Panda Express Opening Near Northlake and Preparing to Take You to the Cleaners Too

Artist rendering of typical Panda Express FSU

Panda Express will soon open a freestadning location in an outparcel of a Michael's anchored shopping center in Tucker.  The new restaurant will open in space previously (under) utilized as parking.  Panda Express, originally found mostly in mall food courts, has opened a number of free standing or end cap eateries in recent years.  Another free standing location opened a few years ago in East Cobb near the intersection of Johnson Ferry and Roswell Roads.  Panda Express also added locations within the Prado off Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, and on Pleasant Hill Road, near Gwinnett Place Mall.  The Rosemead, California-based restaurant has has just one remaining mall-based location in the area, off Sugarloaf Parkway within Discover Mills in Lawrenceville.  Its parent company Panda Restaurant Group also operates the Hibachi-San and Panda Inn restaurant concepts.

Near the upcoming Panda Express, Northlake Mall has fallen on hard times in recent years and as a result, many national retailers have left the mall.  This list includes such retailers as Gap and Old Navy as well as restaurants like Arby's and Great Wraps.  The mall also witnessed the downfall of Cresent Moon, a local eatery that suffered not only because of its location but from internal issues as well.  B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, Mori Luggage & Gifts, Hallmark and The Disney store have all also closed in the mall over the years, among others.

Yet, the area around Northlake has a seen a resurgence of sorts of late.  In nearby Briarcliff Village, an 80s era Pizza Hut closed and relocated to a smaller, take-out only location not far away. Chipotle Mexican Grill leveled the former Pizza Hut and opened a new location in its place late last month.  Also, a Taco Bell on LaVista Road near Northlake Festival also closed and last year was leveled and rebuilt as a Chick-fil-A.  (Chick-fil-A won't confirm it, but it's likely this new location will be in lieu of the current location in Northlake Mall's food court)

There is an existing Moe's Southwest Grill in the Michael's shopping center, and it has struggled for years.  It will interesting to how they fare in the wake of the Chipotle opening across the street.  Oddly enough, the Michael's is a actually a relocation itself, from nearby Northlake Festival shopping center.  Michael's moved to its current space after the former tenant, Drug Emporium, closed in the early 2000s.  For the record, its center, and the Briarcliff Village shopping center across the street, are both  managed by Regency Centers.  Moe's is a former bank and I'm told the franchisee devoted a great deal of money to converting from bank to restaurant, more than he has planned, and off the bat was battling to keep the restaurant open. Perhaps the Panda Express will bring more traffic to the center.

In nearby Northlake Festival though, Bally Total Fitness closed last month and Fuddrucker's remains empty in a prominent out parcel in the front of the center.  On the bright side, Darden's Red Lobster restaurant kitty corner from the upcoming Panda Express just got a makeover that included a refreshed exterior and new signage.

Also, in other Panda Express news, founders Andrew & Peggy Cherng have entered into a partnership with Procter & Gamble to open as many as 200 Tide Dry Cleaners.  Their business, Panda Dry Cleaning, has the exclusive franchise rights for the state of California, although their initial store opened in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas.  The Cherngs are hoping to capitalize on their restaurant success and as they did with Panda Express, turn a segmented market, with many small players, into a business with a national brand, Tide Dry Cleaning.  The brand was launched in 2010, and in addition to the new Henderson location, has another six units open between Kansas and Ohio.  Plans call for the Cherngs to open as many as five additional locations this year, likely in California.

A new Tide Dry Cleaners in Henderson, Nevada

The $9.2-billion dollar dry-cleaning industry is made up of nearly 39,000 establishments across the country, according to the research group IBISWorld. Ohio-based Martinizing has been in the dry cleaning business for over 60 years and with locations in Atlanta and across the country, it's the largest, most well known chain, but still not a big player in the grand scheme of things.  Hollywood,Florida-based OXXO has locations from Boca Raton to Short Hills, New Jersey, and even one in Buckhead on Peachtree, but is still small at only 30 locations or so.

This is the not the first time Procter & Gamble has sought to expand its portfolio by extending its brands.  In February 2009, Procter & Gamble purchased Atlanta-based Carnett's Car Wash, a chain of 13 locations.  In July, they re-branded  the locations as Mr. Clean Car Wash & Oil Change.  Currently the chain operates 11 of the original 13 locations as Mr. Clean in Georgia as well as a pair of locations in Cincinnati, Ohio and locations in Frisco & Round Rock, Texas.

Both Tide and Mr. Clean are "mature" brands, and as such, have little room for growth.  This extension of each line into new businesses, allows for Procter & Gamble to capitalize on each name's brand equity and for the brands to generate additional revenue.  Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of P&G and handles the franchising for both of the businesses.

I'm told Tide Dry Cleaners is scouting the Atlanta market and a Google search shows they are currently seeking to staff a location that will open soon on Holcomb Bridge.  The Northlake Panda Express is scheduled to open in late April.  

Do you live in the area and are pleased with the new development?  Do you dislike Panda Express and favor other fast casual options?  Do you think Panda Express should stick to foodservice?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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