Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

There is a major remodel going on at Sesqui Center right now. Looking at the first picture, taken several months ago, it appears that perhaps the store next to the Professional Barbers (whose sign you can barely see behind the dumpster) might be a tattoo operation.

The "before" picture doesn't seem to show this section in any worse condition than the rest of the strip mall (which is reasonably well kept up), so I don't know if there was a fire here or what.

At one time, in a vanished building, this address hosted Mammy's Shanty restaurant.

The current building has been a number of car related businesses. Brooks Automotive and The Auto Club, Inc. were follow-ons in this spot to Prestige Hitech Autowerks. From this Facebook post, I think I can say that Brooks opened early in 2015. The inflatable Carfox caught my eye in May of 2015, which is when that set of pictures dates from. I assume, since they appear to have been co-located and presumably related, that The Auto Club dates from the same period.

I noticed on 1 March of 2020 (a rather dreary day) that they were gone as well.

I would expect another car operation to move in at some point, but not, I'm sure, until the current mess is sorted out.

As reported by commenter Andrew, the Food Lion in Polo Plaza has upped shop and moved to the old Bi-Lo in Spring Valley Commons.

This move leaves not a lot in Polo Plaza, which Domino's having moved last year.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

UPDATE 2 May 2020: Changed the move date from March 2020 to June 2019 based on the comments.

I'm not really sure when this Enterprise moved to 2638 Two Notch, but at any rate, I just noticed it, so I'm going to start by tagging it Early 2019. Despite the fact that a cousin briefly worked for the chain, I've never rented from Enterprise, though the car-delivery thing goes sound nice.

The first shots are from May 2015. I mostly took them for the clouds, but figured they might come in handy someday.

I never did a closing for Zale's Jewelers, but it was a long time occupant of this second level storefront, just out of Macy's going left. After that, it was Jimmy Jazz for a while, as you can barely see in the second picture above. Most recently, it was an airbrush shop for tee-shirt customization. Judging by the google reviews, they did a good job, but were gone by sometime in the late summer of 2019. I'm not entirely sure, but it looks as though they may still have a location elsewhere in the area.

Well, Victoria's Secret has sashayed out of Columbia Mall. Interestingly (or not) theirs is the second store-locator website I have visited lately that is very parsimonious about listing stores (though it is inspiring in other ways). At any rate, locally there are remaining stores at Sandhill and Columbiana.

I find the mall self-promotional poster interesting in that not only did they not take it down when Victoria's left, but in that it still touts Charlotte Russe, which has been gone for about a year now. I have not seen anything about the County plan for the property lately. It seems like whatever they are going to do, they should start it soon.

(Hat tip to commenter Rashaad Egister)

I don't know anything about The Roc other than that it is across from Columbia Mall, has not been open that I can remember, and hosted poetry open-mike nights in 2014.

Presumably there were reggae acts there, but if so, they don't seem to have left any google traces.

UPDATE 7 February 2020: Added Robbie's Pool Hall to the post title based on the comments.

I like Jimmy John's, and I go there every now and then for the JJBLT. I do wish they had nicer booths, and let you keep the bread core they trim when hollowing out the rolls, but it's a decent sandwich. I was recently in Pensylvania for work, and ate dinner at an Indian restaurant that was a former Jimmy John's and still had the whimsical (and mildy risque) plaques in the men's room -- wonder what the customers actually from India who might not have recognized the branding made of that..

This location replaced a Quiznos in 2013. I honestly thought it was more recently than that. I'm not sure exactly when it closed, but there are reviews from the last few weeks, so it was either last month or this. The place is currently being gutted, so perhaps something new is already on the way.

(Hat tip to commener Matthew Benjmain)

I was actually in this Bojangles earlier this year when I had a hankering for a sausage biscuit, and I was perfectly happy with it. The restaurant is in a decent spot with plenty of drive-by traffic on Two Notch, so I'm not sure what the story here was.

At some point, I hope to get a shot of the whole building in brighter light, but for now this will have to do.

(Hat tip to commenter John)

UPDATE 7 February 2020 -- As mentioned in the comments, this building has been razed and will be rebuilt (still as a Bojangles):

UPDATE 14 May 2020 -- The new building is going up:

UPDATE 18 May 2002 -- Still coming along:

Lexington Dry Cleaning on Two Notch near Sesqui is moving, or consolidating, to Blythewood, leaving a vacancy in Sesqui Center. I find it interesting from their heads-up sign that they do a lot of their business by delivery now. I guess in the age of Amazon Prime, Grubhub and home grocery delivery that makes sense.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)