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.
The Doo's site, originally a Ruby Tuesday restaurant, measures 1.22 acres, making it a good bit larger than the current .85 acre Chick-fil-A site. The current Doo's building is both bigger and slightly newer than the current Chick-fil-A, but Chick-fil-A basically never makes use of existing buildings, so its size and relative newness (1989 compared to 1988) are meaningless, given that the building will undoubtedly be demolished.
Interestingly, according to the Gwinnett County Tax Assessors, the smaller Chick-fil-A site is actually valued more than the future site. For 2020, the county valued 2932 Main Street at $1.1 million while the county valued 3090 Main Street at only $776,400.
Built in 1988, the current Snellville Chick-fil-A is one of a dwindling number of "Gen 1" Chick-fil-A restaurants still in existence. Although not exclusive to Gen 1 units, Chick-fil-A's "scrape & rebuild" initiative has replaced more than a dozen restaurants in the greater metro Atlanta area and around the south with boring, boxy restaurants that, unlike their predecessors, lack all of the characteristics that distinguished early Chick-fil-A restaurant building.
The fact that the Snellville location is "moving" should mean that the restaurant will be able to continue operations until the new location opens, eliminating undesirable downtime and maintaining jobs in the community.
On October 15, Chick-fil-A reopened its Roswell Town Center restaurant at 604 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell. This restaurant, originally built in 1987 in the same style as the current Snellville restaurant, was completely demolished and rebuilt. The Roswell restaurant was the first full-service Chick-fil-A to be rebuilt using the company's "modular building program." In the program, portions of the restaurant are built offsite and then shipped and set in place at the restaurant location, allowing work to be completed approximately six weeks sooner than through traditional construction methods.
In Conyers, Chick-fil-A is also relocating to a larger site, and in the process eliminating another Gen 1 unit. ToNeTo Atlanta last December first reported on the company's plans to relocate to the site of a then operating Piccadilly Cafeteria on Highway 138. The Piccadilly, which has since closed, was demolished in June to make way for the new Chick-fil-A.
A few miles from the Doo's site in Snellville, another Chick-fil-A at 1559 Scenic Highway near The Shoppes at Webb Gin is currently closed for an extensive renovation and reconfiguration. This Chick-fil-A, unlike most that have been replaced, isn't getting completely rebuilt (it first opened in 2003) but is getting an extreme makeover.
Elsewhere around metro Atlanta, several other Chick-fil-A restaurants have been rebuilt or replaced including those on Peachtree Parkway in Norcross, North Druid Hills Road near Brookhaven, South Cobb Drive in Smyrna, Lawrenceville Highway in Lilburn and GA Highway 5 in Douglasville, among others. In addition to standard Chick-fil-A restaurants, the company has also completed scrape & rebuilds of several of their Dwarf House locations including those in Woodstock, Rome, and Newnan, where all are now boxy, less distinctive, and carry the moniker "Truett's Chick-fil-A."
Representatives from Chick-fil-A did not respond to our request for comment but it's fair to surmise that the new Snellville Chick-fil-A will also utilize the modular building technique and should open sometime early in the first half of 2021.
Are you excited for the new Chick-fil-A in Snellville? Do you find it sad that Chick-fil-A is replacing so many of its legacy restaurants? What is your favorite Chick-fil-A menu item?
Please share your thoughts below.
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The Chick-fil-a on North Point Pkwy, just outside North Point Mall is scheduled for a "Scrape and Rebuild" during 2021.
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