Retail + Eateries + Hotels + Convenience Stores + Residential + Grocery + Banking +
It's a mixed bag of news for fans of Willy's Mexicana Grill as we wrap up 2023. A source close to the locally-owned chain tells ToNeTo Atlanta that the Willy's Mexicana Grill on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs is closing at the end of the year. The restaurant, which opened in 2015, occupied a roughly 1,700 square foot space in the Trader Joe's-anchored Sandy Springs Plaza shopping center. Signage installed this week confirms the closure is planned for December 31.
Former NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip plans to bring his new restaurant to metro Atlanta. Michael Waltrip Taproom plans to open in 2024 at The Mall of Georgia in Buford. Specifically, the new restaurant is expected to open at The Village, the outdoor area at the mall, already home to restaurants such as P.F. Chang's China Bistro, The Cheesecake Factory, and Tin Lizzy's Cantina, among others.
It's the end of the year and that means tough decisions for restaurant owners and operators. Atlanta-based brokerage The Shumacher Group late Saturday listed four restaurants for sale, including one that opened less than 90 days ago!
A new indoor activity concept is launching soon and likely has Atlanta in its sights. The Pickle Pad, a new venue from the owners of Altitude Trampoline Park, plans to open its first unit in Florida next spring, with plans already underway to franchise the concept.
Wawa, the popular chain of convenience stores and gas stations that we indicated earlier this month had at least six locations in the works for Georgia, now has at least seven! Plans reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta indicate that the chain, with a cult-like following, intends to open as part of a new development in Pooler near Savannah.
A new coffee shop is coming to Chastain Park in north Buckhead. PERC Coffee, a Savannah-based roaster which entered metro Atlanta in 2020, plans to open its latest metro outpost at the edge of Buckhead and Sandy Springs in Chastain Park in 2024. The coffee purveyor reportedly executed its lease recently, but has not yet publicized the new unit.
Lenox Square opened August 3, 1959. Phipps Plaza opened ten years later in 1969. In the decades since the properties' original openings, Atlanta and Buckhead have changed in many ways and continue to evolve today.
If you had more Trader Joe's stores on your holiday wish list, you're in luck! We have heard rumblings for more than a year that the popular boutique grocer was looking to add to its metro Atlanta presence and that smoke seems to have some fire now.
Wawa, the popular chain of convenience stores and gas stations that announced plans last October to enter the Georgia market, seems to have at least six locations in the works. Planning documents reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta indicate new Wawa locations are planned for several south Georgia communities. The new locations are in addition to the Waycross unit on which ToNeTo Atlanta reported this past February.
Waffle House plans to close its longstanding location at 5335 Roswell Road in Sandy Springs after more than fifty years in business, according to employees at the restaurant. The Waffle House will reportedly close permanently as of midnight on December 26. Fulton County property records indicate the 1,363 square foot restaurant first opened in 1967.
Concourse Athletic Club (8 Concourse Parkway) has been sold. The popular fitness facility which has served the local Dunwoody and Sandy Springs area community for more than three decades was recently acquired by Life Time Inc. News of the acquisition had been rumored amongst members for several weeks, but the company only recently formally notified members of the purchase.
Chick-fil-A will close its longstanding Sandy Springs restaurant this week after 30 years in business. The Atlanta-based company plans to scrape & rebuild the restaurant on its current parcel - 5925 Roswell Road - and reopen it next summer.
Atlantans will have fewer local ice cream options come 2024. The owners of Four Fat Cows, a locally owned chain of ice cream and baked goods shops, announced they are closing this week after more than eight years in business.
At least three local Kenn-Taco (KFC + Taco Bell) locations are eliminating KFC and reopening as only Taco Bell. ToNeTo Atlanta readers report that KFC/Taco Bell restaurants in West Cobb, Embry Hills, and Roswell have all closed in recent weeks with signage indicating they will reopen as Taco Bell only. Initial reports were that all locations had closed permanently which is not true.
The shopping center previously known as Peachtree Piedmont Crossing (aka Disco Kroger center) has landed several new tenants ahead of its reopening in 2024. Renamed Buckhead Landing in 2022 and slated to be anchored by a new Publix in 2024, the center has in recent weeks signed agreements with both local groups and national chains to open in the reimagined property.
A new ice cream shop is coming to town! Handel's Homemade Ice Cream, which got its start in Youngstown, Ohio in 1945, has secured space for its first Atlanta area franchise. The new Handel's is opening as part a new multi-tenant development at 580 Peachtree Parkway, not far from The Collection at Forsyth in Cumming.
A popular East Cobb restaurant will close early next year after a combined total of nearly fifty years in business. Christos owner Christos Giannes took to Facebook Thursday to announce that his Greek restaurant will close permanently as of January 15, 2024.
ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported October 19 that Caribou Coffee was opening a new location in a former Burger King in Kennesaw. The response to that news significantly exceeded our expectations and we are pleased to share news that the company has at least three more Atlanta area locations in the works. The company's upcoming growth continues to focus on second generation and drive-thru enabled sites.
