Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Judging by their Facebook and web site, HandPicked,Inc. looks to be a fashion, jewelry and Gamecock & Tiger store. Their Harbison location was in the Publix & Target part of Columbiana Station by Tropical Smoothie Cafe, and has now closed, apparently with the hope of opening at another Harbison area location at some point in the future.

In the meantime, they maintain a store in Lexington, and an online presence.

(Hat tip to commenter Ellen)

M Kitchen was built on the site of the old Steak 'n Shake after razing that building, and is part of the peripatetic Myio's empire.

As of 27 June 2021, this location is closed, with the staf moving to Bower Parkway

(Hat tip to commenter Mitch)

I don't recall ever eating at a Salsarita's. Moe's has mainly been my go-to for this category, and Qdoba & Chipolte have always disappointed. At any rate, judging by the google reviews, this location closed around March of 2021. It was apparently intended as a temporary thing, but once the signage comes down, I think you can mark it as permaent.

(Hat tip to commenter Gypsie)

UPDATE 30 September 2021 -- As mentioned in the comments to become an Uberrito Fresh Mex:

Copper River Grill in Harbison is another casualty of the COVID-19 crisis, though it has featured here before in the comments as an example of a place that had gone downhill, and the recent Yelp reviews are not stellar.

Cola Daily has the story on the closing here.

I only visited Copper River Grill once, years ago. I had heard it was a good place for late night pizza, so I hit it around midnight one evening. My memory is that the pizza was OK, nothing special, and that it was quite hard to get my drink refilled. In any event, I never went back.

I do like the entrance-way though.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

I was shooting against the light, and didn't really have time to get out, so these aren't great shots, but the Wild Wing Cafe in Columbiana Station on Bower Parkway is closed due (mostly) to the COVID-19 crisis.

I say "mostly", because looking at the Yelp reviews, this place was pretty clearly on its last legs, and you have to feel kind of sorry for the corporate rep who had to comment on the 1-star reviews with apologies. Curiously, the Copper River Grill in the same shopping center (and which will soon feature here) had similiar reviews, and the spot there which was most recently (I think!) HuHot Mongolian Grill has been a revolving door for years. For some reason, restaurants don't seem to do well here..

(Hat tip to commenter Heath)

UPDATE 23 August 2022: Updating tags.

I did not know that Lifeway was the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, which obviously is not going anywhere. They are, however, unable to keep these stores open during the ongoing great-unretailing, and plan to close all 170 of them. The plan is to maintain an online presence, though how that will work out I don't know given that Amazon certainly lists religious books.

This storefront is in an odd little plaza that wants to be connected to the one behind it, but isn't, making access harder than it needs to be.

Somewhat ironically, this store moved here fairly recently, previously having been on the other side of Harbison Boulevard.

(Hat tip to commenter JamesR)

As I have mentioned before I have a number of problems with Which Wich, the biggest of wich is I can't frequent a place that doesn't have fresh brewed ice tea.

Regardless of my issues, it does seem that this shopping center has problems keeping restaurants.

(Hat tip to commenter Lone Wolf)

I've never been in this store, but from the outside, it appears to be *huge*, occupying several potential storefronts.

The store moved to here from its original location on Saint Andrews Road back in 2010, and has, according to its Facebook page, now started its closing sale. I'm not sure how long that will last (apparently through 30 June for sure), so I am listing the closing date as July 2018 for now.

(Hat tip to commenter Heath Roberts)

Firenza is an interesting name for a pizza place because it suggests both "fire" and Italy (Firenza is the native name for the city we call by the exonym "Florence").

Fast casual pizza is now officially a thing, and Firenza is one of the chains in that market. This particular store, in Columbiana Station has not been here long. Commenter Heath reported in November of last year that this slot opened as a Persona Pizza and was just converting to Firenza at that point. Actually, Persona is the only one of these chains I have been to, and I was happy with my meal at the Woodhill location, so I'm not averse to checking out Firenza, Blaze or 1000 Degrees. Interestingly, as you can see in the pictures, there is a Blaze just across the street from this location.

Exactly what is going on here is a bit cryptic, but apparently it is an upfit of some sort and Firenza promises to return.

(Hat tips to commenters Heath & James R)

UPDATE 23 March 2018 -- Hmm, commenter Heath notes that apparently the place never actually opened as Firenza after Persona shut down. Maybe they got distracted by the Lexington opportunity. Anyway, I'm changing the title line qualifier from "(temporary)" to "(coming?)".

UPDATE 7 June 2021 -- Now a Brothers & Beer Mexican Restaurant:

also adding map icon.

Well, this is Columbia's other H. H. Gregg, closing as part of the same liquidation as the Sandhill store. Goody's is the most prominent former holder of this spot -- I'm not sure who could take on this much floor space now.