76. Over the years I had noticed this small convenience store from time to time as I was driving the north route to the beach, and recently noticed that it was gone. What I had *not* noticed before, is that it directly abuts a cemetary (Either "Mizpah Cemetary" if you look at the sign or "Hinds Cemetary" if you look at google maps). You could probably infer a pretty good closing date by looking at the gas prices, but all I see from google reviews is that it was already closed "six months ago" (I don't know why google won't put a real date on all their reviews..).

If you look at the google photos it appears that they had a pool table inside, and maybe a bar/food area, but honestly they are too blurry to really tell.

The earliest Google Steetview I can find for this lot is from November of 2007, and shows the station still standing here, though apparently already closed. The next view from January of 2008 already shows the building the the process of being torn down.

LoopNet says it is a 1.1 acre site, and has been sold, so presumably a new convenience store/gas station will go up here as it is on an I-95 exit (Exit 157).

This convenience store and Exxon station at the edge of Shandon was formerly the full service Branham's Exxon. It had already done a remodel from that era to do away with the service bays, but the current tenant Gaz-Bah (also an Exxon) has temporarily closed to do another remodel.

As you can see from these pictures, the place has been completely gutted, and looks a good way from reopening.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin S).

As you can see from these two sets of pictures, the Circle K at the corner of Two Notch Road & the Trenholm Road Extension is closed, the pumps have been demolished, and apparently the storage tanks have been dug up, or that is the next step.

The store here was much smaller than the current Circle K style, and to me the lot does not look big enough to put in one on their new standard lines. In the case of a similar situation on Bethel Church, they removed the pumps and tanks and then put the building on the market. I expect they will do the same here, unless they go as far as razing the building entirely.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 28 February 2023 -- As mentioned again by commenter Thomas, this building has now been razed:

UPDATE 29 March 2023: Updating tags.

UPDATE 16 January 2024 -- Now a Valvoline Instant Oil Change: