Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Bits & Bites

Under the Cork Tree has opened in The Prado in Sandy Springs.  Jason Sheetz and William Sigley of Hammocks Trading Company quietly opened the restaurant Sunday night.  Under The Cork Tree is a "wine-centric Mediterranean inspired restaurant" that occupies the nearly 6,800 square foot space formerly home to Joli Kobe.

Sears Holding Corp recently announced the planned closure of a number of Kmart and Sears locations around the country.  Two locations are in Georgia, although neither is in metro Atlanta.  The Kmart store on North Columbia Street in Milledgeville will reportedly begin liquidation sales January 24th.   According to a statement from the company, the Milledgeville location at 1970 North Columbia Street is slated to close for good in mid-April.  Sears will also close their store at Mount Berry Square Mall in Rome in mid-March.  

Walmart also announced it will close nearly 300 locations around the country. Included in the planned closures are the complete elimination of the "Walmart Express" store concept, as well as Walmart, Walmart Supercenter, Walmart Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club stores. While the chain will not be closing any metro Atlanta locations, they will be closing a number of stores around the state.  The Georgia stores slated for closure are all "Express" stores, many which are rather recently opened:

#4228: 560 S. Broad Street, Ellaville
#4229: 1041 S US Highway 1, Alma
#4234: 155 West Washington Avenue, Ashburn
#4251: 398 Barrow Avenue SW, Pelham
#4254: 907 Marianna Highway, Donalsonville
#4261: 290 Albany Avenue West, Pearson
#4263: 142 S. Valdosta Road, Lakeland
The above stores are expected to all close January 28th.  

Texas-based Main Event Entertainment, with existing Atlanta area locations in Alpharetta and Smyrna/Vinings, plans to open a third location later this year in Suwanee.  The facility will be located on Lawrenceville Suwanee Road on vacant land in front of the Terraces at Suwanee Gateway apartment complex.  Main Event often features bowling, laser tag, billiards, arcade games, gravity (high wire) and assorted dining options.  Company officals plan to have the new location open late this fall.  


Lindbergh, a "rugged" menswear label with both casual and formal attire, plans to open a store at The Shops Buckhead Atlanta later this year.  

Joie, a popular women's label already found in assorted stores locally such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx, will also reportedly open in The Shops Buckhead Atlanta later this year.  

Beachwood, Ohio-based Ticknors Men's Clothier plans to open a new, nearly 4,400 square foot store on the second floor of Phipps Plaza.  The store, slated to open this coming spring, replaces "Blu' Couture," a store that should have never been allowed to open in the upscale mall.  The space that Ticknors will occupy is most memorable to me as the home of Learningsmith, an educational toy store in the 90s. Ticknors currently has eight stores in two states.  The store carries a number of established menswear labels including Peter Millar, Michael Kors, Johnston & Murphy, Robert Graham, Andrew Marc and Mezlan.  

Following the recent opening of Corner Bakery at Sterling Pointe on Ashford-Dunwoody Road, Sleep Number has signed on to open in the center as well.  Sleep Number will occupy an approximately 4,000 square foot space, across from Corner Bakery.  Three other spaces measuring 2,500, 6,000 and 10,000 square feet remain available in the project situated in front of the upcoming Hampton Inn & Suites hotel.    

Atlanta's Kale Me Crazy has signed on to open a new location in the revamped Buckhead Exchange on Peachtree Road in Buckhead.  The center, previously home to Nancy's Pizza, Establishment, Radio Shack and others, has been deconstructed and is being rebuilt to include a number of restaurants and retailers.  Kale Me Crazy will join Yeah! Burger and Storico Fresco Alimentari Ristorante e Mercato as confirmed tenants in the center.  Kale Me Crazy, started in 2013 by Yogli Mogli founder Roi Shlomo, currently has locations in Inman Park, Decatur and Midtown but has five other locations coming soon.  New Kale Me Crazy locations are planned for Brookhaven (a new space on Peachtree Road), Roswell (Connexion), Virginia Highland (former I Love Juice Bar on Highland Avenue), Sandy Springs (Gateway) and Buckhead. 

Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe has opened its latest Atlanta area location on West Ponce de Leon Avenue in Decatur. Two other locations are planned for the Fashion Cafe in Lenox Square and Toco Hills Promenade at Toco Hills, but are both again delayed.  The Lenox location will reportedly open the 26th, with the Toco Hills site (a former Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint) delayed until April.   

Fuqua Development has a total of seven projects under contruction in metro Atlanta.  Three of them, Morningside Heights, Decatur Crossing and Sugarloaf Marketplace, will be anchored by  Sprouts Farmers Market stores.  Sprouts at Morningside Heights on Piedmont Avenue is slated to February 3rd, followed by the other locations later in the year.  While there is no indication yet as to what small stores will compliment the Sprouts and planned apartments in Decatur or Morningside, the Sugarloaf project does have a pretty "robust" list of other tenants.  Among those confirmed for the project are Pie Five Pizza Co., Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Orange Theory Fitness, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt (...and you thought the FroYo craze was over), Zoës Kitchen, RaceTrac, Waffle House, Panda Express, Banfield Pet Hospital, Supercuts, Luxury Nail, AT&T and (barring another E. coli outbreak), Chipotle Mexican Grill.  

Hog & Ale Smokehouse, a new barbecue restaurant, opened quietly this past Sunday in Peachtree Corners.  The 2,550 square foot restaurant is located in Peachtree Parkway Plaza, to the right of anchor Goodwill.  The center's co-anchor, Youfit, a gym operator, recently closed abruptly with no new tenant announced. 

7 comments:

Greenwave said...

Pretty disappointed that a Sleep Number location is opening up across from Corner Bakery. We need more food and boutique spots.

ImAndy said...

A 24 acre assemblage was supposedly just sold just past the walmart in Duluth for a Mixed Use Development. Any word on that? Bull Realty was the broker. I have to believe it was going to be all housing but it was being marketed for Mixed-Use.

Anonymous said...

Rarely is retail exciting any longer. Mattress stores, nail salons, and anything Fuqua puts up other than Sprouts is yawn-inducing. Phipps has a couple head scratchers in right now. Specifically one store across from Bang & Olufsen called Pressed (I think?). Legitimately looks like a store you'd see in Underground. Oh...and a Claires Accessories....in Phipps... WTF, Simon?

BW said...

Taylor Morrison Homes purchased that assemblage in Duluth of which you speak. It will be majority townhomes and small lot detached homes with a very small parcel held out for office uses.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

The Prado is not too visually appealing from the road and is congested, but the businesses there that have their niche seem to be doing great. Best of luck to these folks. I will be stopping by.

Eli - what's going to be developed at that massive tear-down just north of Sprouts on Roswell Road?

Atlantan99 said...

@The Anti-Gnostic,

Would it shock you if I told you the plan for the former Aboretum Apartments is to build nearly 500 apartments and townhomes? Sadly, that is the case. The 17 acre parcel is to get a heavy dose of of ridiculous redevelopment.

Thanks for your continued comments and readership, I appreciate them both.

The Anti-Gnostic said...

LOL. That's pretty bizarre. I keep wondering how many people are supposed to be moving here to support all the residential and retail. I guess we'll find out.

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