Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Bits & Bites

The Sheraton Atlanta Downtown, located at 165 Courtland Street, will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation this fall.  The renovation will provide the hotel with 43 new suites for a total of 63 suites (826 total rooms) – "the largest suite to guest room ratio in the city." What today operates as the Sheraton originally opened in 1965 as Marriott Hotel as seen in the artist's rendering, available thanks to the work of Greg Germani of Atlanta Time Machine.  Sheraton's renovation follows those of competing downtown hotels such as the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.  The Hyatt's renovations last year culminated with the reopening of their iconic Polaris restaurant after about a ten year absence.  

The Staples store at Midtown Place shopping center is undergoing renovations.   Following the Staples-Office Depot/Max merger this past February, many Staples stores have closed locally including locations in Buckhead, Sandy Springs, and Roswell.  

A one time Shoney's restaurant on Mountain Industrial Boulevard in Tucker has been demolished for a new McDonald's.  The freestanding restaurant had gone through a number of name changes over the past few years, but was vacant most recently.   The parcel is adjacent to an existing QuikTrip.  As I reported last week, another one time Shoney's in Marietta will soon be demolished for a new Bojangles'.  

A new nearly 36,000 square foot Ashley Furniture Home Store is planned for 5980  North Point Parkway in Alpharetta.  

A new restaurant called "Herban Fix Vegan Kitchen" plans to open later this summer at The Reynolds, a condo building at 565 Peachtree Street.  The 6,302 square-foot space was previously home to Dogwood Restaurant until its closure in 2011.   The restaurant's location at Linden Avenue and Peachtree Street places it just south of midtown and just north of downtown, something that hurt the Peasant's business as well. Hopefully given their niche they can attract enough people to make the restaurant successful, but it will definitely be an uphill battle.  

The Breadgarden on Amsterdam Avenue in midtown is closing with their last day currently scheduled for Saturday. 

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. is planning a large expansion and renovation of its Kroger store on Hartley Bridge Road in Macon.  Kroger plans to add about 45,000 square feet, which includes converting existing vacant retail space and a approximately 10,000-square-foot addition.  The existing 56,529 square foot store, built in 1995, would swell to over 100,000 square feet.  The renovation and expansion in Macon is similar to improvements currently underway in Decatur where Kroger is enlarging their store at North Decatur Square.  

South City Kitchen on Crescent Avenue in midtown reopened yesterday after being closed last week for a light remodel.  

Asheville, North Carolina-based Earth Fare opened their new 24,000 square foot store today at phase two of Emory Point on Clifton Road.  The Emory Point store is the chain's fourth in Georgia, joining locations in Athens, Augusta and Peachtree Corners.  

Greensboro, North Carolina-based The Fresh Market also opened their new 24,400 square foot store today at Brighten Park (fka Loehmann's Plaza) on Briarcliff Road near North Druid Hills Road.  The Brighten Park store is the chain's thirteenth in Georgia with a fourteenth planned for Roswell.  

9 comments:

Ham said...

Interesting to hear of a new McDonald’s in that area. If memory serves there are several within just a few miles of the new location. I know nationally McDonald’s has announced that they would actually be reducing the number of overall locations.

Anonymous said...

Will they ever update the Kroger at Johnson Ferry and Chamblee Dunwoody? The interior is horrible and I make the extended journey by it at least twice a week to either the smaller Publix or the really large Publix in Brookhaven because it is so bad.

Anonymous said...

Oh, we in the Bank of America Plaza have been so hopeful that something great would fill the vacancy left by Dogwood. Sadly, this is not going to be it. It is a very tough corner to begin with, and vegan based restaurant, with a limited submarket is an even tougher sell. I wish them well.

Anonymous said...

I believe you mean to say "Ashford" Dunwoody and Johnson Ferry. They were going to build a gas station in conjunction with a modernized and perhaps larger Kroger however the community applied severe pressure and voted it down.

Anonymous said...

Thrilled that Earth Fare has entered the Atlanta market. I was pleasantly surprised when I visited my first one a couple of years ago. Looking forward to shopping there. Love the location.

It puts Sprouts to shame.

Anonymous said...

Agree, earth fare is far better than sprouts and even far better than whole foods however on a different scale. The sandy springs whole foods is like a Kroger with a WF sign out front. Looking forward to the new whole foods at Johnson ferry and peach tree at the edge of Chamblee just a few stones from Brookhaven. I wonder if they will build their new smaller store concept with the newer value added price points.

J Leeds said...

That new Ashley Furniture will be right next to the relocated Rooms To Go, apparently. That's the parcel that once housed Razoos, and has been vacant for years. It was supposed to be a strip mall with a bunch of small restaurants, and then a fancy bowling alley.

Anonymous said...

Stopped by The Fresh Market today. It's really beautiful and was quite busy.

Having said that .... PARKING. IS. INSANE.

And this is without the other new businesses open in the shopping center. When I pulled in, there were 11 cars deep at the new traffic light trying to get out. It was definitely a little daunting and a far cry from the quick parking at the formerly known Loehmann's Plaza.

Regardless, I'm thrilled The Fresh Market is there.


Earth Fare had people handing out coupons as you park, walking to the store and once you get inside. LOL .... I went at lunch, and it was swamped with people getting salads, hot food and pizza. They have a $6 meal deal, which changes daily. That was cool. Plus, they offer an interesting variety of known food (e.g. Breyer's, Dole's) mixed with their own brand and boutique type brands. Saw Scoop Your Own Ravioli, which was really unique. Had 8 different kinds.

Can't imagine I will go to Whole Foods again with these two options in the same area.

Anonymous said...

I'm excited about a new vegan option, and as long as it's good food, the local vegan community will be all over it. The problem with the recently closed Dough Bakery was that it's wasn't great food and the service was terrible. And to the above commenter, anyone can eat at a vegan restaurant, not just vegans. You don't have to eat meat and dairy at every meal.

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