Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

For such a small store, this place has been going of of business a surprising amount of time. I believe I noticed the first signs up back in December, and as of the start of June, they were still open. Low Country has been a stalwart in this this little lagoon-centered strip which underwent a major renovation/reconfiguration ten or so years ago. Some longtime shops like The Island Cafe & Deli, The Mole Hole & Spa Sera closed or moved, but Low Country stayed on.

I have gotten a number of new watch batteries installed there, but now I guess I will need to find another place in the area.

I came across the photo of this closed liquor store and couldn't quite recall where I had taken it. A little context and googling shows it was in Friarsgate Plaza, across the parking lot from the old Bi-Lo, and that it was probably called Unlimited Bottles.

If you embiggen the picture, you can still see the face-mask requirement, and the door sign announcing "Something Delicious", the nature of which I can't quite make out.

Here is the Colliers real estate listing for the property.

I find it a bit interesting that the sign announcing that this is Friarsgate Plaza is now gone. I'm not sure if the name remains active or not. The Colliers text doesn't mention it.

I would have guess this Walgreens, next to Piggie Park, was in Cayce but Google claims it is in fact West Columbia. At any rate it looks to be a newer store, built as a Walgreens and not inherited from Eckerds or Rite Aid.

According to commenter Mr. Bill, this place closed on 17 March, and the sign was down and the place basically empty when I drove by on the night of 20 March. Commenter Lavender says the building is to be demolished, which may be the only way to get rid of a Red Box, which still seemed to be plugged in & running.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Bill)

This Dollar General at the corner of Taylor & Barnwell streets had actually closed once before, on a temporary basis. In September of 2023, they apparently experienced severe staffing issues, and the store was closed for a number of days. After working through that, they are now caught up in the chain's downsizing as it sheds a number of, largely urban, stores. The Post & Courier has the story.

According to that article, the store will be open until 25 April, but it was already looking pretty picked over when I stopped by on the night of 20 March, more than a month out.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

This Big Lots has had the closing sale going on since December, so I'm just guessing at the final closing date here, but I did go inside last weeken, and they are pretty much down to the walls. All the merchandise has been moved to the front rows with the back of the store completely empty, and even the restrooms closed down.

I was driving down Beltline last weekend when I noticed this Dollar Tree boarded up. When I turned around to take a closer look, it was quickly apparent that the place had seen a fire.

In fact it is a bit worse than "a fire". WLTX reports that the place burned on 28 September 2024 and on 17 December 2024.

As I believe we have discussed, Big Lots went Chapter 11 back in October, and will be closing down the whole chain, something now in progress.

This building, which featured here previously as a Bi-Lo is the anchor for this little plaza, which also has another upcoming vacancy. It's unclear exactly when they will close, but at this point I suspect they will not last another month, as they are already down to 40% off.

Commenter Gypsie notes that there is some kind of work going on here, which I also see. I wonder if it's to become a Seven-Eleven? If you google the address, that's one of the hits that comes up, though if you actually click on the link it's not available at the Seven-Eleven corporate site. Of course it's also possible it was previously a Seven-Eleven at some time.

UPDATE 16 April 2025 -- Interesting. There was work going on here as you can see in the previous pictures, but now the place is for sale:

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

The parent company of American Freight, Hilco Consumer-Retail has gone Chapter 11, and all American Freight stores are closing.

I had seen this location on Atlas Road many times over the years, but I never really grasped it was a retail outlet, the name making me think something more industrial. The parking lot is smaller than expected, meaning I couldn't really get back and get the whole store in the frame, but as you can see the Store Closing banners are already up. I guess if you need some furniture for the holidays, now would be the time to go looking...

You can read about the bankruptcy here.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

It's a little hard to say the exact name of this place. Google has it as Grand Appliances•New Sales•Scratch and Dent Sales while their Facebook says Grand Appliances & Mattress•New Sales•Scratch & Dent Sales.

At any rate, their last Facebook post is from May 2024, so I'm going to list the closing date as "Summer 2024". There was some activity in the buildiing when I drove by last Saturday, so perhaps something new is coming.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)