Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Timber! The Georgia Pine Bites the Dust

Local restaurant abruptly shutters 
The Georgia Pine, a full service restaurant located in the Shoppes at Webb Gin on Scenic Highway in Lawrenceville, has closed.  Sources say the restaurant closed abruptly last week without warning or explanation, leaving employees confused and unemployed.  

As of this past weekend, the restaurant's phone is disconnected, its website down, and facebook & twitter pages deleted.  

Local personal injury attorney Gary Martin Hays opened the restaurant in 2013 in place of his previous endeavor, Gary's Bistro.  Gary's Bistro opened in 2010, replacing Urban Flats, a failed casual dining restaurant based in Orlando.  

Hays enlisted the expertise of Ben Bailey and Chris Collin of Lawrenceville's Local Republic restaurant. The duo served as "managing partners" of The Georgia Pine.  

Essentially, the restaurant was an upscale "farm to table" eatery that was perhaps too high end for the area.  According to Gary Martin Hays, the restaurant closure was due to a "lack of lunch time traffic" and  "lack of cooperation from the landlord."

Did you ever dine at The Georgia Pine?  Are you surprised it closed?  What would you like to see open in its place?  

Please share your thoughts below.  

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Shoppes has definitely gone down since The Avenues, from stores to the clientele. The Shoppes is a literally a split shopping experience with the development divided by busy Webb Gin House Road.

Parking at The Georgia Pine is horrible with Wind Wing Cafe neighboring and Sprouts Market just across the tiny crowded parking lot. With all the land clearing and shopping center boom along Scenic Highway, management at The Shoppes does need to quickly get their act together. Not saying that is why this restaurant closed however it certainly could be a factor.

Sad that we have lost a local based eatery with the influx of (yawn) national chains invading the area.

Anonymous said...

Bad move for posting exclusive content on Facebook and Twitter. Both sites are blocked at my workplace, and after a day at work staring at a computer, the last thing I want to do when I get home is power up.

Anonymous said...

Although I only visited a couple of times, the overall experience was good. The pricing may have been slightly at the upper edge for the area but not prohibitive. The "managing partners", Ben Baily and Chris Collin, have purchased a building on the square in downtown Lawrenceville just up the street from Local Republicso so look for something new from these two.

Sheednomics said...

The Shopping Center has gone down and lost major tenants over the years such as Bananana Republic (which sat behind the water fountain), Talbots, Ethan Allen, Pandora, IO Metro, and more. I think some some retailers are too high for the area or either to close to existing malls such as Mall of Ga and Sugar Loaf Mills (formerly Discover). Both malls are in same county and only roughly 20 miles from The Shoppes. Avenue did have sucess when it first opened but it's occupancy rate has never been 100% as there are some spots today that a store have never opened in. The Avenues only pulled Gap, and Justice from nearby shopping centers. Most stores that have closed have locations near Mall of Georgia.

Anonymous said...

My family and I personally love the Shoppes at Webb Gin. We are regular customers who dine, shop and use services at the center. We love the location as well as the safe and beautiful atmosphere. Though some stores like Georgia Pines have not made it in the Snellville market, other stores at the shopping center are thriving. The addition of Sprouts was a huge bonus for me and many of my friends too.

I follow the Shoppes at Webb Gin on Facebook and also joined their free E-club where I get special coupons. I believe that the management of the shopping center really do care and want to know what the local customers would like to see at the center. If you have any suggestions on what stores you want to see there--I suggest you let them know.

Anonymous said...

We only just discovered the Georgia Pine in January and went several times after that. We were planning to go in November for a birthday party. The food was amazing, the beer selection was superb, overall we had nothing but wonderful experiences here. Very sad to see it closed.

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