Bits & Bites

House of Hummus is now open in Cumming.  The new eatery, the sibling to the restaurant by the same name in Alpharetta, is located in The Shops at Brannon Crossing across from The Collection at Forsyth in Cumming.  House of Hummus serves a variety of Mediterranean favorites and occupies a 1,200 square foot endcap space complete with an expansive outdoor patio.  Owner Samar Hadlow opened the original House of Hummus at Steinway Promenade on North Point Parkway, not far from North Point Mall, in early 2014.

Buff City Soap is opening a new Atlanta area location in Chamblee.  The new Buff City Soap will open in Chamblee Plaza, where it will join existing tenants such as Five Below, TJ Maxx and HomeGoods.  The new shop is currently slated to open in the second week in October according to store employees at their Chastain Park location.  Local franchisee Alex Royter currently operates both the Chastain Park outpost as well as another location at Halcyon in South Forsyth.    Elsewhere in the greater metro Atlanta area, other franchisees of the Memphis born but now Dallas, Texas-based chain operate locations in Peachtree Corners, Roswell, Newnan, Douglasville and McDonough.  A new location in Canton opened July 21.  The Buff City Soap website continues to, as it has for months, hint at other undisclosed upcoming locations planned for Marietta and Kennesaw.  

Scoville Hot Chicken is continuing to cover metro Atlanta with new locations, this time converting a former Waffle House in Peachtree City.  The new Scoville is located at 2100 GA-54 and is slated to open in the coming weeks.  More information about its planned opening can be found here.  

Levi's is opening a new store at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody.  The new store will open on the mall's first floor, not far from the food court.  Levi's will occupy suite #1140, a roughly 3,100 square foot space.  The new store will be the retailer's second full-line store in metro Atlanta, joining an existing location at Ponce City Market in Atlanta.  In addition, the San Francisco-based retailer operates several outlet stores in the state including those at Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville, North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawsonville, Calhoun Outlet Marketplace in Calhoun, and Tanger Outlets in Commerce and Locust Grove.  The company previously closed a shop at Avalon in Alpharetta.  

Soma is opening a new store at Atlantic Station.  The roughly 2,000 square foot store will be located at 265 18th Street, suite 10115.  

A new restaurant called Santorini is coming soon to Johns Creek.  The new restaurant, which according to signage at the space will feature "Authentic Greek Cuisine," is opening in place of Charlton's Grill & Tap, which closed this past January after nearly seven years in business.  The restaurant will be about 2,600 square feet and is located within Old Alabama Square, a The Fresh Market-anchored center along Old Alabama Road in Johns Creek.  

A new location of pOpshelf opened earlier this week in Kennesaw.  The new store opened at Town Center Plaza, a center anchored by TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, and Marshalls across from Town Center at Cobb.  The new store, aimed at taking on Five Below, is owned by Goodlettsville, Tennesee-based Dollar General, and now has twenty locations across Georgia, making the Peach State its largest market by store count.  In total, pOpshelf has more than 70 locations across eight states.  

Toys R Us is returning to metro Atlanta.  All Macy's stores across the country will include an in-store Toys R Us and be stocked with toys from the storied brand, Macy's said Monday.  The Toys R Us shops will range from 1,000 square feet up to 10,000 square feet in flagship locations in Atlanta (Lenox Square), Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco.  The Toys R Us sections are designed to stand out and will include hands-on demonstration tables for customers to try out and play with the toys.  The stores will even feature a photo opportunity with the "Geoffrey on a Bench."  The stores are set to begin opening later this month, with all locations expected to be in place by October 15.   The partnership marks a distinct pivot for the toy brand that went out of business in 2018 following bankruptcy and has tried previously to make comebacks without much success.  In 2020 while in Houston, we visited one of two stores the company had reopened but as fun and different as the store was, it became a casualty of COVID.  This new attempt, with shop-in-shop stores. versus their own standalone stores, is likely a less risky, less costly endeavor that should be more successful.  

Clutch is finally open off Buford Highway in Brookhaven.  The Caribbean-American eatery which we first reported was "opening soon" in March 2019, opened July 9 at 1860 Corporate Boulevard, near the Pink Pony, where it occupies a onetime Denny's.  The restaurant is owned by serial entrepreneur Lemont Bradley, also proprietor of Auto Spa Bistro and Eco Car Spa near Georgia Tech.  In a release earlier this week it was revealed that Bradley had partnered with Grammy-award winning rapper Lil Baby (Dominique Jones) to hire as many as 100 young people in an effort to stem the rise in crime in metro Atlanta.  “With the crime rate surrounding scams, robbery, and even murder being so high, we are looking to provide a positive outlet and revenue stream to those who are looking for an income,” Baby and Bradley said in a joint statement.  

CDC Credit Union opened its new branch at Northlake [Mall] in Tucker July 11th. 

A new location of Jeremiah's Italian Ice is coming soon to Parkway Point near Vinings.  The new shop will be located in a 1,200 square foot freestanding outparcel building along Cumberland Boulevard, once home to a nail salon.  The center is anchored by AMC Theatres, Main Event and Local Vine. The new location marks the Orlando based chain's seventh location in Georgia and second in Cobb County, joining an existing outpost on South Cobb Drive in Smyrna.  Elsewhere in Georgia, Jeremiah's has locations in Cumming, Columbus (2), Suwanee and Savannah.  

Metro Atlanta's newest Lidl store is to open August 17 at 1855 Memorial Drive in Kirkwood.  ToNeTo Atlanta first reported on the planned store October 19, 2019.  The new store marks the grocer's 18th store in Georgia.   In addition to Kirkwood, the grocer is planning to open several other new locations in metro Atlanta including those planned for Ponce de Leon Avenue near Ponce City Market, Lawrenceville Highway near Decatur and Norcross, among others.  

Two Hands Corn Dogs, a Los Angeles franchise offering Korean style corn dogs, and Thanks Pizza plan to open soon in Kennesaw.  The two restaurants which will share a single space in Cobb Place shopping center between Play it Again Sports and the USPS have been in the works for several months and should open "soon."  According to the Two Hands website, other locations may be in the works for Atlanta, Duluth and McDonough.  

Joy Cafe in Midtown is reportedly closed indefinitely.  The closure, which is not referenced on the restaurant's social media, is believed to be the result of the recent arrest of co-owner Jon Beber on allegations of sexually assaulting underage members of a swim team he coached in Colorado between 1997 and 2002.  The restaurant, located in the lobby level of the 11 Peachtree office building, moved to Midtown from Buckhead in 2016 after first opening in 2011. 

Taste of Atlanta's Taste Around Town in Alpharetta brings its all-inclusive tasting event to Union Hill Park this weekend, July 22-23.  The event offers an evening session on Friday as well as afternoon and evening sessions on Saturday.  Participating restaurants include Ippolito's, Loyal Q & Brew, Ocean & Acre, Southern Baked Pie Company, Oak Steakhouse, South Main Kitchen, Up on the Roof and Yumbii, among others.  According to the event's website, tickets for Friday evening are sold out but there is availability for both Saturday sessions.  Tickets are $85 (plus taxes & fees) and can be purchased here.  

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