[EXCLUSIVE] King + Duke to Relinquish its Throne, Exciting Concept Looks to Land Lease

Ford Fry's King+Duke is closing.  Multiple well placed real estate sources as well as a King+Duke employee indicate that the Buckhead restaurant will close "around August," June 18 after a little more than ten years in business.  The restaurant is located at the intersection of Peachtree and West Paces Ferry Roads in a freestanding building but part of the collective One Buckhead Plaza development.  When King+Duke opened in May 2013, it replaced longstanding upscale southwest restaurant Nava, a concept from Buckhead Life Restaurant Group which closed in 2012.  

Bits & Bites

Big Lots is closing its longstanding store at East Cobb Station along Roswell Road in Marietta.  The store, which includes not only the Columbus, Ohio-based retailer's typical product mix but also a separate furniture showroom, started their liquidation sale May 23 offering "up to 30% off the entire store" with "nothing held back."  The sale, however, excludes ALL food which is a good 20 percent of the store.  There is no word yet on what may replace the roughly 32,000 square foot space.  

[EXCLUSIVE] Tupelo Honey Cafe Has Closed in Sandy Springs, Will "Move" to New City

Tupelo Honey Cafe (aka Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar) has closed its lone Atlanta area restaurant.  Located in the newly rechristened "Chastain Market" (originally Gateway Chastain) shopping center along Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, Tupelo Honey opened with the project on June 20, 2016 and this past year completed a light renovation of their space.  The restaurant closed quietly Tuesday and by Friday afternoon was already stripped of all exterior signage.    

[CLOSURE ALERT] Boston Market Quietly Abandons Another Atlanta Area Restaurant

Boston Market has closed yet another Atlanta area location.  The struggling franchise shuttered its location at Parkwood Shops (2014 Powers Ferry Road) over the weekend, leaving the chain with just two locations in metro Atlanta.  In recent years, Boston Market has closed several units in metro Atlanta and dozens more around the country.  When last we checked earlier this year, the company had about 290 locations nationwide.  Today, attempts to navigate to the company's "locations" web page return an "Origin DNS Error."  

[EXCLUSIVE] Scary New Restaurant Hopes to Bring New Life to Ailing Shopping Center

Tucker is getting a scary new restaurant.  Haunted House Restaurant - that's literally the name -  is opening soon in Northlake Festival (4073 Lavista Road, Suite 323).  The new restaurant spans nearly 12,000 square feet and is the second overall restaurant for the business that began in Cleveland Heights, Ohio in 2021.  

[ALERT] Popular Spanish Retailer to Open First Ever Atlanta Area Store

Popular Spanish fashion brand Mango will later this year make its long-awaited Atlanta area debut.  The new Mango is slated to join Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody where it will open in a roughly 8,300 square foot space.  Mango will backfill the former Banana Republic on the second floor of the Macy's wing, putting it across the hall from the sprawling 31,000 square foot Zara, a fellow fast fashion retailer, also based in Spain.  

[SCOOP] Whataburger Wants to Drop Anchor in Alpharetta

One of the next new Whataburger restaurants could be in Alpharetta.  The Texas-based company has submitted plans to the City of Alpharetta for a new location just off Exit 8 of Georgia 400, not far from North Point Mall.  Specifically, the new Whataburger is being proposed on the site of the former Atlantic Seafood Co. (2345 Mansell Road) which has been vacant since the restaurant's January 2020 closure after nearly two decades in business.  

[UPDATE] King's Hawaiian Abandons Plans for East Cobb Restaurant

East Cobb residents looking forward to the opening of a new King's Hawaiian restaurant were met this week with unwelcome news:  It's not happening.  According to East Cobb News, the restaurant, code name "Ohana" and later revealed to be Hello Hilo, abandoned the project despite getting its latest site plan approved in April.  

Bits & Bites

Tommy Bahama has closed at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead.  The tropically themed men's and women's clothing retailer opened its first floor space in the mall's Nordstrom wing in 2016 after operating a larger space on the mall's second floor for many years.  Tommy Bahama continues to operate a storefront at Avalon in Alpharetta.  Also at Avalon are Lilly Pulitzer, which closed its outpost at Phipps Plaza in 2022 and Johnny Was, which closed its Phipps Plaza boutique earlier this month and reopened at The Shops Around Lenox May 12.  All three brands are owned by Atlanta-based Oxford Industries.     

[CLOSURE ALERT] First Ever Chick-fil-A Restaurant Closing

Landmark Chick-fil-A restaurant to serve final customers next week.  Signage posted at the Greenbriar Mall restaurant confirms the restaurant will close as of Saturday May 20th at 4PM.  As local Atlantans will recall, the Greenbriar Chick-fil-A was the very first Chick-fil-A and has been serving the southwest Atlanta community for more than 50 years.  

[UPDATE] Buckhead Village Sees Surprising Sales Surge, Robust Leasing Interest

The owners of Buckhead Village District earlier this week released several updates and statistics related to the property's recent performance and recent and upcoming additions.  Following Jamestown's acquisition of the beleaguered property in 2019, the company hosted a town hall-style discussion during which the community gave feedback on their wishes for the project.  

[OPENING ALERT] New Mediterranean Eatery Approaching Atlanta Area Arrival

A casual Mediterranean restaurant called Hummus Republic is preparing to open its first Atlanta area location.  The new quick serve eatery will open at the Village at Druid Hills, a restaurant-heavy shopping center at the corner of Briarcliff and North Druid Hills Roads in Brookhaven. 

["SAY UNCLE"] Owner Finally Throws in the Towel on Failed Franchise

Uncle Maddio's Pizza at Northlake Festival in Tucker has closed.  The nearly 2,500 square foot restaurant opened March 18, 2013 and closed as of May 1, 2023, marking the end of a ten year run for the beleaguered franchise.  Franchisee Brett Pearman had reportedly been marketing the business for sale for quite some time but was unable to find any taker.