Sunday, January 13, 2013

Bruster's Closed at Cherokee Plaza, Relocating

Bruster's has closed their Cherokee Plaza location on Peachtree Road in Brookhaven.

The Bridgewater, Pennsylvania-based ice cream franchise plans to relocate to the former Menchie's frozen yogurt shop at West Paces Ferry & Northside Drive.  Menchie's closed their West Paces location early this past September after opening it in September of 2010.  After opening with no nearby competition, another national franchise, Yogurtland, opened in the Publix-anchored shopping center across the street and Menchie's began to suffer.

In Brookhaven, Bruster's offered a dual-branded restaurant, partnering with Nathan's hot dogs, something that seems improbable in the new location given the smaller footprint.  Bruster's will likely stick to just ice cream in their new location, where even in that market they will face competition from an unlikely source.  Goldberg's Bagel & Deli offers Dippin' Dots ice cream via their Iceberg's window, within the bagel shop, in the Publix-anchored center across the street.

Personally I think the move is a rather poor decision considering the ice cream joint loses street frontage and its own building on Peachtree Road and gets an inline location with less visibility and more competition.  I'm told Bruster's had a lease on their site at Cherokee Plaza that ran through 2019, so it seems likely they were bought out of their lease by property management to permit more parking for the Kroger expansion. 

My money's on Bruster's not lasting much more than a year in their new location.  What do you think?  Do you still go to chains like Bruster's or Cold Stone Creamery or have you grown a fan of FroYo options like Yogurtland and Yogli Mogli?  Please share your thoughts below. 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since Kroger is building a gas station at the Brookhaven location, it makes since the extra parking is needed.

Unknown said...

Marble Slab Creamery at Town Brookhaven has way better ice cream (albeit a little more expensive).

Anonymous said...

Why are all the Bruster's Ice Cream locations closing up? The brand needs innovation!

Anonymous said...

The reason why so many of these ice cream parlors are closing up... consider at best $2/gross proift per cone... $2500/rent, add utilities and labor... and Wa La.. short business life.. unless you have a crap load of traffic.

Anonymous said...

Brusters franchises are closing everywhere, not just this location. Its a failed franchise! More than likely excessive franchise fees, high franchise costs for product, weird selections of ice cream that are unpopular leading to excessive waste or discarded product, missed the mark that basic flavors still sell and are preferred. I can remember going to a Brusters and NOT ordering anything because the flavor selection was horrid...

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