Tuesday, March 26, 2019

[CLOSURE ALERT] Francesca's Finished at Emory Point

Women's boutique Francesca's is actively liquidating their store at Emory Point ahead of their planned March 27 closure.  The shop, located in phase one of the 127,000 square foot mixed-use development, opened with the project in 2013.  Francesca's occupies a 938 square foot space adjacent to the parking garage and across from The General Muir, easily the development's most popular attraction.

Francesca's is unfortunately only the latest in a long list of closures in the Emory area project.

Gourmet olive oil and vinegar boutique Stippaggio closed earlier this year, preceded by the closure of women's boutique fab'rik, adjacent to Francesca's.

Natural foods grocer Earth Fare closed its store in phase two of Emory Point last spring after less than three years in business.

Casual dining chain Bonefish closed its restaurant at Emory Point in February 2014, followed by upscale Italian eatery La Tagliatella later that DecemberSweet Monkey Frozen Yogurt & Cupcakes closed at Emory Point in February 2015.    Men's clothing retailer JoS. A. Bank and quick-serve burger eatery BurgerFi both closed their Emory Point locations in February 2017.    

Marcello's, which opened in place of La Tagliatella in February 2016, quietly closed about a year later.  Women's boutique Lizard Thicket and tanning salon Solar Dimensions closed in January 2018.  [Solar Dimensions' closure was reportedly due to its merger with Palm Beach Tan which operates an existing salon at Toco Hills.]  Indian eatery Paradise Biryani Pointe quietly closed last year.  

In total, after Francesca's closure, Emory Point will have a total of thirteen vacant spaces totaling more than 56,000 square feet.  

There have been a handful of openings and replacements but it appears clear that boutique or apparel retail is not a good fit for the center with LOFT from Ann Taylor and American Threads the last two remaining such retailers in business in the project.  

Papi's, a local Caribbean eatery, opened in early 2017 in the former Bonefish, while Boba Theory, a bubble tea and coffee shop, recently opened in the former Paradise Biryani Pointe and Ethiopian eatery Desta opened its second overall location in the former BurgerFi this past December.   

In early May 2017, Cousins Properties sold Emory Point I and II, its 750 apartments and 125,000 square feet of retail space, for $199 million, reportedly a new record for multifamily pricing in metro Atlanta.

Why do you think Emory Point has struggled to much?  What kinds of shops or restaurants would you like to see open in place of the many vacancies at Emory Point?  What is your favorite Emory area restaurant?

Please share your thoughts below  

5 comments:

RichKnobSales said...

We were just at General Muir for lunch last week and noticed the empty spaces. It's a destination shopping area - you have to plan a trip to go there, so the only impulse shopping is on the way back and forth to parking. We go to Marlowe's often as well. I thought the clothing stores were too pricey and were mostly carrying lines for size 0-2. Stripaggio was a fun place but a bit out of the way.

The grocery store was nice, but not as accessible as similar ones with better parking options.

Anonymous said...

Atlanta is not connected enough for this type of faux-urban retail to work correctly. How many people are like "omg let's drive to Emory Point and go to Loft"? And the people that are in walking distance are going to buy something at Francesca's what? - maybe once or twice a year at most?

RUN-ON SENTENCE ALERT: This whole "build a parking deck and surround it with 'luxury' apartments and retail in a bunch of disconnected nodes in places where there are barely any sidewalks and public transportation is abysmal" is doomed to fail. Add in the retail apocalypse and landlords might as well give the space away and collect a small percentage rent.

Anonymous said...

The only way a store can survive at Emory Point is if they have a "killer app" that draws people specifically to them. There is virtually no foot traffic on Clifton besides there being virtually no frontage anyway. Parking is also tough, even with the free deck. The porperty owners are ill-advised to have parking meters for the street spots. Concerns about non-customers parking there for free and going to Emory are likely unfounded and could be remedied with a vigilant towing policy.

Anonymous said...

I think the General Muir Should have a smaller restaurant and counter service/to go outpost In the Brookhaven/ Dunwoody/Chamblee area that could be called the General Muir’s Tugboat! I think it would do very well. Someone tell Chef Ginsberg he is wanted!

Anonymous said...

"How many people are like 'omg let's drive to Emory Point and go to Loft'?"

The answer: At least one--my wife. She adores Loft. We live in Lake Claire so it is the closest location anyway.

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