Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

I noticed this place up for sale driving down North Main the other day. Looking in Google Streetview, it appears it was probably open in August of 2007, but and they did list in the 2008 phoneobok (which is prepared in advance, of course), but were definitely closed by August of 2011, so I'm just going to say the closing was circa 2010.

LoopNet has a summary that says the building was built in 1950, and shows a semi-sideview where it looks much less deep than I had expected.

I noticed a while ago that Blue Ribbon was no longer at this North Main building which seemed to be their fleet yard, dispatch center, and rental event space for many years. Looking at Google Streetview, it appears that they were definitely still there in April of 2021, and gone by February of 2022. I figured they had just moved, but their web site seems to have been ofline since 2022, and I'm not finding any recent information online. I'm trying to recall if I have definitely seen their cabs recently, but I don't really notice cabs unless I am waiting for one (which is about once every five years or so). I actually have taken Blue Ribbon several times and it's been friendly, garrulous older men telling me how they used to hunt rabbits where my house is or drag race up & down Two Notch back in the day...
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According to WLTX Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary merged with Hickory North Carolina's Lenoir-Rhyne University back in 2012, in a move which locals expected to strengthen the Columbia campus, but which in the end has resulted in it merging with the new parent and moving to Hickory itself. One local pastor quoted by WLTX expects the move to exacerbate an ongoing local pastor shortage especially as graduates will now tend to end up in the North Carolina synod.

According to The State, the move was to be made by 1 January of 2025. When I drove through on 9 February there didn't seem to be anybody around though clearly the buildings had not been emptied and there was still a quirky vehicle on the grounds.

Also according to The State as of mid-December the property had not yet been listed, though Lenoir-Rhyne does expect to sell it.

(Hat tip to commenter george011210)

To follow up on the Pelican SnoBalls post from 11 February: That store apparently started here, and moved up the street a few years later.

This Free Times article says it opened on 23 June of 2017, and looking at StreetView, it appears it probably moved after the 2021 snow cone season.

Here is the LoopNet information for the building.

I was in Summerville recently, and noticed this old-school ice cream and fast food drive-through & walk-up on the main drag. It's the kind of place you don't see too much anymore, and apparently was well regarded locally (though more recent reviews mention some slippage). As far as I can tell, they closed sometime in 2022 after February. If you look at the Yelp reviews, you can see that they used to have a nice patio out back.

I'm not exactly sure what the Lodi branding was about.

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I never did get any good daylight shots of this place, but the First Citizens in the North Main/River Drive triangle has gone to ATM only. Given they will still be paying rent/lease/taxes on the whole lot, I don't expect that situation to last too long.

(Hat tip to commenter Justin)

UPDATE 20 October 2022: Updating tags.

This Walgreen's was originally an Eckerd's and then a Rite Aid, as you can see from the design of the building. It sits on an oddly shapped lot at the intersection of North Main & Colonial, and was the only drug store in the general vicinity.

Here is a story from The State about the closing, and how the neighborhood was very unhappy about it. Here's more from WLTX

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

If you look closely, you can see the Walgreens directly across the street at 423 West Main Street that put paid to this Rite Aid location.

I'm not sure how the other locations are doing it, but it appears this one closed for two days (13 & 14 June) to get ready for a liquidation sale on 15 June. I'm marking that as the closing date, though I suppose it could last several days.

UPDATE 3 November 2020 -- This building was razed some time ago, and construction on a new Murphy's is now well advanced:

Also adding map icon.

UPDATE 6 March 2021 -- Now open as a Murphy's Express:

As mentioned in Have Your Say, all Columbia area Harveys supermarkets are closing. You can tell how dire the trouble the parent chain is in by the fact that they spent a lot of money rebranding these stores from Bi-Lo to Harveys less than two years ago. I did not do a closing on this location as a Bi-Lo at that time, so I'm including it in the post title and Alphabetical Closings now.

At this time, none of Columbia's remaining Bi-Lo locations are closing, but that is probably another shoe waiting to drop. The full list of closing stores across both nameplates and over all affected states is here.

Here's another Church's Chicken gone. This one is recent enough that almost the only sign that the place is closed is the fact that its not open: All the signage, drive through menus and fixtures are still in place.

That's a pretty good looking piece of pie.

(Hat tip to commenter Toby)