Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I have never cared for Chipotle in general, and this one in particular as the few times I had eaten there I always had an issue: For instance the chips were stale the last time. My sister & nieces did enjoy it, but it was a running joke that they were always out of something basic like cheese with one fellow customer even going across to Publix to buy missing items.

The have moved a few blocks closer to I-77, into the new construction at the former site of San Jose, which gives them a drive-through. My understanding is that tonight they were out of guacamole.

If this plaza has a name, it is not apparent. There have been a number of fairly high-profile stores in there over the years including Winn-Dixie, and Lionel Playworld, but none recently and the main building, which now houses a plasma center and a comedy club, is pretty beat up and decrepit on the Trenholm end.

Perhaps the current owners have given up on bringing the place back up as I noticed a For Sale sign on the property last month. Of course that doesn't mean much as I think Midlands Shopping Center has been on the block for years with no takers.

Stronghold Gym took over in the Woodhill outparcel which used to be Hampton Hill Athletic Club sometime late in 2016.

On my last visit to Jimmy Johns, I noticed that they were no longer there, and the space had been taken over by an expansion of Life Storage.

It turns out they have moved to Trenholm Road, into the former location of The Cat Clinic (which itself moved in 2018).

The building, below, sat, partially converted, for so long, that I had started to thing plans for a gym there had fallen through due to the pandemic (and I suspect that *was* a factor in the delay), but, as you can see on their site, the move was completed on 16 August, and the facility is now open.

Ivy & Leo in Trenholm Plaza is moving leftwards a few suites into the slot formerly occupied by Simply Mac. This lateral move will let Publix expand their store into the vacated adjacent space. This has long needed doing, as that Publix was crammed into a former A&P slot, and is much smaller than their typical store. I like Publix in general, but have always felt cramped when I shop this one.

The Post & Courier has the story here.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry)

Update 20 July 2023 -- This storefront is now gone:

Simply Mac was an Apple reseller whose strategy was to locate in smaller areas not having an official Apple store. Once part of the Gamestop chain, the brand was spun off in 2019, just in time to run up against the pandemic. Although the stores did re-open later, the damage had been done and a messy Chapter 7 bankruptcy followed. Or at least that is one story. Other stories have other issues compounding, or even overshadowing, the damage from COVID.

Here is The State on the opening of this Trenholm Plaza location, and here is a story from Apple Insider on the bankruptcy.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry, who says this particluar store may never have re-opened)

This building, next door to the Forest Acres City Hall, was a dry-cleaner for many years, starting as Gillespie's and then as Burnette's. For many of those years, the right-hand side of the building had a coin laundromat though that closed some time before Burnette's left for Forest Park, a block or so away.

The building sat empty for several years, until demolition started in late June of 2022. The building is now completely razed, which, with the old Russell & Jeffcoat lot adjacent to it also now bare gives a surprising amount of open space in central Forest Acres for new construction.

(Hat tip to my sister)

Here's yet another store very much in my orbit into which I never went for one reason or another. I believe that the last time I bought clothes I thought about looking through the shirts in this Trenholm Plaza storefront, but in the event I ended up at Belk's & Amazon.

With this closing, there are now three empty spaces on this side of the plaza, to include the old Stein Mart (which was a Halloween store for a while) and Rosso.

On the other hand, there is now a Mac store in the old Michaels Jewelry, so they are still able to fill vacancies.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

As you can see from these two sets of pictures, the Circle K at the corner of Two Notch Road & the Trenholm Road Extension is closed, the pumps have been demolished, and apparently the storage tanks have been dug up, or that is the next step.

The store here was much smaller than the current Circle K style, and to me the lot does not look big enough to put in one on their new standard lines. In the case of a similar situation on Bethel Church, they removed the pumps and tanks and then put the building on the market. I expect they will do the same here, unless they go as far as razing the building entirely.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

UPDATE 28 February 2023 -- As mentioned again by commenter Thomas, this building has now been razed:

UPDATE 29 March 2023: Updating tags.

UPDATE 16 January 2024 -- Now a Valvoline Instant Oil Change:

I noticed a sign for a 50% off closing sale at this Trenholm Plaza jewelry store when I was coming up Trenholm from Decker the other day. I don't believe I have ever been in this store, but it has been there quite a while as a Columbia Star profile indicates this location opened sometime around 2004. I can't find anything online about the closing, but there was this story about a 2013 robbery that I can't ever recall hearing about before.

This closing will bring the count of vacant storefronts on this north wing of the plaza to four by my count.

UPDATE 15 February 2021 -- The closing signs are up:

J. Crew apparently has the distinction of being the first major retailer to file for bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 infestation, and this store at Trenholm Plaza, which was the only Midlands location, closed as a result of that.

ColaDaily has the story, as does WLTX which also points out that this leaves the shopping center with four vacancies.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)