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A new Starbucks is coming soon to Covington. While a new Starbucks, especially one so far out of our traditional coverage area might not always be newsworthy, we felt the need to share: this one is special. You see, this new Starbucks, which measures 3,857 square feet, is opening in place of a former Chick-fil-A.
Fry’s Electronics is going out of business. ToNeTo Atlanta has confirmed that the iconic San Jose, California-based retailer has permanently closed all of its stores nationwide. The company website displayed a "Service Unavailable" error message late Tuesday night which was replaced by a splash page displaying the closure announcement early Wednesday morning. The message, which addressed the closure and thanked customers, seemed to confirm the rumors that had been percolating on Reddit and other platforms for well over a year regarding the imminent demise of the once wildly popular store.
An Atlanta-based developer is seeking to rezone more than seven acres on one north Buckhead street into what community leaders fear would "forever alter the character of the street and set a disturbing precedent for other area neighborhoods." Monte Hewett Homes would like to construct a total of ten (potentially eleven) homes at 1 Emma Lane, just off Lakemoore Drive, adjacent to the popular Blue Heron Nature Preserve, not far from Chastain Park.
On Monday, local restaurateur Gary Lin soft opened a new location of his popular intown restaurant Hai Authentic Chinese in Alpharetta. Originally slated to open in mid-November, the restaurant ended up being fully renovated, which delayed its debut. The authentic Szechuan restaurant is on Windward Parkway, not far from Costco. The new restaurant is physically located in suite #440, a 2,400 square foot space, formerly Swagat Indian Cuisine, between Big Peach Running Co. and Saigon Café in The Plaza at Windward, 5530 Windward Parkway. The original Hai opened in June 2019 at Suburban Plaza near Decatur.
One local restaurateur is on the verge of opening his third restaurant since December. Following the openings of Scoville Hot Chicken on Roswell Road in Sandy Sprigs on December 4 and on East Broad Street in Athens on January 8, owner Justin Lim is slated to open a new Scoville in early March at 3420 Piedmont Road. The new outpost replaces Lovie's BBQ, which closed permanently last year after an extended COVID-19 related hiatus. Scoville is located on the back side of the building that also houses popular Indian quick-serve eatery Naan Stop.
Alpharetta residents will once again have a destination for Brazilian steaks when The Passador opens next month. Slated to open by mid-March, the new Brazilian steakhouse will open in place of Galeto Brazilian Steakhouse, which closed this past November after a little less than two years in business. The Passador will be located at 2355 Mansell Road, adjacent to Benihana, not far from North Point Mall.
A Texas burger joint is eyeing expansion with Georgia on its mind. Whataburger, established in 1950 and based in San Antonio, has more than 840 restaurants. The majority of them, nearly 700, are in Texas. On the heels of their 2019 majority sale to BDT Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, the company is looking to accelerate their growth. Georgia and metro Atlanta are among the markets the company is actively scouting for new restaurants.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the restaurant chain's plans tell ToNeTo Atlanta that the Zoës Kitchen in Chastain Park will soon close. The restaurant, located in Tuxedo Festival at the corner of Roswell and Piedmont Roads, was the second Zoës to open in metro Atlanta when it debuted in late 2010. The roughly 3,000 square foot Zoës space will not stay vacant for long, however, with plans to open Cava, a quick-serve Mediterranean eatery, in its place.
A new kind of retail store has opened in metro Atlanta. Sliding Prices, an independent store opened by an eCommerce entrepreneur turned brick & mortar business person, opened last month in a suburban shopping center. The roughly 7,000 square foot store is located in the Movie Tavern-anchored Sandy Plains Village shopping center near the intersection of Mabry and Woodstock Roads (Highway 92) in Roswell. Sliding Prices occupies a onetime Blockbuster Video adjacent to a onetime Kroger that will later this spring open as metro Atlanta's second Painted Tree Marketplace.
Well placed real estate sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that Shake Shack has secured a former suburban Burger King for one of their first drive-thru enabled locations. The freestanding building, located in an outparcel of Alpharetta Crossing (11780 Haynes Bridge Road), was home to Burger King for more than two decades before the Miami-based fast food chain closed the location last year. The restaurant is about 2,900 square feet and sits on just over a half an acre, according to Fulton County tax records.
