Friday, July 20, 2018

Bits & Bites

ALDI will celebrate the grand opening of their new Buckhead store July 26.  The new store, which occupies about half of the former Sports Authority at Buckhead Pavilion, is one of the grocer's few stores to be located inside the perimeter (ITP).  This past fall, ALDI opened another new store in a portion of an old Sports Authority in Kennesaw.


Radio Shack is planning a mini comeback with "express stores" within 50 HobbyTown USA stores around the country according to the New York Post. The number of express stores expand to as many as 100 if it proves successful.  HobbyTown operates a pair of locations in the greater metro Atlanta area in Kennesaw and Buford.   

The Kroger Co. said Tuesday its longtime Atlanta division president Bruce Lucia will retire after 44 years with the grocery chain.  Lucia began his career with Kroger in Atlanta in 1974 as a courtesy clerk.  Over the years, Lucia ascended the "ladder of success" as Kroger refers to it in their stores, and had attained the presidency in 2000.  Tim Brown, currently president of Kroger's Cincinnati/Dayton division, will assume Lucia's role effective August 1.  Brown has been with Kroger since 1981, and previously served as vice president of merchandising in the Atlanta division.  Kroger operates 173 grocery stores in Georgia.

Newk's Eatery will open their newest Atlanta area location July 31 at Howell Mill Square.

The Waffle House at 2812 Buford Highway in Brookhaven has closed.  The restaurant is expected to reopen in about two months after a complete remodel.   

Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A announced earlier this week that they will be discontinuing their popular Cow Calendars at the end of 2018, after a successful 20 year run.  In 2013, the company debuted an electronic calendar card that was meant to decrease the use of prior paper certificates in months after their intended use.  Chick-fil-A had raised the price of the calendars over the years, from the original $5 to 2018's $8 price.  In addition, the offers had decreased in their value from many food items to a mix of food and drink, as well as "mystery offers" that were revealed a few days before the start of the month. Chick-fil-A has promised upgrades to their app "Chick-fil-A One" with special promotions, freebies and offers in an effort to appease those disappointed by the cow calendar being put out to pasture.  

A new Cook Out restaurant is planned for an abandoned lot at 609 North Slappey Boulevard in Albany.  Following Albany's debut, Cook Out will have nearly 40 locations in Georgia.

Saladworks is now open at Brighten Park

The newest Atlanta area Kale Me Crazy celebrated its grand opening Thursday at the new Larkin on Memorial project in Grant Park.  

A new location of Athens-based Your Pie is planned for Peachtree Parkway in Cumming.  The new customizable pizza eatery will open between Starbucks and Walton Orthodontics in a space previously occupied by Shane's Rib Shack. 

Online mattress retailer Casper will open a second Atlanta area "sleep shop" later this fall.  The new shop, located on the main level of Lenox Square in Buckhead, will join the New York-based company's existing store along North Avenue at Ponce City Market.  The new Lenox Square store will open in a space at the front of the mall once occupied by Vince Camuto and more recently, The Shoe Box, a women's shoe boutique.  Casper is the latest in a string of clicks & mortar turned bricks & mortar retailers that have entered the Atlanta market, joining the likes of Warby Parker and Bonobos, among others. 

Krispy Kreme is close to finalizing a deal to acquire New York-based Insomnia Cookies, according to a report by CNBC.  The Winston-Salem based doughnut purveyor, which itself was purchased by European investment firm JAB Holding last year, would buy the fifteen year old, roughly 135 unit cookie business for "less than $500 million,"  according to sources familiar with the deal.  Insomnia Cookies currently operates two locations in metro Atlanta, one at University House on Spring Street in Midtown, the second at the corner of Ponce de Leon and North Highland Avenue in the same center as the Plaza Theatre.  Insomnia's primary rival, Austin, Texas-based Tiff's Treats, operates six locations in metro Atlanta, including their newest in the ground level retail of the new Hanover Buckhead Village high rise apartment building in Buckhead. In addition to Krispy Kreme, JAB has in recent years assembled a formidable breakfast/lunch conglomerate that includes Caribou Coffee, Bruegger's Bagels, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Noah's Bagels, Panera Bread, Keurig, Dr. Pepper and the Peet's, Intelligentsia & Stumptown coffee brands.  The Insomnia deal is not yet final, but is expected to close in the coming weeks.   

2 comments:

Unknown said...

"one of the grocer's few stores to be located inside the perimeter (ITP)" I can think of at least 4 others without even concentrating.

Anonymous said...

Not a fan of Aldi. And we have two within a short distance of my ITP neighborhood.

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