Thursday, February 24, 2022

Bits & Bites

Faherty Brand will make its Atlanta debut in The Shops Around Lenox in a space vacated at the end of 2021 by Reese Witherspoon's Draper James. Started by twin brothers Alex and Mike Faherty in 2013, Faherty has grown to include more than thirty stores nationwide in addition to being offered in more than 300 specialty stores which in Atlanta include Miller Brothers and H Stockton.  Its aesthetic, "about the beach," was described as "surf hippie" by The New York Times. Faherty offers clothing and accessories for men, women and kids. 

Willy's Mexicana Grill is bringing its hot chicken concept Howlin' Willy's to the existing Willy's on Virginia Avenue in Hapeville.  The new sibling concept is expected to open in mid-to-late March and joins the original Howlin' Willy's within the Willy's on Piedmont Avenue adjacent to Piedmont Park.  Company leadership is reportedly pleased with the success of the new brand enough to have plans to open as many as two standalone units of the new concept later this year.   

Chicken Salad Chick celebrated the opening of its latest Atlanta area location February 9 in Dawsonville.  Chicken Salad Chick's Dawsonville restaurant is located within the sprawling Dawson Market Place shopping center, already home to countless restaurants and anchored by a huge Kroger Marketplace.  The chicken chain, which in early 2021 relocated its headquarters from Auburn, Alabama to metro Atlanta, currently has 37 locations in Georgia and more than 180 nationwide.  The Dawsonville restaurant, like 18 others in Georgia, is owned and operated by Chicken Salad Chick as a corporate location.  

A new to market coffee shop called the Human Bean is planning to open its second overall Atlanta area location in Dawsonville.  Based in Ashland, Oregon, Human Bean entered the greater Atlanta market this past August on Buford Highway in Cumming.  The new Dawsonville unit will, like the Cumming location, be drive-thru only and measure a mere 756 square feet.  The coffee shop will be located just north of the North Georgia Premium Outlets at S 400 Center Lane, between existing locations of Bojangles and Captain D's.  

Footwear retailer Skechers will be opening a big new store in Snellville as well as smaller format stores in Cumming and Kennesaw.  In Snellville, Skechers will backfill The Fresh Market which closed its short-lived store at Scenic Promenade in 2018.  The 21,000 square foot space was opened as The Fresh Market in 2016 and co-anchors the center along with Best Buy and HomeGoods.  In Cumming, Skechers will open in Cumming Marketplace where it will occupy a far smaller 4,900 square foot space adjacent to the relatively new Marshalls.  Skechers Kennesaw will replace a former Pier 1 at 815 Barrett Parkway.  The roughly 10,000 square foot store is located to the right of 2nd & Charles.  

Bayou'Q has closed its short-lived location on Cobb Parkway near Cumberland Mall.  The restaurant opened in March of 2021 and closed this past January.  A sibling location on Canton Street in Roswell remains open.  

Jersey Mike's Subs has opened its newest Atlanta area location at Lindbergh Plaza.  In the center, Jersey Mike's joins existing eateries such as Starbucks, Arby's, Tin Drum and Waffle House.  Manasquan, New Jersey-based Jersey Mike's currently has more than three dozen franchised locations open in the greater metro Atlanta area and, according to its website, has more than 2,100 open nationwide with another 250 coming soon.  

Longtime Lindbergh Plaza tenant Il Bacio Pizzeria & Trattoria recently closed.  

Popular thrift store Value Village closed its Cobb County location near White Water in November just a few months after it was forced to close its Moreland Avenue location due to a planned redevelopment.  The thrift store blamed the closure in Cobb on ever-increasing overhead but also indicated it hopes to reopen elsewhere in the future.  The Atlanta-based company continues to operate ten locations in Georgia:  Atlanta (Metropolitan Parkway), Tucker, Forest Park, Roswell, Conyers, Riverdale, Decatur, Snellville, Douglasville and Sugar Hill.  

Rothy's earlier this month made their Atlanta debut with a shop at Westside Provisions District on Howell Mill Road in West Midtown.  Started in San Francisco in 2012 and with its first products introduced in 2016, Rothy's is perhaps most well known for their original product, comfortable flat shoes for women.  The original two, The Point and The Flat, were almost immediately successful and the product line has today expanded to include several other styles of women's shoes, a men's shoe line and bags for men and women.  Amazingly, Rothy's items are made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles and post-consumer recycled materials and. as of 2020, the company had repurposed 50 million water bottles in the manufacture of their products.  The Atlanta boutique is the seventh for the company, joining existing locations in Boston, New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles.    

Lovesac is opening new store at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody.  The new Lovesac will open on the mall's second floor in a nearly 1,500 square foot space most recently home to Brighton Collectibles.  The Stamford, Connecticut-based furniture retailer currently operates three locations in metro Atlanta including those at Lenox Square in Buckhead, The Avenue East Cobb in East Cobb and The Avenue Peachtree City in Peachtree City.  In addition to the Perimeter outpost, stores are also coming soon to Avalon in Alpharetta and The Interlock in West Midtown.  

Publix opened their new Tucker store Wednesday  morning at Hugh Howell Marketplace.  The grocer's nearby store at The Centre on Hugh Howell closed Tuesday night and is currently being marketed for lease.   

Grub Burger Bar, based in College Station, Texas was purchased in January by fellow "better burger" concept Hopdoddy, based in Austin, Texas.  For now, both brands will continue to operate as unique standalone concepts although some consolidation is likely in the future.  Grub operates 18 locations including four in metro Atlanta: Brookhaven (Brighten Park), Sandy Springs (Arabelle Perimeter Apartments), Atlanta (Akers Mill Square) and Cumming (The Collection at Forsyth). Hopdoddy, which currently operates 32 locations, does not have a presence in Atlanta.  The combined company will be known as HiBar Hospitality Group.  Private equity firm L Catterton, which already held a majority stake in Hopdoddy, funded the acquisition,  

Planet Fitness plans to open its newest Atlanta area gym in Sandy Springs at City Center Crossing (6337 Roswell Road) where it joins co-anchor Lidl.  The new 22,293 square foot Planet Fitness is being opened by existing franchisee Aldr Partners LLC, a firm based in Middleton, Massachusetts that already operates 25 Planet Fitness locations in the greater metro Atlanta area.  

Mrs. Winners Chicken & Biscuits will later this spring open a new location in Lake City.  The new Mrs. Winners will backfill what is currently a Popeyes but will soon be vacated as the competing chicken chain is relocating to a newly built, freestanding building nearby.  Mrs. Winners will be located in a 2,310 square foot endcap, drive-thru enabled space at 5660 Jonesboro Road.   Mrs. Winners has existing Atlanta area restaurants in Sandy Springs, Forest Park and Morrow.  

Growing quick serve chain Chick'nCone plans to open a new location at The Point near Emory University.  The new chicken joint will open in a 1,487 square foot space most recently home to Boba Theory, a bubble tea shop.   Two Chick'n Cone restaurants already operate in metro Atlanta including one at Modera Reynoldstown on Memorial Drive and another on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta. 

Off-price retailer Burlington plans to relocate their existing store in Austell.  The new Burlington, about a mile away from the current store, will open in the East West Commons shopping center where it will backfill what was most recently a 30,000 square foot Bealls Outlet.  The current store, which occupies a portion of an old Kmart at 3753 Austell Road, will soon close to make way for a new multifamily development - The Village at Brookwood.  The Burlington, New Jersey-based retailer already operates more than two dozen stores in Georgia and opened a new store in Hiram on February 18 and will on April 1 open a new store in Columbus. 

A new restaurant called Nauti Dog Grill is coming soon to Alpharetta.  The eatery is located at 10 North Broad Street in Alpharetta City Center and replaces the short-lived Back Alley Bar & Grill.  Nauti Dog, being opened by Never Enough Thyme co-owner Michael Doyle, will feature "gourmet style" hot dogs, cheesesteaks, brats, Italian sausages and shakes plus a full bar.  The restaurant is expected to open by early March.  

Yankee Candle has closed its store at The Shoppes at Webb Gin in Snellville.  The candle company continues to operate five stores in Georgia including those in Buford, Dawsonville, Kennesaw, Woodstock and Savannah.  

Saladworks has officially closed at Brighten Park in Brookhaven.  The fast casual salad eatery, which opened in July 2018 just as anchor The Fresh Market was closing, lasted until replacement anchor Lidl opened in 2020, but has been "temporarily closed" for several weeks.  A dispossessory warrant, which starts the legal eviction process, was posted to the restaurant's front door in late January.  The 1,485 square foot space is listed as "available soon" on the property's website. 

6 comments:

Food. Food. said...

Not surprised about Bayou'Q. They started off great and fell pretty quickly. the food wasn't the issue, it was very much a service problem. It's too bad, really enjoyed it at the beginning.

Unknown said...

Hadn't been there since the pandemic, but surprised about Il Bacio at Lindbergh. Always though they were pretty good.

SB said...

Likewise. I scrolled down just to comment about IL Bacio. Need more info on that if available Eli. Yikes.

Anonymous said...

Not shocked about Saladworks. With the superior Chopt just up the street (and Salata everywhere else), Saladworks was just blasé. Now if we could just get a Chicken Salad Chick in Brookhaven...

Jodyml813 said...

Yankee Candle also closed North point in Alpharetta I just got an email this morning.

Anonymous said...

Jersey Mikes also opened a new location in Buford, off Hamilton Mill. Replaced a former Subway.

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