Columbia Closings   What’s not in Columbia anymore

Melanie's was in the little strip mall by the railroad tracks on Two Notch just across from the Big Lots shopping center. As far as I can gather from their web page, it was a beauty parlor and hair salon.

Although the suite numbers don't match exactly, I'm pretty sure looking at the pictures that Melanie's was the follow-on operation to The Crate.

UPDATE 3 March 2014 --Commenter Steve points out that Melanie's has in fact moved to Sparkleberry, and with that info I'm able to google up a new address at 111 Sparkleberry Crossing, Suite 6, and a Facebook page. Looks like they just had their relocation Grand Opening.

Also, driving by again and specifically looking, I agree with commenter badger that this is not the old Crate unit in that complex.

This little building, the parking area limited and hemmed in by the hill rising to Shakespeare Road behind it, has been many things over the years -- mostly in the Bar / Social Club category. What I first recall noicing it as, however, was a long run during the 1970s when it was an adult book store, one of several then along Two Notch (two of which, I believe, remain from that era).

The last time I noticed it in operation was as Moonlight Bar & Grill as shown in the first set of pictures from 24 January 2012.

I first wrote about this lot in the closing for North 1 Drive-In, a location that had a certain notoriety amongst teenage boys. Interestingly, the address given during the theater days is 8757, which is two blocks off of the current number. But then this was pretty much the boonies back then.

Not being a big exercise fan, what I constantly noticed about the New Life incarnation was the electronic banner on the top of their roadside sign. This normally ran a digital temperature reading, and it was never right -- Generally it wasn't even close.

Like Columbia Athletic Club before them, New Life has apparently lost the local battle against the (very fit) 500 pound gorilla that is Gold's Gym. Curiously, apparently the only New Life location remaining is in Cedar Rapids Iowa.

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This building, overlooking I-77 predates that road, and was originally Galaxy World video arcade.

I did a closing for Harbison Edwin Watts a few weeks ago, leading me to think the chain itself is in trouble. A bit of googling finds that this is, in fact, the case:

Edwin Watts filed for bankruptcy protection in November and later sold its assets to Hilco Merchant Resources and an affiliate of Worldwide Golf Shops for $40.8 million. Worldwide Golf Shops also owns Van's Golf Shops, Roger Dunn Golf Shops, the Golf Mart and other golf retailers.

Under terms of the sale, the new owners said they planned to close 42 underperforming stores. The other 48 locations, including the Tampa Bay area's other stores in Brandon and Palm Harbor, will continue to operate under the Edwin Watts name.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

I first noted this location on Two Notch near Baskin Robin when it was empty after having been Express Check Advance. Since then, Moneygram has started up, and now, vacated this little storefront.

I noticed this evening as I was driving by Columbia Mall that there were no cars visible in the outparcel parking lot of Caprioska (the old O'Charleys / Sticky Fingers location). For a Friday evening, that seemed odd, so I turned in.

Taking a tour of the parking lot revealed that the place is open, but as Brickhouse, not Caprioska.

The Caprioska web site is as succinct as any I've ever seen, and their Twitter feed and Facebook page lead me to believe that they closed some time between 15 and 20 November 2013.

In the beginning, I think this place was to be sort of a Brazilian spot, but reviews indicate that changed over time.

The story at The State.

My first thought is that the headline is a bit sensational since we learn in the second paragraph that the tracts in question are currently vacant.

My second thought is that if Kahn Development loses the land, it loses control of the future of VAS.

Unless I am missing the entry somehow, this storefront busness center to the right of Food Lion in the strip mall at the corner of Pine Belt & Two Notch Roads seems to have opened and closed without being listed in a yearly phonebook.

The name is a bit vague, but I believe they offered impromptu meeting and office space and services.

Wow!

When commenter badger mentioned that the Columbia Mall outparcel Bakers Sports Pub & Grill appeared to be closed, I thought I might run over there after work to take a look. I certainly did not expect what I found.

On the east side of the building, things looked almost normal, but I noticed as I walked over from my car to the front door that part of the entrance was boarded over. Then I just figured that this was not a business related closing, but that probably they had had a fire. Looking in through the door though, there were no burned sections, just a lot of devastation.

Then I got off the porch and noticed the crime scene tape around the front and west side of the building. Then, walking around (outside the tape boundry..) I saw this:

Once home, a bit of googling established that it was exactly what it looked like -- someone had driven a pickup truck into the west side of the building. And furthermore, it was part of a police chase that saw the truck drive through *another* building, run over one suspect and leave the other suspect (the driver) shot dead by police. It's a pretty incredible story, and in fact I had glanced through it last week without making the connection with Bakers.

The State has a dramatic picture of the pickup truck after it hit the wall.

(Hat tip to commenter badger)

When I drove by the other day and saw that It's All Good Grill would be opening soon in this spot on Two Notch near Pine Belt, I tried to remember what had been there before, and found I couldn't do it.

Just googling the street address leads to Jimmy's Transmission Service (as does the big sign by the road :-), but this property tax link suggests that there are two buildings on the lot and I'm guessing that Jimmy's is in the larger one. I'm pretty sure I have seen a number of businesses in here over the years, but none that stand out in my memory...