Friday, June 15, 2012

Uncle Maddio's and Starbucks Opening In Dunwoody

Atlanta-based Uncle Maddio's Pizza Joint will open later this summer in a portion of the former Borders Books & Music store in Perimeter Village Shopping Center off Ashford-Dunwoody Road.  The center is currently home to retailers DSW, Walmart Supercenter, Party City, Cost Plus World Market and Hobby Lobby, among others.  Restaurant-wise, the center features sit-down restaurants J. Alexander's and Olive Garden, as well as more casual fare from the likes of Jason's Deli and Schlotzky's Deli.   

Uncle Maddio's was started in a former Mama Fu's Asian House in Toco Hills by a Moe's Southwest Grill co-founder and current Moe's franchisee in 2009.  The group announced franchising opportunities early last year, and last year the first franchised locations were opened in Louisville, Kentucky and Woodstock, Georgia.  More recently, another location was added in Aker's Mill near Cumberland Mall.   Other Uncle Maddio's locations are under construction in Kennesaw near KSU, in Buckhead near Chastain Park, and in Alpharetta on Windward Parkway.   

Just south on Ashford-Dunwoody and at the cusp of 5 Ravinia, Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee is growing again with the planned opening of a freestanding location.  Starbucks had closed a number of locations in Atlanta over the past few years as it reduced its footprint and focused on existing locations.  Starbucks has a location across the street within Perimeter Mall, as well as a location inside the nearby Super Target in Perimeter Place. (For those of you keeping track, Caribou Coffee opened as part of Perimeter Place, but has since closed and is now a Five Guys.)

Starbucks also recently opened a new location, which I am told is largest in the state, in a former Dunkin' Donuts / Baskin Robbins in Midtown Place on Ponce de Leon Avenue.  This location is one of only six in the state to feature the revolutionary "Clover Brewing System."  Although I myself am not a coffee drinker, I'm told the system delivers the purest, tastiest cup of joe on the market, or so they say.  

Late last year Starbucks purchased Monrovia, California-based Evolution Fresh,  a company that squeezes fresh fruit and vegetable juice for $30 Million and plans to roll out their juices first in Starbucks locations then in their own stand alone locations.  More recently, Starbucks purchased San Francisco-based Bay Bread and it's 19-unit La Boulange Bakery brand for $100 Million.  The Evolution purchase will likely eventually lead to Starbucks discontinuing the sale of juices from both Naked (owned by PepsiCo ) and Odwalla ( owned by  The Coca-Cola Company.  ( Ironically enough, Evolution Fresh was started by the founder of Naked )  Starbucks plans to utilize its newly acquired bakery unit to help improve its baked goods, an area it sees needing improvement for continued growth.  

Been a little slow here at ToNeTo Atlanta of late, and I wanted to assure you that I'm still here and working hard to deliver only the freshest, most accurate and interesting content I can get my hands on. Given that I mentioned both Starbucks and Borders in this post, I wanted to note what some of their other locations have become.  ( A requested list of what has become of all the former Blockbuster Video, and dare I say, Blockbuster Music, is on my to-do list, too.)  

The Starbucks formerly located on Peachtree Road in the Atlanta Financial Center is now Highland Bakery -Buckhead.

The Starbucks formerly located on Park Avenue West at the bottom of the Embassy Suites serves as the first location for the rebirth of Baja Fresh in the Atlanta Market.

A former Starbucks on North Highland Avenue in Virginia Highland remains empty.

Borders in Brookwood in south Buckhead reopened as a relocated Aveda Institute.

Borders in Buckhead will reopen later this year as a relocated The Container Store.
(In both of these Borders cases, Selig Enterprises owned both the center the retailer was moving from and the center the retailer was moving to.)

The Borders Midtown Place recently reopened as T.J. Maxx.

The Borders at the Avenue East Cobb had been looked at by Dick's Sporting Goods, but I'm told Michael's is likely the retailer that will fill the space.

Former Borders locations near Cumberland Mall, North Point Mall and the Mall of Georgia, among others, have hosted temporary stores and/or are currently vacant.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why would Michael's take over the Borders space at the Avenue East Cobb? They have a current location like... 100 yards away.

Anonymous said...

Really? Maybe it's a relocation and all. Sometimes retailers move.

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