Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I'm not sure what's going on at Village At Sandhill, but quite a lot of it is cordoned off for construction with Enter At Your Own Risk signs. The blocks still having shops have walkways to the doors, but some buildings look completely encased...

I'm pretty sure I've shopped at Rack Room Shoes a time or two, but never at this location, just down from Belks. The signage is already down and the place pretty throughly stripped, so I'm guessing it was probably gone by mid-April at the latest.

(Hat tip to commenter Local Reader)

Commenter Andrew point to this ColaDaily article about the closing of the Village Artists gallery in Sandhill.

Apparently the site had been open since 2009 and had the use of their space at no charge as long as no paying customer needed it (an instance where the general situation at Sandhill was actually a plus). In the event, somebody finally did want to rent the space for expansion, so the gallery had to close.

I had noticed the place a number of times over the years, generally when I was going to Atlanta Bread Company/Panera, but for one reason or another never actually went inside.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

I first wrote about this place back in 2007 in one of the earliest posts on this site. At the time, I was noting that it had ceased to be an Atlanta Bread Company. At some point after that, Panera moved in.

I ate there a number of times over the years, and considered it fairly well managed, especially compared to some of the other local locations, but looking at Yelp suggests it had begun to slip some lately.

The last reviews seem to be from the early April timeframe, which would put it during the current crisis. The door sign does not give that as a cause, just noting that they have "relocated" to Killian Road. Perhaps that was the plan all along. Certainly Sandhill is not a hot location now, especially in comparison to that area. In point of fact, I have eaten at the Killian location, and while it is more "modern", if that is the future direction for Panera, I really did not care for it.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Hat)

UPDATE 17 June 2021 -- Setting up to be Esther's Soul Food Kitchen:

UPDATE 5 June 2023: Add suite number to post title

I remember going into Learning Express sometime last year while I was looking for something for my niece. Unfortunately, I can't recall what I was looking for or if I found it. I do recall that the place was upscale and had some toys that I would have been interested in back in the day.

OK, who am I kidding -- I'd still be interested in them!

(Hat tip to commenter Terry)

UPDATE 10 April 2013 -- Interesting. Now it's to reopen as Learning Express under new management:

UPDATE 22 April 2013 -- Open again:

UPDATE 27 April 2020 -- As commenter Jacob Pittman notes, this store is closed once more. According to the chain website, the only curren tMidlands location is at 5175 Sunset Blvd., Suite 12 Lexington, SC 29072.

Here is the press release for the reopening of this storefont, which apparently took place on 12 April 2013.

Golf Etc. at The Village at Sandhill, just south of Panera is gone now, and is already almost another mattress store. I actually had a picture of this place as Golf Etc., but appear to have deleted it in a fit of absence of mind.

I have to admit that I personally find golf (at least the kind without windmills and dinosaurs) much more soporific than mattresses anyway.

Corked at Sandhill is out of business. Their web site is still up and announces the closing, though it doesn't list the actual final day. I have no idea of Corked's circumstances, but it seems to me that, in general, Sandhill would be a poor place for a beer and wine shop in that it's not near home, or on the way home, or easy to get into and out of if it is on your way home. I would think 9 times out of 10, it would just be easier to stop by a grocery store -- Sandhill is a shopping destination, not somewhere to zip into and out of.

(Hat tip to commenter Cheryl)

This is one of the closings that tempts me to write good riddance. I know that's harsh, and that this place was someone's dream and livelihood. However..

The last time I was in this place was in the Spring, while the Sparkleberry Fair was running on Clemson Road across from The Village at Sandhills. We had been at the fair with my little three year old neice, and she was tired out and cranky, and had been promised a snack. The ABC was just across the road, and we imagined zipping in, getting her, and ourselves, a cookie and something to drink.

It quickly became apparent that this was not going to happen as visualized. The store didn't seem very full, but for some reason everyone in there was in the line rather than sitting down, and the line was not moving. It seemed the computer was down. OK, that happens. We decided we could wait a few minutes rather than putting my neice back in her car-seat and trying to find somewhere else. However, listening to the staff talk, it gradually dawned on me that none of them had any idea of what they were doing, and none of them had any authority to do anything.

At a well run restaurant in situations like this, after the staff has flailed for a few minutes, the manager comes out of the back and says something like:

Folks, looks like our computer is down, but we're going to take care of you. I've got my calculator and note pad here, and I'm going to write up your orders and get you your change. We'll worry about entering it into the system later.

Nothing of the sort happened here, and for the twenty or so minutes we waited, nobody was helped. It boggled my mind that with half a dozen people being paid to stand around, the most basic function of a business, taking in cash from customers, was not taking place.

The next time I went to Sandhills, I noticed that the store had closed, and was not a bit surprised. I was a bit surprised on a later visit to notice legal notices posted on the door complaining of non-payment of rent. But only a bit.

UPDATE 12 April 2010: Added full street address to post title.

UPDATE 5 May 2020: Add map icon, update tags.

UPDATE 5 June 2023: Put the address in the post title into suite format. Update tags.