Friday, September 18, 2015

Things Are Not so Sweet For Pie Shop in Virginia Highland

Pie Shop to close in Virginia Highland?

A few short months after opening, Pie Shop has reportedly been issued a notice to vacate in Virginia Highland.  Shop owner Mims Bledsoe opened the VaHi outpost this past June after months of delays in permitting and buildout. 

A "For Lease" sign was observed in the window of the business Thursday afternoon despite an employee stating that they were not closing.  

A local source confirmed that the shop will in fact close, although they did not know how soon that would happen. Local residents I contacted indicated that the business maintained rather strange hours whereby one could not be assured they'd be open for business.  Additionally, unlike neighboring Cacao which recently revamped to become Cacao Cafe, adding more than just their core chocolate items, Pie Shop basically stuck with pie and coffee. As rent is paid 24/7, 365, one would think ownership would have thought of ways to better utilize the space to maximize its visibility and foot traffic by perhaps carrying more grab- and-go type items or expanding their beverage selection.  


Bledsoe, who resides in Virginia-Highland, opened the first Pie Shop in 2011 in Buckhead.  I'm told the Buckhead location,  at 3210 Roswell Road and hidden from view, with likely below market rent, is in no danger of closing and will remain open.    

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excited for the new concept going in the old Aurora space!

Anonymous said...

So what's the deal with being issued a notice to vacate? Is the landlord asking them to vacate?

The hours on the website seem straight forward, but I can see how people in the neighborhood would think they were strange hours.

Anonymous said...

Really sad to hear this. Mims is a great person and has been working hard to open this location for sometime. Who cares if they only have pie and coffee! They should serve what the specialize, and not try to add other items to the menu that aren't anything but their top quality. I think specialty shops like this are what brings VaHi character.

Lauren Patrick said...

This is so sad to hear! Mims has busted her butt over the past 4 years to grow a successful business. We all had high hopes for the second location. Whoever wrote this "article" should really watch his or her tone. It sounds pretty snarky and not at all hospitable for local businesses.

Anonymous said...

I went there once. It was as if they had never sold, or cut, a piece of pie before. When the piece of pie finally managed its way into the take-out container, it was not aesthetically pleasing. Quality of pie: B+. It did not seem like a fully-baked concept.

Anonymous said...

I have never put a worse piece of pie in my mouth, and at the price they are charging, something like $4.5 for a measly piece of pie that tastes stale and that has been sitting out for hours. My friend even threw half of his pie in the trash right in front of the store, it was that bad, not to mention the half baked employees who seemed to not know what on earth was going on the entire time. could not be happier this is closing, Im sure the buckhead location is great, but this is a total scam...

Anonymous said...

I was excited to see this open and I went in to try it. The space was a tiny half width shop. It was small but perfect for this business. The build out looked very poorly done, but that wasn't really a problem if the pie were good. The problem I had was that there was no AC in the space. It was a hot day and 95 degrees in the store. I don't know if it was temporarily broken or that was the permanent state of the store. After I ordered the pie, I realized the pie is stored in a glass display case that did not look refrigerated. I was a little worried about how long that pie had been sitting there in the hot store. I ate it and it was fine, but I never went back.

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