Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

This is fairly near to me, but if you'd asked me where it was, I couldn't have told you. I guess I get tunnel-blindness when I'm not in the market for whatever I'm drving by.

Anyway, commenter Andrew reports the retirement sale and upcoming closing, so if you are in the market for some casual & patio type furniture, you should probably head on down there before too much longer.

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew)

Looking at the Google Streetview, this place was open at least through January of this year, which is kind of surprising considering there is a big U-Haul operation in the old Dick Smith Ford location, and another in the old Dentsville Kmart location, both of which are not far from here. I see that as well as renting trucks, trailers & moving supplies, this location was also a propane re-filling site.

One thing I did not realize when it was in operation, and the lot mostly filled with rolling stock is that the lot seems to have been cut out of a hill and leveled -- the property on the other side of back fence is a good bit higher, and the brickwork has somewhat unusual buttressing to deal with the stress.

As mentioned by commenter Thomas, this family owned builder on Two Notch by the Citgo station is closing as the owners retire. A good part of the lot is utiitarian buildings, so we'll have to see if somebody moves in, or if it gets rebuilt first.

(Hat tip to commenter Thomas)

This spot at the corner of Two Notch & Beltline was previously the home of Hursey's Trading Post & Advance On Checks with Auto Money going in sometime between 2014 and 2016. Google streetview shows it here as late as September 2022.

I'm thinking there may have briefly been another operation after this, as the current color scheme of the building is a red & black one, completely different from the green & yellow theme of Auto Money.

I should probably also mention that at least through 2011, the side of the building closest to Burger King was a separate suite housing My'Kuls Exclusive Gift Shop.

This was the follow-on operation in this building to SCU State Credit Union, and was here about two years, I think.

I believe their door sign says they have moved, but I was not able to get out to take a look at it as another car unexpectedly came around the building going the wrong direction, and I had to move out of the way.

I admit to being a bit disenchanted with Buffalo Wild Wings. I never went to this location, but I used to go the the Devine Street store some because it was open late nights. I had one ongoing issue in that they would frequently be out of unsweet ice-tea. I know it's mainly a beer place, but my theory is that if you are out of something easy to make, and it's two hours before closing: make more. The other insight I had came when I ordered the hot pretzels one night, and decided I would rather have butter than cheese sauce or mustard. There was none. I'm sorry, but if you don't have butter in the kitchen, you're not a real restaurant. (Doesn't have to be in a individual packet, just put some in dressing cup and it will be fine..). Anyway, that's just one man's opinion.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I sometimes go the the neighboring Applebee's, and from what I could see across the way, Buffalo Wild Wings seemed to be doing a pretty good business. Coupled with the recent closings of the nearby Wild Wing at Sandhill and the Vista Wild Wing, it makes me wonder if the wings & beer restaurant is in decline.

Here is The State on the closing.

(Hat tip to commenter Mr. Hat)

I did a closing recently for American Car Center, and it seems that another subprime used car dealer down the street closed not too long after they did. WLTX has the story about the Columbia location closing here, and about the chain as a whole here.

The closing was supposed to be temporary, but we are closing in on a month of downtime now when what was promised was two days, so who knows the current state of things? There billboard, which is still active, certainly puts on a show of normal activity, but their website https://www.usautosales.info/about-us now redirects to a site which is strictly about loan payments.

I'm trying to bring to mind what this building was before. It looks like it has always been a dealership, but I'm drawing a blank on the history. Nice color scheme though.

This WLTX article (which is actually mostly about another used car dealer closing) mentions in passing that American Car Center closed in February. The story also calls it a subprime auto dealership, a term I am unfamiliar with, but which doesn't sound like something you would care to be called.

The property is fairly attractive. It's elevated with a nice view, and the buildings still seem to be in good shape. Assuming the economy picks up some, I expect another dealer will move in soon.

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I never heard of Oyo until this one opened up, and frankly from what I saw when I was in the neighborhood, it wouldn't be one of my first choices if I needed to stay somewhere. The Google reviews are.. interesting.

At any rate, it is apparenly no longer an Oyo, though what it actually is is less sure. It is definitely still operating but all of the branding is down, and nothing new has been put up in its place.

UPDATE 14 June 2023 -- Now a Rodeway Inn:

Bestway Inn was another of the US-1 motels which lined that route coming into and going out of Columbia as we discussed recently. Actually I suppose they were all on the "coming into" side of Columbia, just depending on which way you were going.

This one lasted, in reduced circumstances, until 2017 at which point they surrendered their buisiness license to avoid being declared a public nuisance .

I don't think closing the place really brought that stretch of the road up any. It's still sitting there and now it's not maintained at all -- I forbare turning off into the lot to get any closer pictures.

This LoopNet listing helpfully mentions that the property has 32767 rooms, a number which will bring a smile to any computer programmer.