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."
Beachwood, Ohio-based Site Centers (NYSE: SITC) acquired Parkwood Shops this past July for $8.4 million. The 20,397 square foot center is less than two miles from Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta.
The space is actively being marketed for lease.
Following several years of closures, Boston Market's two remaining Atlanta area locations are a freestanding unit at Briarcliff and North Druid Hills Roads not far from Toco Hills and in an endcap of a small strip center along Stone Mountain Highway in Stone Mountain.
In January 2019, Boston Market closed their East Cobb location on Sandy Plains Road followed by 45 closures nationally later that July. (The East Cobb location later reopened as a Chipotle.) Company executives blamed the closures on "an evolving restaurant industry that faces increasing competition, rising costs and shifting consumer preferences."
The July closures included local restaurants on Redan Road in Stone Mountain and on Highway 29 in Lilburn. In January 2020, the company closed their Roswell restaurant on Holcomb Bridge Road. The company also in recent years shuttered locations at Fort Benning, Fort Stewart, and Fort Gordon.
Boston Market, originally Boston Chicken, began in Newton, Massachusetts in 1984, and was owned by McDonald's from 2000 until 2007. Today, the chain is based in Golden, Colorado, and was until early 2020 owned by Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm.
In April 2020, Sun Capital Partners sold Boston Market to Engage Brands, LLC, a company of Rohan Group, owned by entrepreneur Jignesh "Jay" Pandya. Also in April, the company shuttered Atlanta area locations in Sandy Springs (where a new Sonic opened this past April) and in Duluth (where a new urgent care facility recently opened in the renovated former restaurant).
Industry observers note that it's promising to see an established restaurateur take the reins at Boston Market versus its former private equity owners who are often in the business for different reasons. Pandya Restaurant Growth Brands, LLC, a separate but related entity, purchased Corner Bakery from Atlanta-based private equity firm Roark Capital Group in October 2020. Pandya sees opportunities for strategic alliances between Corner Bakery and Boston Market, the company said in a statement when the purchase was announced.
For its part, Corner Bakery, too, has closed several Atlanta area locations, but perhaps we could see new "Corner Market" locations akin to Yum Brands and their "KenTacoHut" locations which at times feature Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut restaurants in the same building.
ToNeTo Atlanta reported in January that a new Boston Marker is planned for Stonecrest. The new ground-up Boston Market is coming to 2708 Evans Mill Road in DeKalb County. The roughly one acre property is located on previously vacant land at the southeast quadrant of Evans Mill Road and Covington Highway.
Are you surprised to see Boston Market near Truist Park close? What would you like to see open in place of the recently shuttered Boston Market? Who do you think makes the best rotisserie chicken or mac & cheese in metro Atlanta?
Please share your thoughts below.
7 comments:
Only ever eaten at Boston Market once, and that was over 25 years ago. I recall while it was just OK, it was largely unremarkable, it was all like it came from a can, to a microwave and then to my plate.
I am shocked that location was even still around. Boston Market is a really outdated concept/franchise. As the previous person said, it's that "out of a can" style of dining. Way too expensive for what you got.
Ate there years ago seems like it was near Johns Creek or maybe Duluth. The chicken was ok for lunch, but as previously mentioned the rest of their menu was just blah. Now you can get one of those roasted chickens at any grocery store and open your own can of beans.
I don't expect the stone mountain location to last much longer
The whole company Is going under, the irs seized their headcourters for a bit, and aren't paying anything to just about everyone
N Druid Hills location is barely open, gotten worse the last few years. Dining room closed, was open after lockdown lifted but no ac and hot inside. Now drive thru only but food has gone downhill.
J. Alexander’s has the best mac and cheese ever and Flemings chipotle Mac and cheese is also incredible!
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