Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

When Smashburger first opened here, I liked it quite a bit. The burger was really good, and there were lots of bun options, including a chipolte bun that was quite tasty. The booths were much more comfortable than 5 Guys steel chairs, and the ice-tea, which was also quite good, was attractively dispensed from clear plastic tubes which mimicked old-style hand-pump gas dispensers. The only fly in the ointment, and one that kept me from being a regular is that I didn't like the fries. They were well executed for what they were trying to do, but I didn't care for the idea they were executing.

So, I would go every now and then, but probably not more than three or so times a year. All that was before the pandemic. When I went back after the pandemic, everything had changed. All of the bun options were gone, and there were no ice-tea dispensers at all in the dining room. In fact when I asked about tea, the staffer looked at me like I was crazy, and apparently went off to brew one cup. There didn't seem to be much traffic there, and a couple of times when I came to eat at the adjacent Moe's, I thought the place had already closed.

In fact, that didn't happen until late december of 2022 as reported in The Post & Courier. The reason given there was that the rent was due to triple, but I think the business they were doing had to be a factor as well, or I would have expected Moe's to jump ship as well.

Commenter Larry reports that this spot is to become a Dave's Hot Chicken.

(Hat tip to commenter Trevin Montgomery)

I wrote about a move for this place back in 2010, but now Bohemian Home on Devine Street is closing after nearly 50 years. WLTX has the story (with an interesting historical twist in the second paragraph), which is basically that with rising rents, current business conditions and the onslaught of big box stores, the owners decided keeping on was untenable.

The current plan is to shut down at the end of August, with an auction possible if there is still remaining inventory.

(Hat tip to commenter Deanna)

Since I am not a seafood person, and definitely not a raw seafood person, I wasn't really aware of Sushi Yoshi in Five Points. Online reviews suggest it was a quirky little place with a small staff and idiosyncratic seating arrangements. As nearly as I can tell from those reviews, they probably closed late in 2021, as a January review mentions that a "temporarily closed" sign had been up for several months by that point.

(Hat tip to commenter Deana)

Substation II was the follow-on operation in this storefront to Jimmy John's, and opened in 2019. I know that going there would be an issue for me because of parking, but I'm not a student without a car. Then of course there was the pandemic, which can't have helped. For whatever reason though, this storefront is now again vacant.

(Hat tip to commenter Larry).

Devine Street changes character drastically after it crosses Beltline, and this little group of buildings is typical of this block of the street, or at least it was as the changes here will move it (probably) in a bit more upscale direction.

I am unable to find out anything about the second storefront in this block of four, which is presumably 4420 Devine Street, but the first business was Sports Talk Barber Shop at 4418 (which has moved to Green Lawn), the third business was Dark Horse Tattoo at 4422 and the last one, which has now been razed, was Capital Animal Hospital at 4424.

As you can see in the first picture, and the (too numerous) night-time ones the Animal Hospital was freestanding (if built quite close) and the other three addresses were joined. You can see a better picture of the Animal Hospital at LoopNet.

As mentioned by commenter 59 Ford Wheelman and confirmed by commenter Larry with this link, the block of three is to become the second location of Griffin Chophouse, which plans to open there in April of 2022.

(Hat tip to Justin S)

UPDATE 15 February 2021 -- Progress doesn't look especially fast:

This convenience store and Exxon station at the edge of Shandon was formerly the full service Branham's Exxon. It had already done a remodel from that era to do away with the service bays, but the current tenant Gaz-Bah (also an Exxon) has temporarily closed to do another remodel.

As you can see from these pictures, the place has been completely gutted, and looks a good way from reopening.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin S).

The situation with Urban Cookhouse seems a bit odd to me and I suspect something went wrong. The Devine Street location (which was the only SC location at the time) closed around 30 June, and the place advertised a new "temporary" location in Five Points, which guessing from their Facebook Page was for catering only. There have been no posts to the page since 14 July, and no answers to questions people are asking there about the new location and opening date. Unless I missed an announcement somewhere, I think this place will not be coming back as a dine-in location.

Here is some (old) information from The State.

(Sorry that the pictures are poor, it was really too late in the day, and I meant to go back, but have not yet).

(Hat tip to commenter MB)

UPDATE 19 August 2021 -- Here are some better pictures:

Here is 741 Saluda, so I am still a bit confused about the status of things:

There was a question on Have Your Say recently as to whether the Chinese buffet in Crossroads Commons (down from the former Bi-Lo) was still open or not.

It's not. As far as I can tell from Yelp, it closed in early 2020. I'm guessing that COVID-19 played a role, but the reviews had been trending downwards for a while.

I don't seem to have a picture of it, but there is one here as part of the LoopNet listing.

Welp, here's another Bi-Lo closing to become a Food Lion. Google calls out the name of this strip mall as Crossroads Commons, which I don't believe I had ever heard. I meant to get inside over the weekend and didn't, but perhaps I will before the end.

(Hat tip to commenter DB)

Years ago, my niece was enrolled in tumbling at The Little Gym in its old location on Beltline and had a good time. As I recall, the move to the old Sounds Familiar location came after a fire at D's Wings and damage from the water used to put it out.

This time the culprit is 2020's scourge COVID-19. As ColaDaily reports:

Angie Brazell, owner of The Little Gym of Columbia, announced Thursday that the facility will be closing Oct. 24, due to lack of revenue prompted by COVID. Despite new families joining the gym, Brazell said it is just not enough under the new way they have to operate in order to keep guests safe.

UPDATE 9 October 2020: Fixed mistaken Devine Street in post title address with Rosewood Drive.