Roanoke, Virginia-based Advance Auto Parts plans to open a new retail store on Lawrenceville-Highway in place of a recently demolished former Mrs. Winner's. Reportedly, the store will open by late February.
The new Advance Auto Parts will open virtually across the street from an existing O'Reilly Auto Parts store. Similar to RaceTrac's now defeated plans to open a new location just up the road from an existing QuikTrip, Advance seemingly has the same thinking in their desire to be across the street from their competition.
While I personally would have preferred a restaurant (BOJANGLES) to have opened in place of the Mrs. Winner's, development is always nice and something sure beats an abandoned eyesore. The adjacent Cub Foods has been vacant for years following the grocer's departure from the Atlanta market in the late 90s. Batteries Plus was rumored to have been relocating to the space a while back, but the store opened in nearby Shamrock Plaza instead.
Similar to the Northlake area, of which I spoke earlier this week, the North DeKalb Mall area has seen a number of businesses, predominantly restaurants, open over the past couple years. Zaxby's opened a new freestanding location just outside the mall on North Druid Hills Road while Marshalls opened a new store within the mall itself. Additionally, an abandoned Checkers is rumored to be part of plans for a new full service Chick-fil-A. Nearby McDonald's recently completed a beautiful exterior renovation and Golden Corral is well underway with a new location in an outparcel of the mall, near Macy's.
Advance Auto Parts is also opening a new location on Howell Mill Road. This location was fought by many in the neighborhood as it meant that Bell Street Burritos (the building's then tenant) would be forced to close. Eventually, Bell Street did close, later relocating within the Irwin Street Market, and Advance Auto Parts is nearing completion on their new facility, built in its place.
There are plenty of shuttered Mrs. Winners around Atlanta. While some locations were reborn as national chains like in Dunwoody (McDonald's) and in Kennesaw (Taco Bell), others like the one on Piedmont Road became local restaurants like Perla Taqueria. Countless others near in southeast Atlanta and off Covington Highway remain idle.
Area Input
What would you like to see open in the disaster that is the former Cub Foods? Do you think a full service Chick-fil-A is the answer for the former Checkers or would you like to see something else? What would make you visit the mall more?
2 comments:
Perhaps Lowe's could follow the trend of opening in proximity to the competition and open a store where Cub Foods used to be. They would be nearly next door to Home Depot. That space could also accomodate a Trader Joe's very well.
That area has been subject to turnover for 30 years. I believe the O'Reily Auto Parts was an Advance Auto Parts (although it might have been a Meineke). Anyway, I feel like Advance already had a store in that location prior.
It's a tough spot because folks in Decatur tend to stay in Decatur, Toco Hills go to Toco Hills, and Tucker stays in Tucker. The only reason we would head out there from Decatur growing up was to eat at the Po Folks or go to the Krystal or to drive to Northlake/N. DeKalb. Of course, I still remember driving to Memorial Dr. to shop at Zayre and Circuit City.
I mean you've had Po Folks, Builder's Square, Hardees, Arthur Treachers Fish and Chips, and I think there was either a Richway or a K-Mart there before Builder's Square. I think the biggest problem with that spot is that (a) it is at that strange intersection with 78 and 29 that is just difficult for people to navigate and (b) DeKalb Co doesn't give a rip about the area as anything more than easy tax revenue.
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