Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Judging from the Google reviews, this place probably closed sometime this Spring. The closing is also marked "Temporary", but we'll see. You might think that sitting across from two campuses of hungry kids would be a good place for a sandwich shop, but I have to say that the Google reviews have about the highest concentration of one star ratings I have seen anywhere, so perhaps you really can't sell sizzle.

When I went to do a closing for Swiff, I noticed that it was in the old Strictly Running location, and I had never done one for that, so let me do that here as well.

Athletic gear retailer (and event sponsor) Strictly Running moved to 2515 Devine Street some time ago -- Google Reviews suggests around 2016.

Swiff started as a popup store various places around town such as Soda City Market and opened this storefront for locally designed fashion in February of 2022 as reported in The State. The Free Times reports a bit more about the motivation and background for the brand.

Although the store is closed, Swiff remains online.

(Hat tip to commenter Deanna)

As mentioned in the closing for New Brookland Tavern, that operation will be moving to this famous storefront on Harden Street. What wasn't clear to me from the stories (The State & The Free Times) was exactly what was to happen to The Cotton Gin. When I went by Five Points a few weeks ago, it appeared to still be open, and there are recent Google reviews. I still have not seen anything in the media pinning things down, but judging from their Instagram feed, it appears that 25 November will be the last day for The Cotton Gin.

It appears this storefront, once home to Sylvan & DuBose Jewelers was the leasing office for student housing complex The Nine Columbia sometime after the jewelers left and before Febuary 2022 (judging by Google Streetview). The marquee was still up at least until January 2023, but has now been taken down.

I was not really aware of The Nine, but apparently it is at 1400 Huger and part of the radical increase of off-campus student housing which has sprung up over the last few years. I was a bit curious to see that the reviews are very much mixed.

This location of The Southern Belly opened in the 2015 timeframe, and apparently ran concurrently with their Rosewood location for a while. There was no media notice of this closing, and google still thinks they are open.

Their Facebook page, however, suggests that they were "Gone With The Wind" as of 11 December 2022.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

Upstairs Audio had been in this location for as long as I can remember, and I just noticed the other day that it was gone.

I never actually went there, but for years, every time we would go to The Parthenon next door, we would end up parking in one of Upstairs Audio's very ominously marked "Upstairs Audio Only -- Towing Enforced!" spots. Of course it was after hours, so nothing ever actually happened, but it was always in the back of my mind that this could be the night some new guy on the tow service wanted to enforce the letter of the law.

Looking at their still extant web site, the final message is a, in retrospect, worrying one:

BIGGEST Sale Ever
We're changing thew way we do business.
(We are going to start selling by appointment only.)

Judging from the google reviews dated only as "A year ago", it appears that they closed shop sometime around mid 2021.

UPDATE 8 November 2022: Fixed grammar. Added a picture.

Here's the flipside of a previous post. The Turning Pointe recently moved to this, the former site of Cribbs Bakery from Forest Drive.

In between those two operations, this was a customer service center for Time Warner Cable which later rebranded as Spectrum. I'm not sure exactly when they moved out, but I'm thinking around 2020.

UPDATE 30 August 2022: Adjusting tags, adding "Moved" to the post title, and adding this picture of the new location:

Driving on Laurel Street recently, I noticed that something is going on at the public housing development of Allen Benedict Court. I recalled that there had been a fatal gas leak there in 2019, but had missed the follow-up that all the residents had been moved out and the place scheduled for demolition this month.

The development, in the square bounded by Harden Street, Read Street, Oak Street & Laurel Street, was built in 1940 and in those Jim Crow days was the Black counterpart to the Whites only Gonzales Gardens, which was itself recently demolished.

This State article has some reflections on the history of the complex, which went from a safe place to raise kids in the beginning to problematic in recent years. According to WLTX final enviromental testing before demolition has begun.

UPDATE 15 November 2021 -- As of the time of these pictures, (23 October 2021), it looks like demolition is complete, though the rubble has not been cleared. There does appear to be one building which has been left. For historical purposes perhaps?

Well I hope everybody had a great holiday season, and wish you all a Happy New Year! I know *I* am not sad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror, and now as the new year starts, it's time to ramp up to a more normal posting volume again.

Grilled Teriyaki in Five Points proves how wrong my intuition can be: I recall thinking when it opened that it would never last a year. In the event, while I'm not sure exactly when they opened anymore, I know it was closer to twenty years ago than one!

The State has a rather terse article noting the closing. Apparently few details are available, but I'm going to guess that COVID-19 played a big role here. As of yet, there is no new tenant in the offing.

(Hat tip to commenter Sidney)

UPDATE 5 January 2021: Added the map icon, which I forgot initially.

UPDATE 8 February 2022: -- The State reports this spot is to become Furusato Bento Japanese Restaurant.