[UPDATE] Starbucks Makes Strange Move in Sandy Springs

In a quiet and baffling February move, Starbucks closed a roughly seven year old Sandy Springs location.  The strange thing about the closure is the fact that the Starbucks - in The Prado at 5660 Roswell Road - featured the all important drive-thru!  Signage at the Starbucks indicates that it closed as of February 23 with would-be patrons directed to one of the many other nearby Starbucks locations.  Despite having closed nearly a month ago, the 1,850 square foot Starbucks is still listed as an open and active tenant on the center's website. 

[EXCLUSIVE] Longtime Chevron Demolished to Make Way for EXCITING New Business in East Cobb

We were recently in East Cobb and couldn't help but notice that the longtime Chevron at the corner of Roswell and Johnson Ferry Roads had been demolished and cleared.  This corner, which some might consider "main & main," is home to Pinestraw Place,  PNC Bank and a BP Fuel center and convenience store.  Cobb County property records indicate that the Chevron, officially Merchants Walk Chevron, first opened in 1972.  

[UPDATE] Office Depot Closing Two More Metro Atlanta Stores

ToNeTo Atlanta has learned that at least two Atlanta area Office Depot stores will be closing in the coming weeks.  The stores, located in Sandy Springs and East Cobb, started their liquidation sales Thursday, offering in-stock merchandise for up to 30% off original prices.   The Sandy Springs store, in Hammond Exchange at Hammond Drive and Roswell Road, is 20,065 square feet and helps anchor a center also home to Petco, Marshalls and Whole Foods Market.  In East Cobb, the 28,000 square foot Office Depot is located in Highland Plaza along Sandy Plains Road, where fellow anchors include Publix and Home Depot.  

[UPDATE] Has the Cherokee Cattle Company Been Put Out to Pasture?

After receiving word last week from a ToNeTo Atlanta reader that the Cherokee Cattle Company restaurant in Marietta was closed for good, we sought to verify the rumor.  We ended up with more questions than answers.  The restaurant, a Marietta mainstay for nearly four decades, has been closed since March 23, 2020, at which time the restaurant indicated via a Facebook post that it would be "closed until further notice."  In the months since, the restaurant has made several additional posts and responded to countless comments where it indicates it's "under renovation" and "will reopen soon."  

[Bits & Bites] Commercial Real Estate News in Metro Atlanta

PERC Coffee plans to go permanent after a successful pop-up in Atlanta.  Sources close to the coffee shop tell ToNeTo Atlanta that PERC has leased the former Cacao [Chocolate] Cafe at 1046 North Highland Avenue and plans to open in the coming months.  Cacao closed in the 1,300 square foot space this past May as the pandemic raged.  Savannah-based PERC has an existing Atlanta area café at Hosea + 2nd in East Lake, and in January "popped-up" at chef Joey Ward's Poncey-Highland restaurant Southern Belle while the eatery was on a temporary hiatus.  A third Atlanta area location of Doughnut Dollies is on tap to join PERC in Virginia Highland when they open at 1002 Virginia Avenue (formerly Dtox) later this Spring.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Kouzina Christos to be "Reimagined" in Familiar East Cobb Space

ToNeTo Atlanta has learned that Christos Giannes plans to open a new Greek restaurant later this year in East Cobb.  Giannes closed his popular Kouzina Christos Greek eatery December 5 at Terrell Mill Village after about four decades in business.  The new restaurant will reportedly be similar to, but not an exact replica of Kouzina Christos.  Many East Cobb area residents will be familiar with the space Giannes has leased as it was home to the popular pizzeria Aurelio's for nearly nine years before the restaurant's November 2020 closure.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Familiar Name Returning to Atlanta with Kid Cashew in Sandy Springs

A new Charlotte-based restaurant is expanding to Atlanta and it may be one of the most ironic openings we have ever reported on.  Kid Cashew Wood Fire Grill is slated to open later this year along Roswell Road in Sandy Springs.  The restaurant will occupy a onetime Moe's Southwest Grill at 6090 Roswell Road, a few blocks north of I-285.  The full-service restaurant describes itself as a “wood-fire grill inspired by farmers, butchers and the Mediterranean.” The amazing part, something we discovered in our research for this post, is that one of the owners is Martin Sprock!

[EXCLUSIVE] $100 Lobster Rolls and $10 Ice Cream Sandwiches are Coming to Midtown

Two new eateries are hoping to beat the odds and find success along Peachtree Street in Midtown.  BK Lobster, not Burger King's entry into lobster rolls, but instead a new-to-market lobster franchise, will open in the former Vitality Bowls, while Cathy's Gourmet Ice Cream Sandwiches will open next door in a space most recently home to Purely gelato, tea and bowl eatery.  

Bits & Bites - Commercial Real Estate News Atlanta

MOD Pizza, already with seven locations open in Georgia and an eighth coming soon, has secured a lease on its ninth!  The new MOD will open in an outparcel of Cumming Marketplace where it will occupy a 2,800 square foot space in a building that also includes an existing Starbucks.  Seattle-based MOD entered the metro Atlanta market in 2017 with an outpost at Kennesaw Marketplace in Kennesaw.  In the years since, the quick serve pizza franchise has opened additional Atlanta area locations in Dawsonville, Sandy Springs, Chamblee, East Cobb and Decatur, as well as a location in Augusta.  An eighth location is expected to open later this year at the new Fuqua Development project The Exchange @ Gwinnett in Buford. 

[EXCLUSIVE] We Spill The Beans on Where Spiller Park Coffee Will Open Their Third Location

A new location of Spiller Park Coffee will open in the burgeoning "Upper Westside" later this year.  The new coffee shop will open as part of phase 2 of Edens' Moores Mill Publix-anchored development along Marietta Boulevard at Moores Mill Road.  According to recently updated leasing materials, Spiller Park will occupy a 1,405 square foot space in the "300 building" with access and visibility to the greenspace at Novel Upper Westside, the 345 unit multifamily component of the development.  

[UPDATE] Alamo Drafthouse Declares Chapter 11, Closes & Cancels Select Locations

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, the popular theater chain known for premium food and drink options and their strict no-talking rules, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The Austin-based company announced the bankruptcy Monday as well as an asset purchase agreement with partners that will assist the chain in continuing operations and remaining a going concern.  The chain, which operates forty theater locations nationwide, sold itself to Altamont Capital Partners, a previous investor in the company, to affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, a new backer, and to Tim League, Alamo's founder.

[UPDATE] Original Chick-fil-A Dwarf House in Hapeville to Close April 30, Reopen Later This Year

In recent years, we at ToNeTo Atlanta have reported on more than a dozen "scrape & rebuild" projects being completed in metro Atlanta by Chick-fil-A.  Some, like the demolition of the "OG" freestanding Chick-fil-A on Briarcliff at North Druid Hills Road in Atlanta were especially sad given the sentimental attachment we and so many other Atlantans had to that location.  That said, Chick-fil-A has now topped the disappointment sundae with confirmed plans to "scrape & rebuild" the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House in Hapeville!