Thursday, April 3, 2014

Bits & Bites

New Babiators kiosk at Lenox Square 
Lenox Square has finally made the move so many saw coming.  The popular Buckhead mall widened three of their second level bridges and has now installed numerous kiosks to hawk all kinds of (mostly unnecessary) stuff.

Babiators, an Atlanta-based baby aviator sunglasses company, has opened its first company run retail outpost.  Primarily sold through wholesalers, Babiators can now be found on a brand new Lenox Square kiosk on the upper level of the mall, near Brooks Brothers.

Bachrach has officially opened its new location on the upper level, adjacent to the upcoming Athleta store.

GNC has opened its new relocated store above the Fashion Cafe at Lenox Square.

at&t is reportedly opening a new, larger store within the Fashion Cafe at Lenox Square.  Currently located next to Häagen-Dazs, at&t is reportedly taking a portion of the former Chick-fil-A, and all of the former Great Wraps and Sbarro locations.

aloft Atlanta Downtown is now open but is only taking reservations for after April 10th.  The aloft hotel occupies a  heavily renovated Days Inn near the intersection of Baker and Spring Streets, near the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola.

Bobby Jones is relocating its corporate headquarters to Terminus 100 in Buckhead.  Jones Global Sports, the brand's parent company, is owned by Omaha, Nebraska-based Waitt Co. and will share office space with Prince Global Sports, another Waitt-owned company.  This move brings the Bobby Jones brand back to the home of its namesake.  Bobby Jones, a native Atlantan who died in 1971, won five U.S. Amateur championships, three British Opens, a British Amateur and four U.S. Opens, and was a founder of the Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters. Bobby Jones previously operated a small shop in the Luxury Wing of Lenox Square but closed the store in 2009. The space is now occupied by Herve Leger. Will Bobby Jones once again have a retail presence in Atlanta?

Peachtree Bikes has reopened in a new Buckhead location.  The locally owned bike shop was forced to move after a fire destroyed their Buckhead store in early December.  The new Peachtree Bikes is located at 2905 Peachtree Road, across the street from the Publix-anchored "The Peach" shopping center.

Know Style has again closed at Lenox Square, hopefully to never return.

Loco's Grill & Pub has closed at Loehmann's Plaza on Briarcliff Road. The inline restaurant had been the center for years and is the latest closure for the struggling Athens-based chain.

Fresh to Order is said to be opening two locations in Gwinnett County.  The Atlanta-based "quick casual" eatery has eight locations in metro Atlanta as well as a pair in Tennessee and a single unit coming to to the Orlando, Florida area.  The restaurant group also recently signed a franchise agreement for as many as eight new locations in the Carolinas.

A new Steak 'n Shake is slated for Union City.  The historic steakburger restaurant will be built on Shannon Parkway on the site of a former United Community Bank branch.

Tide Dry Cleaners will open its new Dunwoody location this Saturday, April 5th.   The Dunwoody location is a former RBC Bank branch and marks the Procter & Gamble chain's fourth location in metro Atlanta.  Other area Tide Dry Cleaners are located in Duluth, Roswell and Johns Creek.  The four area locations make metro Atlanta the franchise dry cleaners' largest current market in the nation.  

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Give the interminable construction at the NDH / Briarcliff intersection a big assist in pushing Locos over the edge.

Anonymous said...

as the father of 1- and 3-yr olds, i hope someone is on hand to slap some sense into the people as they attempt to make a purchase at Babiators.

Anonymous said...

That Loehmann's Plaza is a sinking ship. Too much large space that will never be successfully filled unless a grocery store moves in. The access out of that center is terrible, especially the new left turn back onto Briarcliff. Car sitting on an upward slope turning left into busy traffic and having to navigate around a giant median that is hard to see unless you know it is there.

Whatever happens to the center they better not mess with Fortune Cookie.

Anonymous said...

Anxiously waiting to see what will go into the spaces at Loehmann's since I live in the area. I've heard Trader Joe's is a definite "no" and Earthfare is a "maybe". Don't think it will be Sprouts since they're putting up a store close by at Piedmont & Cheshire Bridge. That leaves Walmart Neighborhood market since the nearest Walmarts are pretty far away. I've also wondered if Whole Foods would be interested in redeveloping the center for a large store since their Briarcliff store is so dinky - but I don't think there is enough parking for that.

Skreet said...

I think that they are going to put a light in on Briarcliff at Loehmann's Plaza. I want a Jason's Deli.

Anonymous said...

The construction at Briarcliff and Druid Hills is almost over. Drivng north on Druid Hills from Target to QT, the new median is open and so is an extended left turn lane for drivers going left to Briarcliff. The new traffic light is up but isn't on just yet at what is going to be the shopping centers "new" main entrance on Briarcliff. According to Regency Center folks, the center will have a new name and both the former Loehmann's and Office Max spots will have new tenants. We'll see!

Anonymous said...

Loco's pushed Loco's over the edge, not the construction. That place was horrible!

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