Friday, May 20, 2022

Bits & Bites

Talbots will close its longtime Phipps Plaza store at as of Saturday, May 21.  The Phipps Plaza store is nearly 6,500 square feet and is located in the Saks Fifth Avenue wing on the mall's second level.  The pending closure, revealed in an email to patrons Tuesday morning, thanks customers for their patronage and directed them to the company's other Buckhead store at Peachtree Battle shopping center, 2391 Peachtree Road, just over three miles away. 

A new Take 5 Oil Change is coming to the former Velox Insurance along Cobb Parkway in Marietta.  As indicated by the repurposed street sign, the business was originally home to Jiffy Burger, a would-be competitor of Burger Chef.  In the works since at least 2020, the Driven Brands franchise sought and received several variances to move their project, which sits on just .298 acres, forward.  The Roark Capital Group owned business already has several locations in metro Atlanta including another nearby on Barrett Parkway near Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw and another on Powers Ferry Road near East Cobb, on the site of a former McDonald's.  "Two Oil 5, LLC."  will be the operator of the new location.  As ToNeTo Atlanta previously reported, a new Chipotle is underway across the street from the upcoming Take 5.   

Your Pie has closed its franchise in Tucker after nearly four years in business.  The build your own pizza joint occupied a 2,854 square foot space in the Kroger-anchored center along Chamblee Tucker Road just off I-285 in DeKalb County.  The restaurant closed as of Tuesday, May 17.  A separate Your Pie owned by different franchisees on Memorial Drive in Grant Park is currently "temporarily closed," but will reportedly reopen "soon." The chain has in recent years closed two other Atlanta area locations in Dunwoody and Buckhead.  The Athens-based chain continues to operate several locations in metro Atlanta including those in Smyrna, Hapeville, Roswell, Marietta and Snellville. 

City Thrift has opened its second overall Atlanta area location.  The store, located in Marietta near the Big Chicken, joins the company's existing location on Lawrenceville Highway in Lilburn.  The new store replaces a former thrift store run by the Atlanta Mission and is located in the same center where Chick-fil-A earlier this year relocated its nearby restaurant.  The owners of City Thrift also operate Music City Thrift in Tennessee and Texas Thrift in Texas.   

Rue21 is opening a new store at Perimeter Mall.  The new Rue 21 is opening on the first floor of the Dillard's wing.  The Warrendale, Pennsylvania-based retailer has filed for bankruptcy several times but seems to be in growth mode again following its most recent filing in 2017.  The clothing retailer currently operates nearly two dozen stores in the greater metro Atlanta area including stores in Cumberland Mall, Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville, Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw, Camp Creek Marketplace in East Point and Southlake Mall in Morrow, among others.  

PITA Mediterranean Street Food has closed two metro Atlanta locations.   The restaurants, in Midtown and Dunwoody, closed at the end of last year and in April, respectively, according to a company spokesperson.  The Midtown restaurant, located in the street level of the Azure on the Park apartment project, opened in early 2018.  In Dunwoody, Pita opened in 2015 in the Walmart-anchored   Perimeter Village shopping center along Ashford Dunwoody Road.   “We are beyond grateful for the support of our loyal guests at our Midtown and Perimeter locations. We have made the difficult decision to close our doors to focus on operations at our other stores. We hope to serve our neighbors their favorite fresh Mediterranean cuisine at one of our other locations soon.” said Nour Rabai, CEO and Founder of PITA Mediterranean Street Food.  

Knuckies Hoagies is opening at new location at The Interlock in West Midtown.  The locally owned sandwich franchise has leased a 1,500 square foot space between Chase Bank and Taste Boutique in the large mixed-use development at the corner of 14th Street and Howell Mill Road.  The new Knuckies joins existing locations in Milton and Sandy Springs.  

WOWorks LLC., the parent company of Saladworks, Frutta Bowls, Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh and The Simple Greek, has acquired two new brands including Athens-based Barberitos.  Downing Barber opened the first Barberitos in Athens in 2000 and grew the franchise to include more than 50 locations, primarily in the southeast.  The chain, however, has struggled in metro Atlanta, having closed locations in Buckhead, Sandy Springs and Roswell. WOWorks also acquired Zoup, a 68 unit chain based in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  

Zwilling, a German producer of knives and other cutlery, is opening a new outlet store at the North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville. The store will span 1,600 square feet and should open in time for the holiday shopping season.  

The Americano plans to open Monday May 23 at The InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta.  The new Italian restaurant from celebrity chef Scott Conant replaces Southern Art, a southern restaurant from celebrity chef Art Smith, which itself replaced original hotel restaurant, Au Pied du Cochon.  

SAS (San Antonio Shoemakers) has closed its store at Abernathy Square in Sandy Springs.  The roughly 2,400 square foot store, located at the hard corner of Abernathy and Roswell Roads in the Publix-anchored shopping center, closed in recent days and will soon be replaced by a New Balance store.  SAS continues to operate four Atlanta area locations including those in Tucker, Kennesaw, Duluth and Dawsonville.  For its part, this new outpost will be the sixth in the greater metro Atlanta area for New Balance, joining existing locations in East Cobb, Alpharetta, Toco Hills, Buford and an outlet in Woodstock.  

6 comments:

Ham said...

I hate seeing Phipps lose one more long-time business. I know the glory days of the mall are over, but felt Lenox, Phipps and Perimeter would have no problem hanging on. However, with the increase in at least the perception of crime and continued loss of attractive merchants I wonder if they too may be in trouble.

atkinspark said...

Lilly Pulitzer at Phipps seemingly closed overnight. Any info?

Anonymous said...

Agree it's sad Phipps lost Talbots. I think the crime in Buckhead is really impacting businesses and it's sad. The Your Pie in Tucker just didn't have a great location.

Anonymous said...

Nobu is the final nail in the coffin for Phipps unfortunately. Going to be a magnet for drama and violence from people pretending to be rappers and Real Housewives.

I guess the question is where will the high-end stores, restaurants and hotels relocate to and what will all the vacant properties in Buckhead become?

Anonymous said...

Lol y’all sad cause of Talbots. It’s an old brand that’s not as popular anymore. This ain’t the end of Phipps….

Anonymous said...

Lily gone too??

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