Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

(Hat tip to commenter Andy)

Earlier this year, commenter Andy reported that this Springdale auto repair operation was probably closed. I drove out there, to an area I was totally unfamiliar with (one of the perks of this hobby) but could not tell if it were in fact closed or not. (It was a Sunday, I believe). Later, commenter Payne confirmed the closing,and when I drove back out there, there was a real-estate sign in front, and the business signs were down.

I kind of wish I had seen the Christmas lights lit up.

Mr. PC has several area locations. This one was on the upper part of Harbison in a little strip housing a Jimmy Johns. Mr. PC itself was around the bottom corner on a lower level and not very visible from the street or parking lot. It was kind of an unpleasant rainy day, so I didn't get out to get any closeup pictures, but you can just about read the logo if you imagine the railings aren't there. In the event I went there with a broken no-name android tablet from one of my neices, but there was no way to get parts for something like that, and she would be better off with something more mainstream.

For those of us of a certain age, this building is best know as the home of Continental Sound: That building that looks like a car radio with the "Sounds Real Good!" girl...

Since then it has been a number of things, with this most recent incarnation being an auto repair shop.

Given the street address on the county notice, and the specified size of the lot, I'm not sure if perhaps this property doesn't include the adjacent, defunct, nightclub as well.

This little repair shop on Lake Murray Boulevard has obviously been closed for quite a while. Looking at google streetview, it has been up for sale at least since 2018. At that time, there was also a house on the property which has since been razed. It wasn't a big house, and this is a small shop, but the property is apparently quite large, as the current real estate sign advertises 8 acres. With the ongoing buildout up towards the interstate, I expect this semi-rural area will be transformed before too long.

This Sears Service Center used to mail out "lawn mower tuneup" cards every spring, and I took my mower there several times. In fact they mailed out one this spring and I was considering it though I ended up using the AARO Rental Center on Two Notch instead.

Really, when I think about it, I'm not sure why the place lasted as long as it did. Sears at the mall certainly has the space in the auto bay to do that sort of repair work there if they want to, and I'll bet the same is true of K-Mart as well -- there really wasn't a good reason for having three seperate buildings on Parklane.

I notice that Sears still refers to Columbia Mall rather than Columbia Place -- good for them!

UPDATE 29 February 2020: Add tags, map icon.