Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Bits & Bites

The renovated Hollister at the Mall of Georgia in Buford 
Hollister at Lenox Square will soon undergo extensive renovations.  As a brand, the teen retailer is known for its beach shack front porch entrance, but that concept is being phased out in favor of a more modern approach.  According to a building permit on file with the city of Atlanta, just over $334,000 will be spent on the renovation. An existing Hollister at Mall of Georgia was recently renovated and sports the new look with, among other things, more windows and better lighting.  Hollister's Lenox Square renovation follows the recent renovations of Banana Republic and Aveda, and comes on the heels of Gap's current renovation.  

Reclaim It Atlanta, a store similar to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, is closing its store on Wendell Court, just off Fulton Industrial Boulevard in southwest Atlanta.  The nonprofit indicates than an unidentified "Real Estate Investment Trust" (REIT) purchased their facility and that they must vacate the property by June 24th.  

Sonic plans to open a new restaurant late this summer in Gainesville.  Sonic, a chain popular for burgers and shakes, will renovate a 4,000 square foot former Chick-fil-A restaurant at the corner of Shallowford Road and Pearl Nix Parkway.  The freestanding Chick-fil-A restaurant which opened in late 1996, relocated to a larger, more accessible restaurant at 805 Dawsonville Highway last summer.  

The new Chick-fil-A at Fuqua Development's Glenwood Place is expected to open tomorrow at 6AM.  Ahead of the opening, at least 100 would-be customers are expected to camp out at the restaurant after which they will be awarded a "First 100" card from Chick-fil-A good for 52 #1 meals (free food for a year.)  This is likely to be the last Chick-fil-A opening intown for a while, although there is talk of a Ponce de Leon location and renewed rumors of a location to come in Brookhaven.  

A new Bojangles' is coming to Cumming.  The roughly 3,800 square foot freestanding restaurant will be built near the intersection of Keith Bridge and Browns Bridge Roads.  

A new Cook Out restaurant is planned for Fort Oglethorpe in northwest Georgia.  The new freestanding restaurant would be built on the site of a former bank on Battlefield Parkway between Almar and Van Cleve Streets.  When it opens, the Fort Oglethorpe location will be the chain's 28th in Georgia.  Earlier this week, I detailed Cook Out's plans to open another new restaurant on South Cobb Drive in Marietta. 

Jackson, Georgia-based Jones Petroleum will be opening a new convenience store at its existing gas station on Lee Street in Lithia Springs.  The new C-store will feature both Subway and Dunkin' Donuts in addition to traditional offerings.   

The Bonefish Grill restaurant that I first wrote about last February may finally start construction.  The restaurant will be built on a vacant outparcel of Akers Mill shopping center, along Cobb Parkway. According to several employment websites, the restaurant has already started the hiring process, seemingly a little early with construction yet to begin.  Sources say the restaurant should open by the first quarter of next year.  

Denver, Colorado-based CorePower Yoga plans to open a fifth studio in metro Atlanta in the coming months.  With three studios open (Buckhead, North Druid Hills and Ponce City Market) and a fourth coming soon to midtown, a fifth studio is coming to Sandy Springs.  The new studio will open in a 4,500 square foot space to the right of Trader Joe's, in Sandy Springs Plaza on Roswell Road.  By comparison, the studio coming to Spire in midtown is just over 5,300 square feet.  

As expected, 04W Pizza, a popular New Jersey-style pizzeria in the Irwin Street Market, is closing.  When I broke news of their upcoming location in Duluth, the writing seemed to be on the wall that their intown location would not last.  The Irwin Street Market, seen by many as an incubator for new concepts, allowed for pizzeria owner Anthony Spina to "prove" his concept but with his success, he has outgrown the space.  Spina will not change the name when he opens Duluth.  Although it has not yet been made public, it would not surprise me to see Spina reopen elsewhere intown once he gets the Duluth location up and running.  

Without a new tenant, the 25,000 square foot former Borders Books & Music at East West Commons is likely destined for demolition. An Arizona-based entity, "ARCP MT AUSTELL GA LLC", is proposing the construction of a new retail and restaurant center in its place.  It's unclear at this time what if any tenants have shown interest or committed to the project.  

A new-to-market electric bike retailer is headed to Brighten Park (Loehmann's Plaza).  ElectroBike, with global headquarters in Mexico City and U.S. headquarters in Encino, California, sells a variety of battery powered bicycles, starting at about $1000 and going up to about $2100.  The bikes are foldable and their batteries can charge in about two hours.  The business is being franchised in the U.S. in partnership with the brand's sole domestic distributor, Curbside Commuters.   According to the franchise materials, Curbside Commuter is "offering franchisees the opportunity to be part of a fast-growing, high-margin industry, and the flexibility to add or subtract current leading edge and/or fast-selling products to keep your business at the forefront."   The new store in Atlanta will be first in the southeast.  The approximately 1200 square foot store will open near CorePower Yoga, to the right of The Fresh Market. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What are the renewed rumors about a CFA in Brookhaven? Given the drama surrounding all the development going in I would be shocked but I do think that it would do very, very well.

OneFinSHY said...

What's the word on the CFA at Avalon (A'Retta)? Thought it was approved.

Amy said...

Core POwer Yoga at Spire is 3,800 not 5,300SF.

Jennifer said...

Yes, please share the CFA Brookhaven rumor, thanks!

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