Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Bits & Bites

The bigger, badder, BIG Chicken is expected to reopen Thursday May 11th after a multi-month, multi-million dollar renovation.  Among the changes at the landmark restaurant are the addition of both a gift shop and custom artwork.  The Big Chicken renovation project is part of KFC’s bold goal to remodel roughly 70% of its approximately 4,200 U.S. restaurants by the end of 2017. 

The Flying Biscuit Cafe has officially reopened in its new home on Collier Road in Howell Mill Village shopping center.  The breakfast eatery closed its location in Paces Ferry Plaza this past August and had originally intended to reopen late last year but was apparently delayed in their permitting and build-out.  

Niecy's Cafe has closed. The restaurant, which opened n 2015, was located on Lower Roswell Road in East Cobb but according to local sources never seemed to take off.  According to a notice from the restaurant, Niecy's last day in business was March 28th. 

Harbor Freight Tools plans to open a new location in Canton. The new, approximately 20,600 square foot store will open in a portion of a former kmart store.  Harbor Freight will join Ollie's Bargain Outlet, also in a portion of the former kmart, and a Goodwill, as anchors of the center on Marietta Highway.  


Just days after closing their Dunwoody restaurant, Applebee's  has also closed their Johns Creek / Suwanee restaurant.  A ToNeTo Atlanta reader tipped me off to the closure of the Applebee's on on Johns Creek Parkway, just off Peachtree Parkway, in Johns Creek / Suwanee.  The closure has since been confirmed by a company representative.   The freestanding restaurant was located in an outparcel of Johns Creek Town Center.  

The Tile Shop plans to open their fourth Atlanta area location later this year in Buckhead.  The store is opening in place of the former Hancock Fabrics, next to HomeGoods, at Buckhead Crossing shopping center.  The roughly 11,000 square foot space was vacated last summer when the Hancock filed for bankruptcy and was last utilized as a seasonal Halloween store this past October.  Plymouth, Minnesota based The Tile Shop operates over 125 locations nationwide including existing Atlanta area locations in Dunwoody, Kennesaw and Buford.  

Mae's Bakery owner Beth Castro has sold the business.   Castro opened Mae's during the summer of 2012 in Lenox Village, a small shopping center set of Lenox Road, in Buckhead.  Despite its small space, only 1,500 square feet, Mae's carved out a nice niche in the community with fresh pastries and exquisite cakes.  While the retail portion of the business did well, Castro shrewdly diversified the business into both wholesale production for other restaurants as well as both movie and television production sets.   The new owners, Kim & Milton Woodward reportedly plan to continue the business as is.  Steve Josovitz with The Shumacher Group represented Castro in the sale. 

Atlanta's classic southern eatery, The Colonnade, has been negatively impacted by the I-85 bridge collapse.  Sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that the restaurant's traffic is down over 50% during the week.  Having been in business since 1927, surely the restaurant has weathered other storms but I encourage everyone to go enjoy a classic southern meal there and support the waitstaff.  

Lenox Square will not be having its annual 4th of July fireworks celebration this year.  "While Lenox Square’s Legendary 4th of July event has been an Atlanta tradition for many years, the city and Lenox Square have both grown and evolved, offering a multitude of events for residents to ring in Independence Day. For this reason in 2017, Lenox Square has decided to update its 4th of July programming and will offer a new type of celebration for the Atlanta community and surrounding neighborhoods. More information will be released in the near future as details are confirmed."

Metro Atlanta's newest Dave & Buster's is expected to open Monday May 22nd on at North Point Market Center on North Point Parkway in Alphareta.  The is will be the Dallas based chain's fourth metro location joining existing facilities in Marietta, Duluth and Lawrenceville.  

6 comments:

InAtl said...

Glad they put up a large sig. That says The Big Chicken so that I know that Big Chicken is The Big Chicken.

As to Lenox not doing fire works, sorry to see it go.

Ham said...

Since Lenox is the oldest mall in Atlanta it has always seemed sort of unique as some of those quirky things hung on. However, over the last several years mall management has made Lenox into what seems like just another mall. Yes, Lenox is a nice mall and they seem to have figured out how to do it right, but I still miss some of those quirks. Things like the Piccadilly, a REAL Christmas tree, a movie theater and yes fireworks. I suspect most of these decisions are going to make them more money, so from that perspective they are probably the right ones. However, sometimes you wish that someone could see the value in the unique and not just another cookie cutter business. Toco Hills I’m talking to you too…

Anonymous said...

I think Simon Property Group does such a shitty job in regards to the malls. They took Phipps plaza and Lenox and turned them ordinary. They are now in the fold and seem like the other malls they manage including each mall website. They all look the same! They just take the same format and plug in different names. Both malls look like shit! They remind me of the MGM in Las Vegas with billboards/advertising on the building! Where is the southern charm?? Again Simon Property Group is shitty. Hope your reading this simon grp!

BTW - I LOVE the Big Chicken's new look. I just saw it yesterday and I feel that KFC did it right. Its a LANDMARK and does not look like everything else.

Anonymous said...

The Lenox fireworks display devolved into such a contrived event over the years. No great loss.

Anonymous said...

" the city and Lenox Square have both grown and evolved"

jeff a. taylor said...

I get what you are saying Eric and agree, but the city of Marietta was probably thrilled to see that big, redundant sign go up whereas they might have frowned on a generic KFC on the roadside. The city really does see the BC as a destination location. To me the KFC on the building is the most jarring. Who needs that?

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