Retail + Eateries + Hotels + Convenience Stores + Residential + Grocery + Banking +
Lowe's Home Improvement will early next year open their first Lowe's Outlet store in Georgia. The Mooresville, North Carolina-based company opened their first Lowe's Outlet in late 2019 in Monrovia, California in a former Orchard Supply Hardware, a chain it owned but shuttered entirely in 2018. The Georgia Outlet will open in the Shoppes at Morrow Station (1865 Mount Zion Road) outside Southlake Mall in Morrow, about 15 minutes south of Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
ToNeTo Atlanta has learned that Sprouts Farmers Market plans to open a new store in the soon-to-close Cost Plus World Market space in Smyrna. The freestanding junior anchor space, which ToNeTo Atlanta reported December 16 will be vacated by Cost Plus as of December 31, will reopen as the fifteenth metro Atlanta location of the Phoenix-based grocer. Sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that a lease is not yet signed but that a deal is "imminent." The approximately 19,000 square foot space sits in an outparcel of Heritage Pavilion shopping center along Cobb Parkway in Cobb County.
Abercrombie & Fitch plans to close its Abercrombie & Fitch, abercrombie kids and Hollister stores at North Point Mall in Alpharetta as well as its Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister stores at the Mall of Georgia in Buford. An abercrombie kids store at the Mall of Georgia will remain open. Sources close to the retailer indicate that the company would like to reopen at least some of the banners elsewhere in Alpharetta, while in Buford the retailer is reportedly interested in smaller space(s) within the mall.
Amazon.com Inc. has leased a well-known suburban commercial space for a new "final mile" warehouse. The ecommerce giant will soon open their new warehouse in the nearly 200,000 square foot facility at 4000 Venture Drive, not far from Gwinnett Place Mall and adjacent to Costco in Duluth. The sprawling building, originally constructed as an Incredible Universe store, opened in 1996 and closed in 1997. Over the past two decades, the space has been home to several other businesses including PGA Tour Superstore, Haverty's Furniture Outlet and Dave & Buster's. Over time, though, those businesses have either consolidated operations, moved, or as the Haverty's Outlet did last December, closed altogether.
Gallery Cafe will be closing December 31 at Tuxedo Festival in Buckhead. The owners of the popular Chastain Park area eatery reportedly decided not to renew their lease given the uncertainly of the world and the challenges facing the restaurant industry. The lunch eatery has been a Chastain Park staple for more than two decades, having first opened in 1998.
Cost Plus World Market will close its longstanding store in Smyrna at the end of the year. Located in Heritage Pavilion on Cobb Parkway, Cost Plus occupies a prized freestanding junior anchor space in the sprawling center. The Cost Plus space measures 18,750 square feet, provides premium visibility from Cobb Parkway, and is close not only to Cumberland Mall but also Truist Park and I-75.
After months of delays of various kinds, Fire Hen is now open in Buckhead Village. The restaurant, located at the corner of Cains Hills Place and Irby Avenue adjacent to Woody's CheeseSteaks, serves a variety of items including rotisserie chicken, vegetable and meat hand pies, as well as assorted sides and desserts.
Ulta Beauty, a cosmetics and skincare retailer often found in suburban shopping centers, will next year open a new location in a legacy intown center. The new store, measuring about 11,000 square feet, will open in Toco Hills shopping center in a large portion of what was most recently an Office Depot. The office supply store, which had been in the center about 15 years, closed in November.
At a time when many restaurants are struggling, two local business partners and restaurateurs are expanding into the most unlikely of concepts: breakfast! Brian Kennington and Terry Kirby plan to open 1911 Biscuits & Burgers later this month along South Cobb Drive in Smyrna. The restaurant, situated in front of Smyrna Thrift Store and adjacent to a recently rebuilt Chick-fil-A, occupies a one-time Huddle House (3120 South Cobb Drive) that has over the years been home to several independent restaurants serving everything from Cajun cuisine to barbecue. The gamechanger for 1911, however, will be the addition of an all important - some might say "pandemic proof" - drive-thru.
After one name change, three locations and a combined 40 years in business, a popular East Cobb area restaurant is throwing in the Windex and calling it a career. Christos Giannes, 65, owner of Kouzina Christos, made the vague announcement on his restaurant's Facebook page early Monday. "FYI...Open for service Saturday till..." read the post which received several comments from concerned longtime patrons.
Chama Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse has made their Buckhead outpost closure permanent. The restaurant, located at Tower Place along Piedmont Road in Buckhead, had been "temporarily closed" since March, with reported plans to reopen "in the fall." As months passed, that reopening seemed less and less likely. A ToNeTo Atlanta reader alerted us Sunday to the restaurant's website which has been updated to reflect the Atlanta closure is now permanent. "We regret to inform you that Chama Gaucha Atlanta is permanently closed." reads a pop-up on the Chama Gaucha website.
The family that owns Atlanta's Landmark Diner has acquired the former Folks Southern Kitchen restaurants in Marietta and Tucker and plans to open new restaurants at each site in the coming months. Planning documents suggest each new restaurant will operate as "Landmark Diner" but sources close to the restaurant indicate that while both may feature a menu similar to Landmark's, the name is expected to be different. Anastasios (Tom) & Carolyn Lambrou opened the original Landmark Diner at the intersection of Piedmont and Roswell Roads in Buckhead in 1994. A second location, in the street level of the Helen M. Aderhold Learning Center at Georgia State University's downtown campus, opened in 2003.
For the second time in just the past few weeks, an Atlanta area Moe's Southwest Grill franchise has closed. The restaurant, located in the Publix-anchored [and Publix owned] Shallowford Corners shopping center (4401 Shallowford Road), seemingly closed in recent days without prior notice, and while permanently removed from the Moe's website, still shows as occupied on the property's website. Moe's was situated on a 2,265 square foot endcap space adjacent to Jet's Pizza at the corner of Shallowford and Johnson Ferry Roads in East Cobb.
The former Hudson Grille Brookhaven will reopen soon as "Atlanta Bar & Grille." The new restaurant, in the works for the past few weeks, could reopen as soon as November 27. Sources close to the restaurant indicate that the interior of the roughly 8,000 square foot restaurant has been "heavily renovated." ToNeTo Atlanta stopped by the space Saturday morning and observed plenty of work going on but no new signage up and seemingly plenty still to do inside.
ToNeTo Atlanta is pleased to announce that the former YEAH! BURGER at 1017 North Highland Avenue in Virginia-Highland will next year reopen as Farm Burger! YEAH! BURGER, one half of Atlanta's "Young + Hungry" restaurant group, first opened in 2010 and closed over the summer.
A new Burlington [Coat Factory] will be joining the lineup at Briarcliff Village in Tucker. Burlington will open in the nearly 26,000 square foot space vacated earlier this spring by Office Depot. In Briarcliff Village, Burlington joins existing anchors TJ Maxx and Publix in the nearly 200,000 square foot center. With about 750 stores, the Burlington, New Jersey-based retailer is the third largest off-price department store in the country after TJ Maxx and ROSS.
After a prolonged "temporary closure," Jason's Deli at Cumberland Mall near Smyrna officially has permanently closed. The restaurant, located on the mall's first floor, was near the former Sears wing, where Round1, an entertainment venue will soon open. Jason's Deli first opened at Cumberland Mall in December 2003 when it replaced what had been the once popular Lettuce Souprise You.
VF Corporation Monday announced plans to acquire popular streetwear brand Supreme for $2.1 billion. The deal, which Denver-based VF indicated would close by the end of the year, nearly matches the firm's $2.2 billion 2011 acquisition of Timberland. The company, which moved its corporate headquarters from Greensboro, NC to Denver in 2018, also owns Vans, The North Face and JanSport, among other brands.
COVID-19 has certainly slowed commercial real estate projects and other businesses around the world. The owners of Northlake Mall and many other commercial real estate developers are still moving forward, albeit at what seems like a glacial pace. ToNeTo Atlanta spoke this past week with Tony Ruggeri, co-founder and partner at ATR Corinth, the current owners of Northlake Mall, about the project and coming updates. Ruggeri was quick to dispel rumors that his firm was either putting the project on the market or removing the retail component from the re-development.
Cook Hall at the W Atlanta Buckhead has closed. The restaurant, which opened in late 2012 in place of Market by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, has been "temporarily closed" for several months, but a newly released offering from JLL indicates the space will not reopen as Cook Hall and is instead being marketed for lease. The listing indicates the restaurant space is 5,772 square feet and is available "immediately." Neither the lease term nor the lease rate are explicitly listed but are instead said to be "negotiable."
In an incredibly quiet move, restaurants Doraku and Qing Mu have both permanently closed on East Paces Ferry Road at Buckhead Village District (formerly The Shops Buckhead Atlanta). The restaurants, located adjacent to one another between Georgetown Cupcake and The Capital Grille, "temporarily closed" in March, but have now been removed from the Buckhead Village District (BVD) website and onsite maps. (The Buckhead location of Doraku has been removed from the Doraku website but the Buckhead Qing Mu location remains listed on the Qing Mu website.) Earlier this week, BVD management also installed artsy window coverings on the fronts of both of the former restaurants.
ToNeTo Atlanta has learned that Chick-fil-A will soon relocate and rebuild one of their Snellville area restaurants. The Atlanta-based quick-serve chain intends to close their existing restaurant at 2932 Main Street W (U.S. Highway 78) and open a new location at 3090 Main Street W. The site of the new restaurant was most recently occupied by Doo's Seafood, but the local seafood eatery recently announced plans to relocate November 6 to a smaller inline location in the Kroger-anchored Midway Plaza shopping center at 910 Athens Highway in nearby Loganville.
A new sales flyer from Atlanta-based The Shopping Center Group indicates that the Cumberland area Barnes & Noble Bookseller store could soon close, as it's being marketed for redevelopment. The store, located at the corner of Akers Mill Road and Cobb Parkway, occupies a prime 2.4 acre parcel with tremendous street visibility. The 20,176 square foot two-level freestanding store, which Cobb County property documents indicate was built in 1996, is one of the few remaining large format bookstores in metro Atlanta.
John "Johnny" Gianoulidis and managing partner Paul Masci plan to open The Greek Pizzeria and Gyros next summer in Brookhaven. The restaurant, described as "a fast casual counter service restaurant that [will] harken back to the roots of Greek pizza and gyro joints of New England, where no one is a stranger!" will be located in Skyland Shopping Center along Clairmont Road near its intersection with Buford Highway. The center, anchored by Advance Auto Parts, was once home to a Colonial grocery store, but in recent years has mostly been home to a hodgepodge of local shops and services.
Target plans to reopen its “Buckhead South” store in Lindbergh Plaza in "mid-November," a company spokesperson told ToNeTo Atlanta late Tuesday. The store, located at 2539 Piedmont Road in Lindbergh Plaza, first opened in 2006 but has been closed for more than five months after it was heavily damaged and looted in May amid protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Nate Hybl plans to bring his quick-serve restaurant gusto! to East Cobb in 2021. The new restaurant will open in an outparcel of the Kroger anchored Parkaire Landing shopping center at the corner of Lower Roswell and Johnson Ferry Roads. Gusto will open in place of Moe's Southwest Grill (688 Johnson Ferry Road) which itself occupied a onetime KFC. Cobb County property records indicate the KFC building was originally constructed in 1987 and is about 2,700 square feet.
Popular Mediterranean restaurant Cafe Agora will soon expand its presence in Midtown by taking over the space adjacent to their existing restaurant. Currently located at 92 Peachtree Place, the eatery will in the coming months expand to 90 Peachtree Place, too, basically doubling the size of the restaurant. The expansion into the adjacent space was made possible by the recent closure of Arden's Garden, which reportedly opted not to renew their lease. Arden's Garden still has seventeen other locations in Georgia, including one on Monroe Drive in Midtown, another on Euclid Avenue in Little 5 Points, and on Roswell Road in Buckhead, among others.
A few months after debuting their new compact "GO" format in Sandy Springs, Buffalo Wild Wings plans to bring the new quick-serve concept to Emory Village. Newly released planning documents indicate that the new Buffalo Wild Wings GO will open in place of Romeo's Pizza which recently closed at 1401 Oxford Road across the street from the Emory University campus. At 1,952 square feet, the new location will be slightly larger than the Sandy Springs outpost, but will likely still be about the same in features and offerings.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of restaurants have closed in metro Atlanta. Although sad, this unfortunate situation has created unique opportunities for budding restaurateurs. This past weekend, ToNeTo Atlanta took note of at least three restaurant spaces that became available as a result of the pandemic, and all three are already occupied by new restaurants. The three restaurants we noticed are in Alpharetta, Brookhaven and Buckhead.
Ruby Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week and has announced plans to "reject" 185 leases which include both restaurants that have already closed as well as others it plans to shutter. According to published reports, prior to the pandemic, the Maryville, Tennessee company had 236 restaurants in 25 states.
After receiving inquiries from readers and witnessing ourselves the clearcutting of a large lot (2661 Briarcliff Road) behind the North Druid Hills Target store, we made it a point to investigate what was happening. We are (dis)pleased to be able to share that the neighborhood has lost hundreds of mature trees for the development of yet another self-storage facility!
A new location of Crumbl Cookies is coming to metro Atlanta. The new Crumbl, headed for Lawrenceville, will open in the Home Depot-anchored Lawrenceville Market shopping center near the intersection of Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road and Duluth Highway. The new 1,600 square foot cookie shop opens in place of what was most recently a MetroPCS Authorized Dealer location between MyEyeDr. and Scrubs & Beyond. The Lawrenceville Crumbl Cookies will be the fourth in metro Atlanta for the Utah-based chain.
Several Atlanta area Pizza Hut restaurants have closed in recent days following the July 1 Chapter 11 bankruptcy of NPC International, one of the company's largest franchisees. At the time of their filing, NPC operated some 1,200 Pizza Hut locations of which about 40% were the brand's legacy "red roof" [hut] locations. NPC indicated in August it planned to close as many as 300 "underperforming" units of which most would likely be the company's freestanding "hut" units.
A new-to-market stir-fry concept has chosen Sandy Springs to make their Atlanta area debut. A franchise of Whealthy, a concept based in Irvine, California, has leased the former Firehouse Subs in Sandy Springs Plaza at 6277 Roswell Road. The Firehouse Subs franchise closed abruptly this past January. The nearly 1,300 square foot space is adjacent to Willy's Mexicana Grill, on the north end of the Trader Joe's anchored shopping center.
About twenty months after we first we reported they were entering the market, and about a year after breaking ground, Texas-based Buc-ee's is getting ready to open their first mega store in the state. The new 53,000 square foot Buc-ee's at 7001 Russell Parkway occupies a roughly 20 acre site at the southeast corner of I-75 and Russell Parkway in Warner Robins in Peach County. A company spokesperson says plans call for the new Buc-ee's to open Wednesday, November 18, a week before the potentially busy Thanksgiving holiday, and more than a month ahead of what was announced in 2019 to be an "early 2021" debut.
Iron Age Korean Steak House plans to open their highly anticipated new location at Toco Hills later this month. The 4,900 square foot restaurant, which ToNeTo Atlanta first reported was coming last July, was originally slated to open over the summer. Like so many things, the restaurant's opening was delayed by several factors not the least of which was COVID-19. The restaurant, which replaced longstanding Toco Hills mainstay Famous Pub, is now due to open October 19. (Hudson Grille was to open but later abandoned their plans to open in space before Iron Age.)
Office Depot will soon close their store at Toco Hills in Atlanta. The store, which co-anchors Toco Hills shopping center, has been open about fifteen years and is due to close as of November 14. The 20,500 square foot store occupies a onetime A&P supermarket in the bustling intown shopping center. The store is currently offering all in-stock merchandise for 10 to 40 percent off.
Popular local burger joint Farm Burger has closed their Peachtree Corners location. The restaurant, which by all accounts had one of the best locations within the new Peachtree Corners Town Center project, opened March 26, 2019. and closed as of September 30, according to a post to the restaurant's facebook page. Located at 5170 Town Center Boulevard, the restaurant occupied a freestanding building adjacent to the project's Town Green.
A new location of Miller's Ale House is planned for Kennesaw. According to newly filed permits with Cobb County, the new restaurant will open in place of the former California Dreaming at 745 Chastain Road. California Dreaming, part of Charleston, South Carolina-based CentraArchy Restaurants, closed its Kennesaw outpost last May after about twelve years in business. (The group also closed their Duluth location earlier this year.)
It appears that the Tavern at Phipps will not be reopening at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead. The restaurant, a mainstay at the posh Buckhead mall for nearly 30 years, closed as of March 23 due the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite sibling Atlanta area CentraArchy restaurants Joey D's Oak Room and New York Prime reopening, the Tavern has remain closed, with their patio furniture now in use by their steakhouse sibling. Sources close to the restaurant and others in the restaurant community tell ToNeTo Atlanta that a lease dispute with landlord Simon Property Group (SPG) is what led to the closure.
An Athens-based developer is proposing building a new "express car wash" on Clairmont Road not far from Peachtree DeKalb Airport. The new car wash would open in place of two existing structures, one a vacant gas station and convenience store, the other a nightlife establishment. Oliver Pryor of TOP Capital, LLC is behind the proposal. According to his LinkedIn profile, Pryor's current job [TOP Capital], which he's been at since May 2013, is "Investments, Express Car Washes, Real Estate Development."
Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill has closed its only Atlanta area location. The restaurant, located at 5215 Windward Parkway in Alpharetta, closed quietly in recent days after about five years in business. The restaurant, which replaced what was then the first Uncle Maddio's Pizzas to close, opened in late 2015 and was to be the first of seven in the Atlanta area from franchisee Nick Patel.
Popular sandwich chain Jason's deli informed customers Monday that they will be permanently closing their location off Windward Parkway in Alpharetta. The restaurant, located in The Terraces at Windward shopping center [3070 Windward Plaza], occupies a roughly 4,700 square foot space in the nearly 84,000 square foot development. Remaining restaurants in the center include Moe's Southwest Grill, Mellow Mushroom, Dickey's Barbecue Pit, Starbucks and J. Christopher's, among others.
The owners of Morelli's Ice Cream have reportedly leased the former Yogli Mogli in Virginia Highland for a new ice cream shop. The lease would follow a known M.O. of the local operators of taking over former dessert shops. Atlanta-born Yogli Mogli once had more than a dozen locations across five states but is today down to just five locations in total, four of which are in Georgia. The Virginia Highland location (1002 North Highland Avenue) of the once popular fro yo shop, situated at the dynamic corner of Virginia and North Highland Avenues, closed quietly earlier this spring.
2020 surprises keep coming! Opening soon in place of a former Bojangles will be none other than Mrs. Winner's! The fledgling chicken chain, which once covered metro Atlanta and the south, will open soon in place of the former Bojangles at 8550 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. [Before Bojangles, the building was home to La Strada, Derby Food & Spirits and Locos Grill & Pub, among other eateries.] The Bojangles, a franchise of the Charlotte-based chicken chain, closed as of January 31, after a little less than five years in business.
Healthy quick-serve eatery Sweetgreen appears to have secured its third Atlanta area location. Permits filed Friday with the City of Atlanta indicate that Sweetgreen will open in Buckhead at Lenox Square. At the mall, Sweetgreen will open in place of ATL Taco, around the corner from True Food Kitchen. ATL Taco, itself a replacement of sibling eatery Bantam+Biddy, closed last October after just over a year and a half in business.
Brooklyn Bagel Bakery & Deli, a popular New York-style bagel joint, is expanding intown. According to a Facebook announcement Monday, the restaurant's second outpost will be at Ansley Mall, 1544 Piedmont Avenue. “It’s official! We are opening a second location in Ansley Mall shopping center!” While the announcement did not specify an exact location, the online Ansley Mall property flyer indicates that the local bagel joint will open in place of Panera Bread. Despite the Ansley Mall Panera Bread showing as "open" on all online platforms (including the Panera website), a phone call to the eatery confirms it is permanently closed.
In an unfortunate COVID-19 related move, Nancy's Pizzeria in Buckhead has permanently closed. The restaurant had been "temporarily" closed for several weeks and was thought to be reopening, but ToNeTo Atlanta confirmed Monday that its closure is in fact permanent. The 4,500 square foot Buckhead outpost, 2625 Piedmont Road in Buckhead Crossing, originally opened in November 2017.
PNC Bank has closed its Tucker branch in an outparcel of Briarcliff LaVista shopping center. The branch, located at 4855 Briarcliff Road, is situated across from both Northlake Mall and Briarcliff Village at the intersection of Briarlciff and Henderson Mill Roads. Signage posted to the branch's front door indicates that it closed permanently as of 3PM on Friday September 18. The branch had previously been (and still is, according to the PNC website) closed "temporarily." The Pittsburgh-based bank will still have a presence in Tucker with their larger branch on Main Street in downtown Tucker.
