Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I don't really have any information on this Decker Boulevard hair salon other than it seems to have been open into the spring of 2021 and got generally good reviews. I thought I might have noted previous business in this storefront, but that appears not to be the case, although several in this strip mall have featured here.

I noticed this vacant building on my most recent drive down Leesburg Road, obviously at one time it was the site of Agape Hair Salon, which google establishes has moved down the road to 1701 Leesburg Road. (Yelp puts the date as 2013).

It's tough to see anything going into this space without a major upfit. I suspect it will eventually be torn down.

I believe I first photographed this strip back in 2008 when Hollywood Video closed, and this unit was a Nationwide insurance office. Google suggests that at some point between then and now, it was
Alter Ego Hair Salon. Streetview for 2018 shows the slot already vacant, so doing a blue-sky guess (not confirmed by any phonebook) that that closed in the 2016 timeframe.

I was at Pizza Palace last weekend, and noticed that the Jolidan African Hair Braiding salon in the same plaza had closed. Given how hard COVID-19 has been on all salons & barbers, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case here.

This old-school barber shop on Taylor Street is yet another casualty of COVID-19.

It appears they tried to stick it out, but in the end could not make it through the lockdown period.

(Hat tip to commenter Frank Mancuso)

UPDATE 3 September 2020: Commenter John R mentions that this storefront used to be a Krispy Kreme, so I have added that to the post title. I knew there was one somewhere around here. It used to be that when my aunt would come up from Jacksonville on the Silver Star, we would stop here to pick up warm doughnuts to eat while we waited and then continue down to the Seaboard station to meet her train (which would arrive fairly late at night).

Google tags this spot as "temporarily closed", but there is a real estate sign in front now, so my guess is they closed during the initial stages of COVID-19 and were not able to hang on until the reopening of barber shops and salons a few weeks ago.

Looking for this address also turns up a LoopNet page which reveals it was also formerly a Chiropractor's office.

I have noticed this building on Broad River Road for two things over the years. First, there are all the mirrors (and in fact I think it used to have more mirrors on the outside walls than it does now when they are mainly confined to the roofline), and second for the fact that one address did double duty as both a used car lot and a hair salon: One on the outside, and one on the inside.

RealtyTrac says the building was put up in 1987, with seems about right, and LoopNet has a really nice picture that confirms what I was remembering about the mirrors above.

I'm not sure about 2019 for the closing date, but it seems only fairly recently have I noticed the building vacant.

I have had my eye on this building, just past Maurice's, for years, as despite there having been a number of businesses in it, I never saw that any of them were ever open. Or at least that's how it appeared to me.

I have more pictures somewhere, and when they turn up, I will post them.

At any rate, it appears that after Tres Bien left, the place got a major facelift, though it does not as yet seem to be leased.

UPDATE 7 June 2019 -- Here are some (not all) of the additional pictures I mentioned. These date from 13 March 2016, so I am changing the date in the post title from "2018" to "2016".

UPDATE 10 July 2019 -- Interesting, Here's what's not coming to this spot:

The owner of a Mauldin massage parlor has withdrawn her request to open one near downtown Columbia.

Yuzhen Zhu had applied with the Columbia Board of Zoning Appeals for a special exception to permit a massage parlor on Beltline Boulevard near Devine Street. The U-Relax Massage parlor would have been located next door to Maurice’s barbecue at 714 N. Beltline Blvd.

City Council member Moe Baddourah said city staff told him the request has been withdrawn permanently.

I noticed in my visit to Columbia Mall back in March that there was an empty storefront on the upper level for Frontline Hair Designs.

As it turns out, they have moved, and have been open again since April in their new location at 9557 Two Notch Road Suite H. This is in the Sesqui Center shopping center just east of Spring Valley. You can check out their Facebook page here.

I've noticed Claire Tower at the corner of Senate & Marion Streets from time to time over they years because it stands out as not typical for the area, the section of Senate Street between the State House and Pickens Street which is an area I have always thought of in connection with the old museums and planetarium as well as the State Library.

I did not know that a hair color salon was in the street level of the towers, but it was, and got quite good Yelp reviews.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)