Monday, June 27, 2022

[EXCLUSIVE] Former Intown Grocery to Welcome "Electric" New Tenant

It's been more than three years since Whole Foods Market made the disappointing decision to "move" its beloved Briarcliff store to a glitzy new mixed-use development in Midtown, some six miles away.  There had been hope for a time that the grocer, owned since 2017 by Amazon, would see the error of its ways and reopen, that dream seems highly unlikely today.  ToNeTo Atlanta has reviewed planning documents that indicate that a new Tesla sales and service center will replace the former grocer at 2121 Briarcliff Road.  

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) , which already operates five service centers in Georgia, including one at 1580 Church Street near Decatur about five miles from the Briarcliff site, plans to make use of the roughly 28,000 square foot, circa 1999 building and renovate it to suit its needs. Other than the Decatur location, the company's other service centers are in Alpharetta, Marietta, Savannah and Kennesaw, where the company in 2021 took over a more than 42,000 square foot former Babies"R"Us at 1875 Greers Chapel Road, just off Ernest Barrett Parkway.  (Both the Kennesaw and Briarcliff properties are owned by Atlanta-based Blanchard, a real estate firm.)

In recent years Tesla has significantly reduced its presence in upscale malls and shopping centers.  The company shuttered its Lenox Square showroom in 2020 but has for now kept open its showroom at Avalon in Alpharetta.  ToNeTo Atlanta was first to report in March that Tesla's former Lenox Square outpost will become a new Ferrari retail store.  

Are you pleased to see a Tesla service center opening in place of the former Whole Foods Market? Are you a Toco Hills area resident who still misses having a Whole Foods Market nearby? Given record gas prices, are you considering purchasing a new electric vehicle?  

Please share your thoughts below. 

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't have a tesla, so it has no effect on me. I guess that's a decent tennant: should not lure way too much traffic to the site. If lidl wasn't already at Lohman's plaza, it seems like this would have been a great site for a Lidl or Aldi.

Anonymous said...

I have a Tesla and am excited for them to join the area

Anonymous said...

I was a regular While Foods shopper at that location purely for convenience. Now I’m a regular and happy shopper at Toco Hills and City Farmers Market on Buford. Whole Foods may have lost a customer, but now I feel I’m making better shopping decisions. That intersection at Briarcliff and LaVista is already getting a redo, and I’m hoping traffic there continues to improve.
BTW, you may want to add a post for the new local coffee house that opened on Lavista called Coffee Bar Atlanta.

Anonymous said...

Very disappointed! This area desperately needs some sort of hangout area that isn't a chain restaurant. Why not a food hall or brewery? There's already a Tesla location 5 miles down the road.

Anonymous said...

We just don't go to Whole Foods anymore. This one was great. The one in Decatur is a terrible grocery store in general and specifically is the worst iteration of Whole Foods that I've seen. I don't understand why it's so sparsely stocked.

Anonymous said...

I would have loved an Aldi’s in that former Whole Foods location on Briarcliff Rd. Not crazy about an auto service center in that spot.

Anonymous said...

We approached Trader Joes about that site shortly after WF vacated the space, they were not building any additional ATL stores at the time (that would have been great). Seems like an odd (off main roads) place for a Tesla service cntr. but at least a strong viable business. We were hope for a great restaurant to land there (fine dining or sim) but guess that's not to be . Would have been great to have a Houston's - Brookwood Grille type of concept in our neighborhood!

Anonymous said...

There's an Aldi at Clairmont & Buford Hwy, less than 4 miles away.

Anonymous said...

I wanted a more family friendly store. I wanted trader joes

Anonymous said...

Disappointed. Wish Whole Foods would come back, or even better, Trader Joe’s would come in. :-(

Anonymous said...

Tesla? Ugh. I guess it's better than sitting there vacant.

Anonymous said...

We need more walkability, not more places for cars. How disappointing.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree that the fairly new Whole Foods in Decatur is awful. I quit going to Whole Foods because of their terrible change when they moved.

Anonymous said...

Would have been such a great Trader Joe's location or a restaurant with a large outdoor patio. Not at all excited to have a car service center there. Definitely won't add any charm to the neighborhood! I miss Whole Foods being there. Went to the Decatur one once and didn't like it, so now I go to Sprouts once in a while.

Anonymous said...

Great! A bunch of 100mph test drives in the neighborhood

Anonymous said...

I can’t keep count of how many Tesla’s I see in Va-Hi and Druid Hills. They are everywhere. I would have liked to see another grocery here but it’s probably a smart site selection for Tesla given the number of their vehicles in this area.

Anonymous said...

4 miles in Atlanta traffic, especially with the new monstrosity going in at the intersection of Briarcliff and Clairmont is not as easy as it sounds to go 4 miles. It’s sad that our little “communities“ can’t have an Aldi or a Trader Joe’s instead of having to drive 20 minutes

Anonymous said...

Agree

Anonymous said...

I've never understood the popularity of Whole Foods but they are considered a "quality" tenant. Likewise for Tesla. Location isn't important for Tesla. Those interested will seek them out. It's a good fit for the building and the area. It won't add to traffic. And we have a bunch of grocery stores already.

Anonymous said...

Gross. Just another lousy step towards our corridor becoming less of a community and more of a traffic inducing car centric mini highway. Oh well, all in the name of progress, right?

Anonymous said...

2 Miles away is Toco Hills with Kroger & Publix. 1 mile is Sage Hill with Kroger. 2 miles is the Lindbergh Kroger. 1 mile is the Brighten Lidl. Yes, none are Trader Joe's, but TJ's has made it clear that they are not expanding in Atlanta. It seems like enough Grocery stores to me. And traffic in the area is terrible. Tesla will not have a large impact on traffic. Sometimes it's good to not have something "flashy"

Anonymous said...

Traffic reduction hopefully.

Anonymous said...

Monstrosity?

Anonymous said...

The Tesla showroom in Decatur is overwhelmed. It’s the only place for service in an area that is crawling with Teslas now. The demand for EVs is through the roof. Most folks pay about $20/ month to charge one at home. How far can you get on $20 worth of gas? Since Decatur and the surrounding areas are very progressive, I only see the need for more relief for the Decatur location to be inevitable. They will probably need two more locations ITP.

Anonymous said...

Not excited. Between Tesla, Jiffy Lube, Self Storage this bucolic area is getting an industrial makeover

Anonymous said...

Right. The Decatur store just sad.

Anonymous said...

Not excited about this

Anonymous said...

Nope. This is gross. We need a grocery store, or a food hall, or just about anything else.

Anonymous said...

I love the fact that a Tesla dealership will in the neighborhood. Not to mention, there’s a pretty cool Cell Phone Repair Store directly across the street. I see them doing good in the next year or so as well.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sick of the this kind of crap overtaking the city and our neighborhoods. We want nice clean grocery stores or cool walkable hangouts like local breweries and restaurants. But yet, the "Los Angelesfication"(I love LA don't get me wrong but this ain't LA) of Atlanta continues.

Anonymous said...

Yes!

Anonymous said...

Everyone I know misses this Whole Foods location. As for going electric no thank you. There is NO that I can spend $10 to $15,000 if not more on a replacement battery.

Anonymous said...

But you could spend that amount on an engine replacement? Of course you wouldn't ... you'd sell the vehicle with the failing expensive part to the next sucker or as a trade in ... just like you would do if your battery were to start failing on you.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...