Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Bits & Bites


Petite Violette, the French restaurant created from the recent merging of Petite Auberge and Violette recently lost Stephanie Belcher, longtime manager and owner of Violette. Ms. Belcher was 67 and died suddenly on March 13th after recovering from an illness and showing signs of improving.  
    
"In lieu of flowers, Stephanie's family requests donations be made to the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center's Scholarship Program, in Stephanie's name. Go to Callanwolde.org, click on "giving", then on "donate" and "donate here". Then, specify that this is for the scholarship program. Many thanks in advance for honoring Stephanie." 

A new Bojangles' is planned for Franklin Gateway and Delk Road in Marietta.  The new restaurant will be built on the site of a former gas station, adjacent to a former Waffle House. This restaurant will not feature a "Biscuit Theater," a new element of select Bojangles' restaurants, where customers can watch as fresh biscuits are prepared.   The new Bojangles' is less than a mile from the soon-to-open Atlanta United FC practice facility. The restaurant will be owned and operated by Trickum Ops, LLC. an existing Bojangles' franchisee with seven Bojangles’ restaurants in the Atlanta area. A Bojangles' corporate representative indicated that plans call for the restaurant to open in May, although an exact date has not yet been set.   


On the heels of my news last week that Carlo's Bake Shop will open its first Atlanta area location at Perimeter Mall comes news they have signed a lease for a second area location.  The Perimeter Mall kiosk is slated to open April 6th and will be followed by a similarly sized location at "center court" of Cumberland Mall in Smyrna/Vinings.  Carlo's Bake Shop is based in Hoboken, New Jersey and is owned by Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro, Jr., star of the popular TLC reality show "Cake Boss."   Both Perimeter and Cumberland Malls are owned and operated by General Growth Properties (GGP).  


Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers opened its latest Atlanta area location last week at the new Parkside West Cobb shopping center on Dallas Highway near the Avenue West Cobb.  The Wichita, Kansas based chain now has nine locations open in Georgia with a tenth coming soon to Dawsonville. 

Sotolero Comida Mexicana has officially opened in the restaurant space previously known as  T'kilas tacos & more in the Emory Walk shopping center.  

Collage boutique closed its location in TOWN Brookhaven about a week ago.  The original location in downtown Decatur remains open, as does a satellite location at Merchants Walk in East Cobb.  

Onelife Atlanta Fitness plans to open a new, two level, 53,851 square foot facility at Perimeter Expo in Dunwoody. The new gym will open between between Newk's Eatery and T-Mobile in the Marshalls/Nordstrom Rack anchored center. Onelife currently has six gyms open in Georgia including two in Newnan, with the Dunwoody gym and another in Holly Springs coming soon. 

Bacchanalia and Star Provisions are expected to open in their new home on Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard on Monday April 3rd. The restaurant and market are currently located in the Westside Provisions District on Howell Mill Road.  Although there has been no official announcement, my idea of a mini-food hall concept to occupy the soon-to-be vacant spaces is reportedly gaining interest.  

Darwin's Burgers & Blues has opened in its new home in Sandy Springs.  The restaurant and entertainment venue was previously located on Roswell Road in Marietta but was forced to move and leased the former Steve's Live Music on Hilderbrand Drive just off Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, late last year.  The first official show in the new space was yesterday, before then, Darwin's was hosting shows at 5 Seasons Brewing at The Prado shopping center nearby.  As I noted in my original post, Darwin's owners created a GoFundMe account to help pay for renovations and new equipment for the new space.  Today, the page seems to still be active with $11,195 raised of a $20,000 goal.   

Women's apparel retailer Bebe is said to be considering plans to close all of its brick and mortar stores, most of which are in malls, to focus on online sales exclusively.  The retailer is hoping to accomplish this without filing for bankruptcy. This report by Bloomberg sheds on light on the plan and the reasoning behind it.  In metro Atlanta, Bebe operates five stores: Lenox Square in Buckhead, Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody, Cumberland Mall in Smyrna/Vinings, Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw, and Mall of Georgia in Buford.  

Payless ShoeSource is also said to be considering a reorganization, but reportedly does intend to file for bankruptcy.  Bloomberg reports that the company could file for bankruptcy as soon as next week with plans that could include the closure of 400-500 stores.  Currently, Payless operates about 4,000 stores in 30 countries.  Although Payless has previously closed a handful of Atlanta area locations such as one on Peachtree Street downtown and on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, the retailer continues to operate over 40 locations in metro Atlanta, according to its website.  Among the current locations are Payless stores in Northlake Mall in Tucker, Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody, The Gallery at South DeKalb in Decatur, and Cobb Center in Smyrna.  

5 comments:

Chantel said...

There's a payless in Cumberland Mall as well. Granted, it's always empty, and way off in a corner, but still. It's there.

Anonymous said...

Has any metro Atlanta center lost more businesses since 2012 than Town Brookhaven?

Anonymous said...

Any word on the progress of the previously reported move of The Mad Italian down the road to a new and bigger location, and reforming the current space into a burger and bre restaurant?

Indi said...

Town Brookhaven can't save keep any businesses. Also can we get a Freddy's or Culver's that are actually close to the city? No one wants to travel to East Cobb or Dawsonville.

Anonymous said...

The Payless at Delk Spectrum in Marietta is having a closing sale.

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