Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

RAW (Rent A Wheel) was in the old Huddle House location on Two Notch (though there is a discrepency in the address I have for Huddle House), and was the follow-up to Auto Image.

I'm not exactly sure when it closed, and I think there is still an AI robot on Google Reviews posting responses for the owner, but it appears to be sometime in the Spring. The embedded StreetView photo is from October of 2023). There is a nice aerial view of the property on LoopNet.

UPDATE 23 September 2024 -- More pictures:

This tire outfitter in Irmo near Friarsgate Plaza closed down at the end of March. I went by one time and saw they were storing a lot of vehicles there and wasn't sure they were closed, but the second time I actually read the note on the door, which announced the closure.

It's not the easiest lot to get in and out of, but I expect someone will take it up before too long.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

I don't believe I've ever been to a National Tire & Battery, though I see they spun off from Sears in 2003, so I guess you could say I did business with them in a roundabout way through that Diehard connection.

As far as I can tell from the Google reviews, this location closed around three months ago, so I'm calling it late 2003. It seems like a pretty decent location, so I would not be surprised to see another repair operation set up shop here.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

I don't know much about Ricky's Tire & Auto, but they seem to been a well regarded shop and closed last month after struggling with first COVID and then the economy for a while.

Commenter Andrew sends this ColaDaily link which has much more information, including a video report.

(Hat tip to commenter Brandon Brown)

This place, abuting the former National Pride Car Wash, was the follow-on operation in this spot to Buy & Save Tire Center. They opened in early 2017, and judging by Google reviews, probably closed around the end of last year. The messaging on the building is that they intend to renovate and re-open. I certainly hope that happens. I am wondering if the construction on the former Car Wash lot is a new building for them -- it looks rather small for that purpose:

I actually went to this Firestone location once some years ago when I had a slow-leak I needed fixed, and could not get in that day at the place I usually used. I was pleasantly surprised that as a walk-in, I got the whole thing over with in under an hour and was able to get on with my Saturday.

As you can see here, the branding is already down on this store, but the label scars are still clearly visible, and there hasn't been enough time to get the vending machines picked up.

(Hat tip to commenter Haley)

C & J Automotive is nestled on a narrow strip of land in between the train tracks and Saint Andrews Road in the Seven Oaks section of Irmo. It is not too far past Sno Biz.

It appears to me that the lot remains in business while they are looking for a buyer, so I am just putting an indifinite "2022" as the closing date.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

According to commenter JamesR, all the Frank's locations were acquired by Tire Engineers but before they could fully convert to that branding, Tire Engineers was bought by Mavis. There is a bit more information here.

(Hat tip to commenter JamesR)

I have noticed Nuttall Tire on Millwood over the years mainly for their Kilroy Was Here logo, and the odd warehouse-y building they were in (Anyone know what it was?). In December, they left their home of over 20 years to relocate into the old Dick Dyer Toyota dealership location on Two Notch.

ColaDaily has the story:

"We’ve outgrown the building and the parking lot," said owner, Stephen Nuttall. "We like to joke that the walls are expanding and contracting here. But it’s good to fight good problems."

Here are a few shots of the new location:

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

As I drove past Dutch Square the other day, I noticed that the Goodyear location across from the cinema side of the mall had changed to a Tire Choice. Looking at pictuers on google, I see that as late as April 2018 it was still Goodyear, so it changed sometime after that.

I believe that closest I came to using this place as a Goodyear was once when I needed a headlight replaced (sealed beam) and they couldn't fit me in to the remaining time of the day. I think I ended up going to Pep Boys on Broad River and getting it done.