Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Bits & Bites

The recently opened Culver's in Newnan
The new Culver's in Buford is slated to open Monday, November 7th.  The Buford location will join existing Atlanta area Culvers in Dawsonville and Newnan. A new Culver's is expected to open in Grovetown in early December followed by Lawrenceville in mid -January and Canton / Hickory Flat towards the end of January.  Two other metro Atlanta locations are in the works.

The Wendy's on Piedmont Road is again undergoing a renovation, this time to complete a version of the company's "image activation" program.  The restaurant, which was sold last year, closed earlier this year for a limited renovation that included the adoption of the brand's new logo.  This renovation will be more extensive and is expected to take a number of weeks to complete. The restaurant is currently still open.    

The Dairy Queen on Lawrenceville Highway near North DeKalb Mall is closed to undergo a major renovation.  Another older location on Cobb Parkway is also being completely renovated.     

The existing Starbucks Coffee at Georgetown shopping center is relocating to The Shoppes of Georgetown, a small strip center nearby.  The relocation, which is due to be completed in January, will provide the coffee shop and its patrons a drive-thru.  Great Clips, which previously occupied the Starbucks space, relocated to another suite in the development.  Both centers are owned & operated by Atlanta-based Coro Realty Advisors.   

Rodney's Jamaican Soul Food plans to relocate its Cobb Parkway restaurant by early next year.  The Jamaican eatery, which celebrated its seventh anniversary earlier this year, will relocate from a space near the intersection of Cobb Parkway and Windy Hill to the former D. Geller & Son in Cumberland Square North shopping center.  Locally owned D. Geller relocated to Akers Mill Square shopping center earlier this year.   The new Rodney's, which measures nearly 5,000 square feet, will be larger than the current location and should provide the eatery with more walk-in traffic given its more high profile location.   A native of Jamaica, Chef Rodney came to Atlanta in 1999 and previously worked at both Sun Dial Restaurant atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza as well as Livingston Restaurant, within the Georgian Terrace Hotel.  The restaurant has nearly 160 Yelp.com reviews with an overall score of 3.5 stars.  As can be seen on the website, Rodney's does have at least one very enthusiastic fan.     

Atlanta upstart Hirewire has added both hospitality and retail jobs to their popular jobs app.  The app, which has been called "Tinder for jobs," allows job seekers and employers to "swipe right" and "swipe left" for jobs/applicants in which they are or are not interested. Hirewire, whose tagline is "let your next job find you," now boasts 4,000 hiring managers and 50,000 job seekers using the service.  While the recently launched version is far better than earlier iterations, there is still plenty of work to be done.  This past August, the company closed on another $1.8 million in funding.  Perhaps Rutherford Seydel, (who recently invested in struggling QSR chain Uncle Maddio's Pizza), should move from meals to jobs.   

The creaters of the Atlanta Beer Festivals and Atlanta Wine Party are bringing brunch to Brookhaven. Brookhaven Brunch Festival is slated to debut November 12th in Brookhaven Park. Tickets are $20 today but will increase to $25 if purchased after tomorrow, November 3rd.     

The Yogurt Tap plans to close in Decatur this Sunday, November 6th.  The locally owned fro-yo shop was opened by husband and wife Stanford & Lindsey Phillips in 2009.  The couple now has five children and their priorities for their time have changed.  "Although we will deeply miss The Yogurt Tap, we are looking forward to focusing more attention on our children." Yogurt Tap was one of my favorites and while it's sad to see them close, I understand the reasoning.  

Subway has closed its location at Vinings Slope, just of Paces Ferry Road, in Vinings.  

Tuesday Morning is now open in the former Eckerd/OfficeMax at Brighten Park.  The off-price retailer relocated its Briar Vista shopping center location to the larger Brighten Park space and is also debuting a new layout and logo.    

Popular intown eatery Lottafrutta closed its not-so-popular Avalon location October 28th after just over a year in business.  The fresh fruit, juice, smoothies and Cuban-style sandwiches  apparently did not resonate well with OTP diners.   North American Properties, which sold phase one of the project earlier this summer, continues to operate it and released the following statement.   “The recent closing of LottaFrutta provides us with an opportunity to welcome an exciting new concept that better resonates with the North Fulton market. There’s significant interest in the space due to its premier location next to the region’s top performing Marlow’s Tavern. As Avalon continues to grow, we will continue to refine our merchandising strategy to offer a best-in-class retail and restaurant mix.”     Lottafrutta's original location in Old 4th Ward and satellite location at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remain open.  

Dick's Sporting Goods plans to open in place of the former Sports Authority at Perimeter Pointe in Sandy Springs.   The approximately 54,500 square foot space has been vacant for a few months following Sports Authority's bankruptcy and complete closure earlier this year.  When the store opened as Sports Authority in early 2002, it was the chain’s 12th store in metro Atlanta. When the store reopens as Dick's early next year, it will be the chain's eleventh store in metro Atlanta, with a twelfth in the pipeline at Tucker Meridian. The new opening gives Dick's a presence in the Dunwoody/Sandy Springs and Tucker markets, both of which  they had been lacking.     

Wet Seal, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2015 and subsequently closed over 300 of its locations, is bringing a handful of pop-up stores to metro Atlanta later this week.  Thirteen pop-up shops are expected to open tomorrow, November 3rd, in a number of GGP malls across the country.  Three of these such stores are in metro Atlanta: Perimeter Mall, Cumberland Mall and North Point Mall, with a fourth coming to Peachtree Mall in Columbus.  Units at Lenox Square and Mall of Georgia still operate. According to the Wet Seal website, the retailer continues to operate 171 locations in 42 states.    

Don't forget, ToNeTo Atlanta is now on Instagram with IG exclusive progress and event pictures.  @tonetoatl or #tonetoatl

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

re: Yogurt Tap - why would they not sell it? From what I would see while in the area they seemed to do solid business. It fit in very well in that area with the high foot traffic.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon RE: Yogurt Tap,

I wondered that too! Perhaps the landlord already had someone new lined up? Maybe it's tough to sell a fro-yo shop in what SHOULD BE colder months?

Greenwave said...

Culver's is really making me mad with all the suburb locations. BRING CULVER'S INSIDE THE PERIMETER!!!!

AJ said...

@Greenwave - I feel the same - or at least close to the Perimeter - Smyrna, Dunwoody, etc. Culver's reminds me of Zaxby's location issues years ago. Many years ago, I ate at a Zaxby's in Cumming and while waiting for my food, a manager started talking to me and I told him that they need to open some closer to the city. They said that land prices were too high based on their business (at the time). Fast forward a decade or so and there are Zaxby's everywhere. I'm hoping this is Culver's plan. Build a following, which will grow sales and allow Culver's to open where real estate (& other operating expenses) is more expensive.

Jason S said...

Speaking of Dairy Queens and Decatur frozen treat places, the Dairy Queen on East Trinity and East Howard in Decatur has re-opened in the ground floor of the Arlo departments. Finally!

Anonymous said...

Exhale in Avalon closed on 11/1

Anonymous said...

Please quit trying to make that Wendy's happen. And the Arby's at Lindbergh

InAtl said...

Sad the Georgetown Kroger is moving just for a drive thru. Right now it's got great out door seating around the 2 sides of the store. The new strip is impossible to make a left out of and is not very well connected to the rest of the step center. Personally I hate drive thru, they pollute, waste gas and represent laziness

Anonymous said...

I look forward to seeing the morning road-rage confrontations at the new Starbucks, as the 'I had to get my frappucino' crowd tries to cut in front of people that have been waiting their turn to get on 285W.


skigator93 said...

Eric is right on the money - that new Starbucks location is not going to go well. Aside from having little chance to make a left out of that center anytime during the day, people trying to turn into that tiny strip center from Chamblee Dunwoody are going to clog up an already disastrous turn lane to the 285 entrance ramp. I can't see how that move is not going to cost them customers, especially from those who live north of the location.

Since there is plenty of sidewalk there, I'm sure they will install a new patio where customers can sip their lattes while listening to the cars zoom by on the interstate. I guess Goldbergs will be happy - more close-by parking for their customers!

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