Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I never visited Royal India Bazaar, though I always assumed it was connected to the adjacent Village Of India, which I have eaten at and enjoyed.

Commenter Brandon says that it was there for at least 20 years (which would predate the restaurant) and was very nice to shop at.

I have always thought of this shopping center as the "Big Lots" plaza, but I guess I will have to change that mnemonic going forward.

(Hat tip to commenter Brandon)

This store closed as a Bi-Lo in January of 2020, and opened as a Pig not too long thereafter. Now that run, too, has come to an end. (You can actually see more pictures of it as a Pig in the linked post, as I did not get over there while the Bi-Lo was still open).

Given there are multiple groceries in the area (probably a big factor here), I doubt the next tenant will be one, but we'll have to see.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

This building first featured here when it closed as a Pig in 2013. In late 2015 it re-opened as a KJ's IGA, lasting about seven years (which is longer than I had thought actually. WHere does the time go?).

I associate the IGA brand with smaller towns, but KJ's has brought several of them to the Columbia market, and as far as I know, the others are doing OK.

Now that two groceries have closed in this space, I would expect the next tenant to be something different.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath).

UPDATE 30 September 2022 -- Signage is down:

Anyone know what is going on with Lowes Foods at Sandhill? They are apparently having a two day closure this week for some reason. The store has only been open a few months, it seems kind of early for a remodel.

Here's another consequence of the Bi-Lo/Food Lion deal: The Food Lion on Platt Springs road has vacated its original location and has moved into the old Bi-Lo site on Emanuel Church Road. As of yet, there is nothing in the building.

UPDATE 10 May 2021 -- Here is the relocated store in its new location at 2916 Emanuel Church Road:

I was out driving US-1 through Batesburg-Leesville the other day, something I have not done in years, possibly not since I started this blog. Anyway, I noticed this old Winn-Dixe location, which is now a Roses Express, which I suppose designates a smaller Roses, though I don't believe I have seen one before.

Winn-Dixie left the state in 2005 after a bankruptcy, so I will use that as the closing date here.

I thought I was done with Bi-Lo closings, but as commenter Andrew reminded me, I had missed this one in West Columbia just East of I-26. I can only recall stopping at this store once when it was Bi-Lo. I was driving through late at night and for some reason got a hankering for cinnamon rolls, the kind that come in the little aluminum trays with the white frosting on top. I don't think I've bought any since then, but they did hit the spot.

I get the impression that KJ's is using the IGA infrastructure to build their own brand. This one, unlike the one near the flea market, doesn't even have the IGA logo on the front, though I did see IGA products on the shelves. I didn't buy anything, but it looked fine inside, probably a notch above Food Lion.

The plaza where this store is located is unusual in that it doesn't seem to have a name.

Well, this may be the final Bi-Lo closing, unless I go farther afield. This store on US-378 started out as a Piggly Wiggly more than twenty years ago, and now with the sale of Bi-Lo has come full circle. It's nice to see a new Pig open, as that chain has been having its own problems. It seems that the crew who wanted to stay on were able to, which is nice. ColaDaily has the story.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

This store has been discussed several times in Have Your Say, but I had not yet gotten around to doing a closing on it. This Bi-Lo was out on the Charleston Highway not too far North of the I-26/I-77 interchange. As mentioned in this State story which I have linked many times, it was part of the package deal moving a number of local Bi-Lo stores to the Food Lion family. I did not drive by during the closing sale, but according to the article, the final day was expected to be 24 January, and as you can see, the Food Lion is now up and running.

This closing was announced so long ago that I have several months-old daylight sets of pictures -- which will turn up eventually. I know I have stopped at this store a number of times over the years, and it was fine, though I did not particularly like coming back out onto Saint Andrews Road going left as I think there is no left arrow at Piney Grove.

In the final event, this is another Bi-Lo destined to be come a Food Lion. This State article, which I have probably linked before, has the details.

I do note that their street sign leaves their product line rather open-ended: "Food &".

(Lots of chatter about this, but I think commenter Andrew gets the hat tip for the closing signs going up).

UPDATE 20 May 2021 -- The Food Lion is up and running now: