More than three years after ToNeTo Atlanta first reported that a local Barnes & Noble was being marketed for redevelopment, a new plan has surfaced with a surprising tenant. RaceTrac, which is headquartered just a half mile from the current bookstore, has submitted plans to Cobb County to open a new "showcase store" at the property located at 2952 Cobb Parkway.
The new RaceTrac, roughly four times the size of the company's typical units, will feature a convenience store, but could also house a sit-down restaurant, offices, retail, training and meeting space and a chef's kitchen, among other things, according to the filing. "This store will provide RaceTrac a location to try out new services, meet with vendors and have a show case operation for training purposes," the proposal goes on to say.
While large for RaceTrac, the new location is still a fraction of the size of Georgia's two Buc-ee's - located in Warner Robins and Calhoun - which each measure more than 50,000 square feet. The Lake Jackson, Texas-based chain opened a 74,000 square foot location deemed "the world's largest convenience store," earlier this June in Sevierville, Tenn.
The Barnes & Noble property is currently split-zoned "General Commercial" (GC) and "Neighborhood Shopping" (NS) and RaceTrac is seeking to have the property rezoned to "Community Retail Commercial" (CRC) to more easily allow for their plans to move forward. RaceTrac also proposes to retain the three existing driveways including two on Akers Mill Road and one on Cobb Parkway. The proposal is to be heard before Cobb County's Board of Commissioners Planning Commission December 5.
The fact that RaceTrac is based in Cobb County, which like the proposed new location, is situated within the Cumberland CID, combined with the fact that the company plans to re-purpose the building, should make their proposal especially appealing to the Commission.
The 2.4 acre proposed RaceTrac property, located at the southeast corner of Cobb Parkway and Akers Mill Road across from Cumberland Mall, would also include 16 fueling stations and 12 EV charging spots. RaceTrac opened their first EV chargers at a new-ish location in Oxford, Alabama this year. Returning from a visit to Birmingham, we visited the RaceTrac in September and noted the presence of the EV spots, which according to a company release, made their official debut in October.
The Cumberland area, despite having a tremendous amount of vehicular traffic, does not have many fuel providers. A Costco at Cumberland Mall does offer fuel but is rarely without 30+ vehicles queued up waiting for gas. A Costco executive previously told ToNeTo Atlanta that the Cumberland fuel center is their busiest gas station on the east coast. A few years ago, Costco added a pair of pumps, but the addition of the RaceTrac should take some pressure off of the Costco fuel center.
A site plan of the project reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta indicates that the traditional fueling station will feature the "Piedmont@Dobbs Canopy Spacing Design," likely referencing the small format RaceTrac that opened near Georgia State in downtown Atlanta in late 2019.
A Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar and Raising Cane's were reportedly interested in the Barnes & Noble in 2021 - but for new build, freestanding buildings - but those plans failed to materialize.
The new RaceTrac would be a little more than a mile from an existing location at 2550 Spring Road. The company in 2012 tried unsuccessfully to open a fuel center and convenience store on Powers Ferry Road near Wildwood Center where apartments and a restaurant opened instead. More recently, RaceTrac sought in 2018 to open a new location on Windy Hill Road at Cobb Parkway but ultimately "tabled" their efforts. The site, then home to a Folks restaurant and Chevron gas station, is today home to Goodfellas Pizza Bar & Grill and the Chevron.
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| Typical RaceTrac |
A few miles away from the Barnes & Noble site, RaceTrac eventually opened a new location on a site where rival QuikTrip was forced to sell.
There is no definite timeline for when Barnes & Noble may close but planning documents suggest work on the RaceTrac could start at soon as June 2024.
For its part, Barnes & Noble will continue to operate a dozen stores in metro Atlanta including a new smaller format store that just opened in October where it replaced a former Bed Bath & Beyond at the Avenue East Cobb in East Cobb. In addition to the East Cobb outpost, they include those on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, North Point Parkway in Alpharetta, Perimeter Center West in Dunwoody, Peachtree Parkway in Peachtree Corners and Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, among others. Barnes & Noble closed their store at the Edgewood Retail District in Atlanta early last year after which off-price retailer Marshalls opened in its place last fall.
Family-owned RaceTrac traces its roots to 1934 and now operates nearly 600 convenience stores and fuel centers across Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee. According to FORBES, the company is Georgia's second largest private company and saw 2022 sales reach $16.2 billion.
What are your thoughts on this planned development? Are you excited at the prospect of having such a special, large RaceTrac in Atlanta? Do you have a favorite gas station brand?
Please share your thoughts below
23 comments:
I like supporting locally based companies, but won't buy gas from Racetrac because they're not Top Tier. You'd think with QT such a big rival and QT has Top Tier gas, Racetrac would follow suit, but guess it's not worth it for them...
This is quality journalism.
While I’m not in the area anymore, it’ll be funny not to have that Barnes and Noble anymore. Grew up going there all the time.
Very upset to be losing a Barnes & Noble for a gas station of all things. I hope B&N finds another space as they seem to be finding a way in a post-Amazon, post-digital books world. The new East Cobb location is very small.
This "flagship" Racetrac was once meant for Powers Ferry Rd as I recall, but the neighborhood killed it.
Sad that Barnes and Noble is closing. Great looking building. I use to visit the bookstore a lot when I lived in the area. It will be interesting to see what it develops into. Racetac has good coffee.
lots and lots of current ‘ skaluhz ann stoodints’ in this formerly great city cant even spell book much less want to buy one! gnowhaimsayin ?
Farewell B&N, you will be missed!
Top tier gas is a marketing gimmick. They (unbranded suppliers) all get their gas from the same place.
Leave it to Atlanta to fuel demand for a mega gas station in an area that is attempting to embrace more walkability.
Stroke. 911. This person needs help.
Leave it to Beaver. Stinky!
So we're losing another Barnes and Nobles bookstore for a gas station? Are you kidding me? The dumbing down of this country continues, largely due to FOX News
Raising Cane's had this on their development schedule but it dropped off early last year. They will likely pursue another high profile location ITP as they scale up in the Southeast.
I did find it interesting that, in the planning documents, this RaceTrac will include 12 electric vehicle chargers in addition to the standard gas pumps. This is a move in the right direction!
NO, fool at 10:16. not Fox…But rather Liberal media like CNN , BET, obummer’s 3rd term, and local news media!
The fact that we’re losing a solid bookstore to RACETRAC is enough to piss me off but to know we could’ve had a Raising Canes there instead sends me off the deep end. What the eff?! :(
Why is a subpar chicken fast food place better than a gas station? Plenty of chicken places already.
To the sad Anonymous user … yes, Fox has dumbed down America! The very fact they produce lies and propaganda is evidence by your ridiculous comment and the settlement that the paid Dominion voting machines.
Seriously? “Not enough fuel providers in the area?” That’s a fabrication. Terrible aesthetic for the area and not purposeful.
Move to Russia, you’ll like it there better
https://www.wdsu.com/article/batonrouge-toddgraves-raising-canes-founder-becomes-richest-person-in-louisiana/45877690
Wow, interesting article about Racetrac!
Racetrack may have an interesting concept but in my view this is totally and completely the wrong place. Nothing against Racetrack or gas stations in general. The CID has made steps forward to slowly but surely turn the wheel to make the area into a pedestrian friendly, attractive and more viable area. A massive gas station with restaurants/bars smack in the middle of the CID is not a fit here. Some may remember there was a gas station there years ago. Most important two words of the last sentence “years ago”.
Really interesting. This is called Tomorrow’s news today and it references a Cobb commission meeting for December 5 published on January 8.
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