Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Bits & Bites

Sprouts Farmers Market plans to open its fifth store in metro Atlanta on January 14th. The new Sprouts Farmers Market is opening in Cumming at Lakeland Plaza in a former Stein Mart. Sprouts entered metro Atlanta last year with locations in Snellville, Dunwoody, Peachtree Corners and Johns Creek.  This year, new Sprouts locations in metro Atlanta are expected in Roswell, Midtown, north Buckhead, and possibly Smyrna.  

Walmart plans to open two new Walmart Neighborhood Market stores in Warner Robins in the coming months. Each store will measure about 42,000 square feet and unlike recent openings in metro Atlanta, each will have gas pumps, too.  One location is slated for North Houston Road at Green Street on a parcel that formerly housed The Family Mart. The other location is to be built on previously undeveloped land at Russell Parkway and Lake Joy Road near an existing CVS Pharmacy.  

A new QuikTrip is scheduled to open in "about two weeks" at the corner of Georgia 120 and Riverside Parkway in Lawrenceville.  The new QT replaces a shuttered Pike Family Nursery and will also mean the closure of an existing QT about a tenth of a mile away, on Riverside Parkway.  This move follows similar relocations the c-store has made in Chamblee and Alpharetta. 

Pottery Barn has signed a "temporary lease extension" and will remain open at North Point Mall for at least another year.  I previously announced the store would be closing January 31st but that information, while correct at the time, has changed.  

Williams Sonoma, a store I hinted was likely to leave North Point following the opening of Sur la Table is in fact leaving the mall.  Williams Sonoma's last day at North Point will be January 19th.  

After a number of delays, the new Pita by the Beirut at Perimeter Village in Dunwoody opened this past Monday.  Dunwoody is the third overall location for the Peachtree City-based restaurant. 

Handy Ace Hardware has reopened on Lawrenceville Highway at Tucker Town Square in Tucker.  The new Handy Ace Hardware is meant to replace the former location at Cowan Road and Lawrenceville Highway that burned to the ground in December 2012.  The new location opened a few weeks ago and replaced the shuttered Tucker Flea Market. The Ace store is open and well stocked but still not at 100% and won't be for weeks, if not months, according to an associate at the store.  The store was first announced to be relocating to Tucker Town Square in November, 2013, and it's unclear what caused the year plus delay.  

Royal Design Fine Jewelry is opening soon in the former salon space at Terminus 100.  The jewelry store will hope to find success in a space that has played host to two failed salons, first D.C.-based The Grooming Lounge, and later Alpharetta's William David Salon. 

Following heavy renovations, new equipment and new signage, Checkers is nearly ready to reopen near North DeKalb Mall.  The twin-drive thru / walk up restaurant closed over a year ago but signaled its interest in reentering the area late last year.  After receiving necessary approvals from local government, work on the building began in earnest. The most significant changes diners will notice are a new logo and new, more modern building / accents.  

Paper Mill Grill and sibling concept, Ritter's have both closed.  Paper Mill Grill was located on Village Parkway, just off Johnson Ferry Road, while Ritter's was not far away on Lower Roswell Road. The two restaurants were owned and operated by husband and wife, Ritter & Brigid Jones. Ritter's was opened in April, 2004 followed by Paper Mill Grill in February, 2008.  Locals I spoke with describe the two closed restaurants as "terrible" and "awful" and credited recent East Cobb additions such as Chequers, Common Quarter, Seed and Zeal and catalysts for the closures.  One reader saying, "it's not like East Cobb has a ton of great restaurants, but when a few good ones open, the crappy ones will close."  


A new Wild Wing Cafe is coming to Hamilton Mill. The Atlanta-based wing joint will open in the former Rick Tanner's Grille & Bar / Field House.  Another Wild Wing Cafe is coming soon to  Ashford Place in a former Romano's Macaroni Grill on Ashford Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody.

Nancy's Hallmark will soon close its store in the Kroger-anchored Georgetown Shopping Center on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody.  The store is reportedly closing because they "can't afford the rent." A liquidation sale will begin Saturday and will continue until the store is cleared out.   

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Sprouts store is fully under construction in Smyrna. There is no “may’ about it.

jamiet27 said...

Interesting. As a resident of East Cobb for most of my life, I actually disagree about Ritter's and Paper Mill Grill being "terrible." I am very sad to hear about these closings - particularly Ritter's.

That said, I agree on some great local restaurants coming to the area. One of my favorites is Moxie Burger, right behind the old Paper Mill Grill!

Thanks!

Larry DeMarcus said...

I agree with the OP. PMG and Ritter's were very good additions to the sparse East Cobb dining scene. Granted, there was a lot of new competition up/down JFR.....but for those of us in Atlanta Country Club, it was a most convenient place to eat. I think there is more to this than meets the eye.

Roger said...

Off subject but I noticed today the Kay Jewelers at Atlantic Station is closed and the insides being torn out and the store next to it wasn't open as well!

Anonymous said...

I have no idea what locals you talked to, but most of my fellow East Cobbers and I loved Ritters. Good people, good food, good owners. Perhaps snooty ITP people came up and had a bad experience, but those of us that get our passports stamped at 285 on our daily commute home loved those restaurants and are sad to see them go.

Atlantan99 said...

All RE: Sprouts Smyrna,

I'm sorry for being unclear. I'm very aware the store is happening. I've been told by a well placed source that the store is not scheduled to open until 2016 hence my use of the word "possibly" when describing Sprouts locations opening this year.

Again, I apologize for being unclear and appreciate your comments and readership.

Anonymous said...

Your "well placed source" for Sprouts updates may need to check their facts...

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/industry-news-trends/regional-supermarket-chains/sprouts-farmers-market-open-10-new-stores-q2

Anonymous said...

So excited that Pita by the Beirut is coming to the Dunwoody. This is certainly a South Atlanta gem that needed to expand.

Anonymous said...

my neighborhood email says that Lavista Office Park LLC wants to demolish around 250K square feet of offices near the NE corner of N'lake Parkway and Lavista, and build a 200K square foot shopping center.

Let us know if you're able to dig up any intel on this. It's in the very early stages, so I'm not sure if they have any particular tenants in mind.

These offices are pretty drab, across from the repulsive 'Northlake Inn' and the Old Hickory House strip.

~mindspringyahoo

Sanni said...

When is the Earth Fare grocery store opening? One is coming to Norcross but I heard another one is coming somewhere near Emory?
Sprouts what about Southside of town where good food markets are needed?

Anonymous said...

A new QT is being built on Stone Mountain Hwy which was previously Stone Mountain Toyota.

Anonymous said...

Regions Bank at Tuxedo Festival shopping center closed recently.

Anonymous said...

Any idea what is slated for the space next to FLIP burger on Howell Mill? It's under construction but I have not seen a sign indicating the business/restaurant.

Anonymous said...

It's going to be a Jimmy John's sandwich shop.

jeff a. taylor said...

Put me somewhere in the middle for Ritter's/Paper Mill Grill. Ritter's might been the first place we ate in East Cobb upon moving in 2011, a nice functional lunch. Went back a couple times for dinner with mixed results, including a final stop which featured an overmatched server who delivered entrees about 90 seconds into our apps. Hadn't been back in at least two years. Similar deal with Paper Mill -- had a great call-ahead, large party (like 16) experience, then a couple mehs, including a stop that must've been in the middle of a beer-wine distributor switch as everything on the menu was gone.

There just didn't seem to be enough attention put into training and the fare was only ever good. Absolutely makes sense to me that Seed, and to a lesser extent Common Quarter, have raised the standards several notches in what is now my home turf. Even Zeal, which is a great space that on my visit just didn't come together, seems packed every night. With these recent additions, subtractions are not a surprise. Hope the spaces are repurposed soon.

simplicius said...

I was randomly up in Tucker on Friday and noticed the Ace Hardware store. It's really nice! Great addition to that area. OK, I was getting my Grecian Gyro fix. Anyways, the new Ace is awesome

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