Thursday, August 13, 2020

[EXCLUSIVE] After Nearly 40 Years, McDonald's To Shutter Dunwoody Restaurant

This weekend McDonald's will permanently close their longstanding Dunwoody restaurant at 2460 Jett Ferry Road in the Williamsburg at Dunwoody shopping center.  The restaurant, located in an outparcel of the center, is owned by McDonald's, according to DeKalb property records, rather than Regency Centers, owners of the center itself.  Customers were informed of the upcoming closure Thursday.  The restaurant will operate its normal hours but will close at 11 PM on Sunday August 16 and not reopen.  


Sources close McDonald's indicate that the Williamsburg location had been an "underperformer" for several years and that closing it had been discussed for "some time."  The opening in 2013 of a Chick-fil-A in an adjacent outparcel in place of a former Arby's likely worsened things for the burger joint.  COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on many in the restaurant industry from local eateries to national chains, and while it no doubt played a part in the decision to close, it was reportedly not the primary factor.   

DeKalb tax records indicate the McDonald's opened in 1984, is 4,266 square feet and sits on about eight tenths of an acre.  

The closure of McDonald's in Dunwoody marks the second fast food burger chain to close in the area in the past two years following the early 2018 closure of Burger King at 5468 Chamblee Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody Village, about two miles away.  Despite reported interest in the space, the former Burger King remains available according to a sales flyer from Brand Properties.  

McDonald's closures, while rare, have happened elsewhere in metro Atlanta.  In early 2018, McDonald's closed a restaurant at 5220 Buford Highway in Doraville.  As ToNeTo Atlanta readers may recall, this closure was quite special as it marked the permanent closure of the oldest McDonald's restaurant in Georgia.  The restaurant, which had been completely rebuilt at least twice, first opened in 1961.  Amazingly, the restaurant, which like many of the burger chain's, was owned by McDonald's corporate, was demolished a short time after its closure.  ToNeTo Atlanta reported in March that a new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen will be open in place of the former McDonald's.  

For Dunwoody residents seeking to satisfy their fast food burger cravings, there will remain a second area McDonald's open for business at the corner of Perimeter Center West and Ashford Dunwoody Road, just north of Perimeter Mall.  

McDonald's closure in Dunwoody comes as several of its competing burger joints have also recently closed outlets in the greater metro Atlanta area.  ToNeTo Atlanta reported Thursday that Hardee's, Burger King and Wendy's closed a total of six Atlanta area restaurants in recent weeks with Hardee's having been the most recent, closing their near 40-year old location on South Main Street in Alpharetta. 

Are you surprised that  McDonald's is closing this Dunwoody restaurant?  What is your favorite fast food burger?  What would you like to see open in place of McDonald's in Dunwoody?

Please share your thoughts below. 

32 comments:

AGiddens said...

In place of McDonald’s, I would like to see a Yeah Burger, Otter’s Chicken, Chopt, or a Krispy Kreme.

Anonymous said...

Also, there is a McDonald's in Georgetown area, on Cotillion.

Anonymous said...

Sad to see it go. Food was no worse than any other McDonald's and it has been there forever. Another empty building and more jobs lost. Not a happy ending.

Dunwoody resident said...

Indifferent. They didn’t serve machiottos. Please don’t close the one on Cotilion.

Dunwoody resident said...

A Wendy’s there would be nice.

Lee said...

No loss ...It was not very busy cause of Chick Fil A
Wow ... wish they could put a bigger CFA with better traffic flow ...
of course CFA should have actually have been located where Chase is but DHA nixed that in favor of the much less efficient result. However I am grateful to have a CFA close by even if it is small and congested!! We go there almost every day for something😍

Anonymous said...

never fun to see a local place close but not a surprise. Rarely any cars in the drive through line even when the Chick fila next door has cars wrapped around the store. We'd only go if we didn't want to wait out chickfila or if one of the kids really wanted a Happy Meal. Any time we went in the last year or so, food would never be ready even if you were the only one in line and they would ask you to pull up and wait for someone to come out.

Adam Freedman, Dunwoody PC, LLC said...

What happens when a McDonald's closes, since they own the building, they're not going to lease it to another fast food place, would they? That new Chick Fil A does gangbusters business, always felt bad for the McDonalds when I often saw no one in line. They were fine, used to get my 2 cheeseburger meals there. Good fries.

Anonymous said...

They could sell the property to another bank of course. It IS Dunwoody after all.

No mention of NFA Burger right up the road? I still haven't tried it yet (their hours are wonky) but it definitely has a cult following.

Village Burger (although not fast food) is a pretty good choice too as long as you aren't in a hurry.

Anonymous said...

It is sad. My family and I would frequent the restaurant and my children loved playing at the Playland. Sad to see it go along with the jobs of more people. Another fast food place would be nice... for families needing a quick meal.

Anonymous said...

It has a drive through and It's impossible to build a new restaurant in Dunwoody with a drive-through.

Anonymous said...

Not surprised. Service at this restraint was poor. Definitely needed better management. Would love to have a Church’s chicken located here.

Anonymous said...

KRYSTAL - PLEASE!!!

Anonymous said...

While we're making suggestions I would vote for Popeyes. Just think, we could have chicken sandwich tasting competitions and not even have to drive between restaurants!

Anonymous said...

The area desperately needs a drive through liquor store.

Danni Suskin said...

Service and quality was terrible. Not surprised it closed.

Anonymous said...

Ideas:
- Cookout
- Krispy Kreme
- Zaxby's (I think Zaxby's and CFA have different "brands")
- Dairy Queen

All assuming McD's corporate will lease it to a burger or fast food place.

Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Food said...

No big loss, garbage food that no one should be putting into their body.

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised. This McDonalds never did seem like a McDonalds. The few times I went in the service was not up to par, employees could not converse very well, had trouble getting orders and so on straight. What few time I had a coupon, most of the time the employees had trouble using it.

A Kentucky Fried Chicken/Taco Bell, Popeyes or a Captain D's there
would be nice. We need chicken and/or fish places in Dunwoody.

Anonymous said...

Many Friday afternoon memories of picking up my kiddos from their bus at Orchard Park and receiving a McFlurry treat!

Anonymous said...

Just noticed the parking lot was blocked off today. I'll miss the egg mcmuffins, breakfast burritos and $1 cokes.

Bring in Bell Street or Grind House!

Karen G said...

Anything but a BANK!!

Anonymous said...

Need something to compete with that CFA, as they give lousy service. W/ BOA closed and the Verizon store gone too, traffic is light in that shopping center.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Karen. Anything but a bank. Perhaps something that doesn't compete directly with the local businesses: La Crema (coffee shop), the local liquor store, the cute Deli in the plaza. If it's a chain, maybe pick a chain that's not within a 3 mile radius of that location. This also might be a good opportunity to renovate the area between CFA and the closed McD's for better drive-through traffic and less congestion.

Lee said...

BIGGER CFA!!

Robert said...

I hope McDonald's reconsiders. It's an area with sparse fast food options and it's near Kroger. As others have pointed out, it has a Drive-Thru and kids place to play.

Unknown said...

😂

Unknown said...

VARSITY 100%

Unknown said...

Bring Burger King back now that they have a vegetarian burger!

Tersea said...

I am so happy they close down I use to work there and I quit cause I was lied to when I was hired and they didn’t like black people

Tersea said...

I am happy it closed I am so glad I quit they didn’t like black peoples anyway that’s why I quit

Tersea said...

I am happy it closed I am so glad I quit they didn’t like black peoples anyway that’s why I quit

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