ToNeTo Atlanta Retail + Restaurant + Hotel DeathWatch Q1 2011

With over 50 comments on DeathWatch 4.0 in October, it's clear this portion of the blog is popular! Be it morbid fascination or some other reason, y'all really like this stuff, and the comments show it. As we start 2011, please recall my correct predictions of 2010 : Aquaknox, Pizza Fusion, Urban Flats, Martin + Osa , Rowdy, Merino, Ixtlan Ultra Lounge, EVOS Midtown and Yoreka @ the Prado and L5P, Yoeshi and One Cafe Blanc all came to fruition. In addition, restaurants such as Shaun's , Zaya, Fox & Hounds and LOLA, and retailers such as Calvin Klein and Lexie + Jane have all closed this past year. While I'm not happy to see this happen, there's no denying the accuracy of my predictions. Don't for a minute think that I arbitrarily add businesses to the Deathwatch. I examine the business and appraise the likelihood of them remaining viable and if not, for how long they will last.

Additionally, this edition brings the return of the "Stillborns". These are concepts that never really did what they said they were gonna do. To all the get rich quick entrepreneurs out there, restaurants are not the way, and especially those that are relatively new and announce ridiculous growth plans. To go from a handful of locations, or even fewer in the case of Mama Fu's, to agreements for many hundred is not only insane its downright sad to think about. Please find DeathWatch 2011 Q1 after the jump.

Biscuits and Bar-B-Q Out. Big Banks In?

The former Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q on Cheshire Bridge Road near Lindbergh Drive was demolished this week to make way for Chase Bank. Sonny's closed in 2009 shortly after its parent, Greater Atlanta Bar-B- LLC, filed for bankruptcy. Washington Mutual, now Chase, was already in the shopping center, in a small space on the

Sprouts Green Cafe 86'd in Emory Village

Sprouts Green Cafe in Emory Village has closed. Strangely, when I visited the restaurant yesterday, furniture belonging to the restaurant had been left unsecured outside the building and the floor inside seemed littered with trash. A sign posted on the restaurant's door (shown at right) had said they would reopen after the new year, but that never happened. Instead, the restaurant was sold and will reopen in the coming days as a "cool and hip taqueria and bar." Entrepreneur Keith Gross opened Sprouts Green Cafe May of 2009 in a space that had most recently housed "One Hot Cookie."

Having become friends with Keith on my multiple visits to his restaurant, it was clear he was one of those hands-on operators who took his business and his environmental impact very seriously. He grew a number of items like

Prickly Pear Taqueria Overtakes PIE 950 in Midtown

PIE 950 Pizza Tavern is being gobbled up by its sister restaurant Prickly Pear Taqueria. Both businesses are owned by the same people, but evidently the owners see some benefit in consolidating. Located at Plaza Midtown, Prickly Pear and Pie 950 were both once home to Amore, a short lived Mediterranean restaurant and lounge. Prickly Pear Taqueria opened in May 2009 followed by PIE 950 Pizza Tavern in January of last year.

A restaurant representative tells me that

Madewell Making Moves OTP

J. Crew's Madewell concept will soon open its second Atlanta area store, this time at Perimeter Mall. The chain's first area location at Lenox Square opened in 2008 and has been gaining momentum and popularity. While the Madewell name has been around since 1937, when it was a denim label, the Madewell of today was introduced in 2006. The chain features moderately priced apparel, slightly below that of J. Crew. Their core demographic is women age 18-40. Each store is a little different, their SoHo location in New York is one of the coolest I've seen.

An official mall announcement has yet to come, but my guess is that the store will be located adjacent to Bloomingdale's on the second floor of the mall. The

Love Culture Invading Perimeter Mall

Los Angeles-based Love Culture will open its first Atlanta store at Perimeter Mall later this summer. The chain will occupy the oft-changing space across from Abercrombie & Fitch on the second level. The space was originally American Eagle Outfitters before they relocated to a larger, updated space on the lower level. After that the space was Forth & Towne, a failed brand from Gap and later became Martin + Osa, a failed brand from American Eagle. Had it

Z Gallerie Back for Round Deux at Perimeter Mall

Z Gallerie, which closed its location at Perimeter Mall in 2009, will soon re-open at the mall. With last week's closure of GEOX, I confirmed this week that the chain will open at Perimeter Mall, in the Nordstrom wing. Z Gallerie's former store was on the outside of the mall, next to Soma Intimates, a space now occupied by Urban Outfitters. The new store is scheduled to start construction in the coming weeks and will be located in multiple vacant spaces to the right of Nordstrom. The former Dass Express, the

Disney Bringing Magic to Perimeter Mall

Disney Imagination Park will open this spring at Perimeter Mall. The store will open in the former Bachrach mens store on the first level across from Starbucks, and down from Charlotte Russe, at the cusp of the Macy's wing. The first of its kind in the state, "Imagination Park" is the culmination of years of R&D that included building an actual (replica) retail store in a warehouse in L.A. to test design and retailing elements of the concept. Steve Jobs gained a seat on the board of Disney when his Pixar Animation Studios was purchased by Disney in 2006. His creation of Apple's retail stores has been seen as one of the major turning points for the company. Apple stores generate some of the highest sales per square foot of any retailer. This know-how and retailing expertise gave Jim Fielding, President of Disney Stores Worldwide, reason enough to include Jobs and his team in the planning and

Chocoholics Rejoice : Godiva Opening Bigger and Better Boutique at Lenox

Godiva will soon close its location on the first level of the Luxury Wing of Lenox Square, and relocate to the former Miss Sixty / Energie space on the second level near Abercrombie & Fitch. I hinted at this possibility when I first posted the Miss Sixty / Energie closure, and I was finally able to confirm it. Although they did not compete directly, I'm sure that Lindt's closure last week at Lenox will help Godiva in the long run. Much of Godiva's existing space is earmarked for Prada, with Salvatore Ferragamo taking a few feet as a noted in my post from last year.

When I broke this news to Godiva's manager last year, it seemed to be news to her, and she questioned my accuracy, now it seems all has come to light, except for just how cool their new concept will be. Even Godiva corporate has been tight-lipped with the

Sad But Not Surprising : Merino Closed in Buckhead

After adding Merino to DeathWatch third quarter 2010, the store closed not long after. While I was unable to determine the exact day, I'm told the store closed around the end of the year. (According to their Facebook page, they will continue operations via a soon-to-launch website) Merino opened April, 2008 in the former CompUSA training space at The Shops Around Lenox. There was an extensive remodel that included new windows, stone flooring and other expensive elements. The store's intention was to carry little known and new designers, and expose Atlanta to their designs. The problem with this was that

GEOX Runs out of Breath at Perimeter Mall

GEOX, the shoe that breathes, closed its lone Atlanta retail store at Perimeter Mall earlier this evening. Located on the first level of the Nordstrom wing, the store opened in May, 2008 and was one of a number of new stores the Italian footwear company opened. Another store opened at SouthPark Mall in Charlotte, but that store closed last year. While the shoes are carried in numerous department stores nationwide, the company's southern retail outlets will now be exclusively in Florida: Lincoln Road in Miami, Aventura Mall in Aventura and Mall at Millenia in Orlando.

The wing still has Betsey Johnson and Stuart Weitzman boutiques, but was once expected to

Semi-Sweet Times at Lenox Square , Lindt Closing

Lindt, Master Swiss Chocolatier, will close its 7-year-old location at Lenox Square this weekend. Originally set to close on the 28th, it's likely that their existing merchandise, mostly Christmas leftovers, will last only until Sunday. The store is located on the upper level of the mall, adjacent to Bloomingdale's. Apparently the sale started before Snowpocolypse 2011, but the reductions have only gotten serious lately.

I happened to notice a friend who works at a designer retailer in the Luxury Wing walk

Three Dollar Cafe Opening New Location in Embry Village

Three Dollar Cafe will soon open at Embry Village on Chamblee-Tucker Road. Although the center's leasing company showed the restaurant opening across from Kroger in a stand alone outparcel within the center, the restaurant will instead open in the space left empty by The Loop Pizza Grill. (Calls to The Leasing Team for comment on the move went unreturned.) The Loop closed last summer and left a built-out 2-level restaurant space empty.

While the Loop struggled locally, Three Dollar Cafe has managed to stick around for nearly three decades. Originally launched in Atlanta in 1982, the chain now has locations scattered around the state. Similar in price and fare to Taco Mac and Jocks & Jills, Three Dollar Cafe has not grown as big as some of its competitors, but has somehow remained relevant in the

United Colors of Benetton Looking "Blue" as it Consolidates Operations

United Colors of Benetton closed their longtime Lenox Square location last night but will keep open their location at Phipps Plaza. Based in Teviso, Italy, Benetton Group S.p.A., the parent company of the chain, encompasses over 6000 locations in over 120 countries. The location at Phipps Plaza, on the upper level near the string of shuttered GAP stores, was previously branded "Sisley," another division of Benetton, but was re-branded a couple of years back. I'm told that both locations were franchised, possibly by the same owner, and that the decision was made to consolidate operations.

I personally think that Phipps is the less ideal

Emory Great Harvest Bread Co. is Now ...Toast

Great Harvest Bread Co., in the BriarVista Shopping Center at Briarcliff and LaVista Roads, has (abruptly) closed. The bakery's last day was Saturday January 15th with an email to patrons thanking them for their business this past Monday. Established in 1975 in Great Falls Montana, Great Harvest Bread Co. is now headquartered in Dillon, Montana, and has over 200 locations across the country. The intown

Doom in Douglasville for Mellow Mushroom

Mellow Mushroom has closed their location on Georgia 5 in Douglasville. Open for over eight years, a source says this location was being used as a corporate training store yet had suffered from bad service lately. Georgia-based Mellow Mushroom's largest market remains the metro area with over 40 locations, although the chain is now represented in 15 other states including Virginia, Tennessee, Colorado and Texas.

A pre-recorded message at the restaurant's phone number thanks patrons for being Mellow Mushroom customers and directs

Mirko Pasta on the Move ITP and Beyond!

Bishop Georgia-based Mirko Pasta may soon add 3 new locations to the metro area in the coming months. (In November I broke news Mirko would enter the metro area with a location in Buckhead) A location that will open adjacent to Gigi's Cupcakes at Merchant's Walk in East Cobb is confirmed. Additionally, at Toco Hill, Mirko is apparently looking at taking a portion of the former Edo Japanese Restaurant. Earlier this week

One More Borders Over the Line

Borders Books & Music at Brookwood Place in south Buckhead will soon close for good. One of the original tenants signed to the Selig Enterprises project in 2003, the store was one of the prized signings for the development. Brookwood Place is also home to a bi-level Kroger grocery store, Spa Sydell and Atlanta's only Viking cooking school and store. Wolfgang Puck Express, Taurus restaurant, Swoozie's and The Art Store also opened in the project but have all since closed.

Baroni, an Italian restaurant, replaced

Miss Sixty / Energie Gone In Under 60 Months

Miss Sixty / Energie, located within a single storefront on the second level of Lenox Square, has abruptly closed. As of today, signage had already been removed and their phone was apparently disconnected after closing Sunday night. Rumored to be closing for a few weeks, only today was I able to confirm that they had, in fact, closed. The store opened in 2008 amidst the major designer retail additions to the mall. That year alone, Lenox Square added True Religion, Calvin Klein White Label, a huge bi-level Ralph Lauren store, ZARA, Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic, Ed Hardy, 7 For All Mankind and a host of other high end retailers. Many were in the new second level luxury wing, but others like Ed Hardy and Miss Sixty / Energie, were in other parts of the mall.

The luxury wing has already seen the closure of Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic and

There May be a Fiesta at Toco Hills Soon, La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant Opening

Atlanta-based La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant will add their 15th Atlanta area location (16th overall) when it opens at Toco Hills later this year. La Parrilla will take a portion of the former Edo Japanese Steakhouse space in the vacant outparcel. (Another locally based restaurant is in talks for the other space, see additional story later this week.) This will be the La Parrilla's first location intown, aside from the location at Selig's The District at Howell Mill. Existing area locations are in Alpharetta, Woodstock, Flowery Branch, Canton and various other

The Bell Tolls For NOON Midtown

NOON Midtown has closed. NOON opened April 2009 in the lobby level of 1010 Midtown to much fanfare and seemed to be quite popular at the start. While rumors of its closure have swirled for the better portion of a week, it seems yesterday was their last day of service. The restaurant's Twitter and Facebook both remain active, each with updates as recently as yesterday, but as 11 am came and went, no update (as had been the case in the past) and their phone goes unanswered.

Katie Birmingham, a former sous chef at Bacchanalia, ran the kitchen, and together with her husband designed a very chic dining room. This past October, NOON was even featured in the locally filmed CW show "Vampire Diaries." The restaurant experimented with dinner service last year but went back

Bottega Veneta out at S.O.B. and in at Phipps Plaza

Bottega Veneta will open its first Atlanta area store this summer at Phipps Plaza. Previously announced to have been opening in The Streets of Buckhead, its name was removed from the S.O.B. website months ago leading many to believe they had pulled out. Locating within Phipps Plaza is definitely a wiser move and should serve them well in the future. In Phipps they join sister line Gucci and a host of other designer labels such as Versace, Valentino,

Thirsty Dog Tavern Runs Dry in South Buckhead

The Thirsty Dog Tavern at Bennett Street and Peachtree Road in south Buckhead closed earlier this week. The restaurant's Facebook page had not been updated since late October and phone goes unanswered but no official statement had been made on the part of the restaurant that I'm aware of.

The restaurant opened last March and was owned by a group of investors including Tony LaRocco, who previously operated Fratelli di Napoli not far away. Prior to the restaurants opening as the Thirsty Dog Tavern, the same

Tucker Rings in the New Year with New Chick-Fil-A

Chick-Fil-A will soon do the unthinkable: increase its restaurant count inside the perimeter (ITP). At the cusp of I-285 on LaVista Road in Tucker, Chick-Fil-A will open on an outparcel at Northlake Festival that housed a Taco Bell for years, until its closure last January. Chick-Fil-A first proposed the restaurant to the Northlake community over the summer and later received approval. Demolition of the

Another Broken Egg Cafe Breaks into Atlanta Market, Opening in Buckhead

Destin Florida-based Another Broken Egg Cafe will soon open its first location in the peach state. Located in Buckhead at Peachtree Battle shopping center on Peachtree Road, the new eatery will open in the shuttered Savor Specialty Foods space. Savor closed this past July, and apparently the space had plenty of interest in the months following.

Another Broken Egg Cafe will surely draw early morning diners to the already busy center- home to one of the best performing

You Won't Have Yoreka to Kick Around Anymore

After closing their location at The Prado in Sandy Springs in November, local Fro-Yo chain Yoreka has now closed its only other operating location, in Little Five Points. Located on Euclid Avenue, Yoreka L5P opened in August and closed last week. Further indication of the closure: Yoreka's Facebook page has now disappeared, its Twitter has not been updated since August, its website displays an error message when you click "contact" and their phone goes straight to voicemail.

A member of both Q3 and Q4's DeathWatch, Yoreka is (was) one of, if not the worst of the local Fro-Yo options. Having tried just about every Fro-Yo in town, including national chains and local joints, Yoreka missed multiple marks and was just not gonna make it with so many