Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This old country-house-looking building is out on Broad River Road in between Saint Andrews Road and Harbison Boulevard. I guess the area is starting to be developed some now, but for many years, this was essentially out in "the stix". I would often notice this mom & pop video store as I drove by, and wondered how the thing lasted well past the video startup era and into the Blockbuster era. In the end Blockbuster did come to the area, though it was a short lived victory.

The place seems to be a barbershop and hair salon now.

Well, I suppose it was inevitable, but the last Hollywood Video store in Columbia is closing. Previous closings for HV stores are here, here, here, and here.

Looking at their corporate web site and using the store locator, I see that they are also behind the Movie Gallery stores and are closing a number of those in the area as well. They (and Blockbuster) are just trapped in a non-viable business model, and I don't see any way they can come out of it. Even if the economy improves, Netflix, Redbox and online video (both pirated and legal) are going to continue to eat their lunch. Still, you should be able to get some decent bargins there right now.

With this closing, I think the strip containing Hollywood Video, Sparkleberry Square, can be officially described as "troubled".

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)