Monday, January 13, 2025

[UPDATE] Suburban Grocer Calls its Quits, New Fitness Club "Bags" the Space

Regional grocer Ingles closed one of its many suburban Atlanta area stores earlier this month.  The store, located at 1221 Dacula Road in Dacula (Hamilton Mill) in Gwinnett County, closed as of January 4.  Locals were reportedly warned a few days ahead of the planned closure but no reason for its shutter was provided. 

Gwinnett County property records indicate that the roughly 61,000 square foot store opened in 1996 and that it sat on 26 acres.  Records further indicate that Ingles paid about $930,000 for the property in December 1994.  

Elmer Ingle opened the first Ingles in Asheville in 1963.  In the years that followed, Ingle grew his business largely by focusing on smaller towns and suburban communities.  Following the Dacula closure, the Asheville, North Carolina-based grocer will operate about 50 stores in Georgia, and roughly 200 around the southeast.  

The grocery chain's remaining presence in Georgia includes stores in Acworth, Cartersville, Carrollton, Covington, Dawsonville, Douglasville, Fayetteville, Peachtree Corners, Lilburn, Loganville, and Stone Mountain, among others.    

A new large format Onelife Fitness is planned in place of the former Dacula grocery store.   The McLean. Virginia-based fitness club, which was acquired in October by private equity firm 26 North, already has more than a dozen locations across Georgia, including existing facilities in Lawrenceville and Cumming. 

In years past, Ingles has closed several stores in the greater metro Atlanta area including:  

3530 Highway 20 SE in Conyers, which is now a Food Depot   

2546 Powder Springs Road in Austell, which was demolished  

4400 Hugh Howell Road in Tucker, which is now partially occupied by a Goodwill thrift store  

2700 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in Suwanee, which is now a Super H Mart 

10010 Highway 92 in Woodstock, which is now Stars & Strikes, a bowling facility

1090 Buford Road in Cumming, which is now a Floor & Decor 

1050 Grayson Highway in Lawrenceville, which is set to become a new Gwinnett County Records Management and Storage Facility

1154 Lawrenceville Highway in Lawrenceville, with a potential fitness club replacement coming this year

Are you surprised that Ingles decided to close its store in Dacula?  Where do you do most of your grocery shopping?  What is your favorite grocery store?  

Please share your thoughts below. 

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not an area I’m ever in, but that’s a shame. I much prefer Ingle’s to Publix or Kroger.

Anonymous said...

I love Ingles. It’s my preferred store. I’m not familiar with the Dacula store but the P’tree Corners store is always so nice, well organized & have a great staff.

Anonymous said...

I love the Ingles at Peachtree Corners and would be really sad if it closed. It is always clean, well stocked, good service, great salad bar.

Anonymous said...

I wish Ingle's would venture further into Atlanta.

Jodyml813 said...

They're okay. They're never crowded and I find that they're more expensive than Publix and Kroger and they don't move a lot of product, so the dates on non-perishables are typically closer than other grocery stores cuz it's been sitting on the shelf for a while. Their meat department is really good though.

Anonymous said...

I think the one on Bethelview in Cumming is still open.

Anonymous said...

I am a fan of Ingles and shop at the Ingles stores in Stone Mountain and Lilburn. Both have a loyal following but haven't been remodeled in decades. I can only guess that they are fully depreciated and can't sustain the book costs of big renovations. Ingles owns the real estate at both locations, so I am guessing they will continue to be open as long as they are profitable on a cash basis. I hope they will still be around for quite a while.

Erik Poole said...

Ingles is very much in the real estate business; this is part of their business model.

Anonymous said...

Ingles is just a very solid grocery store. Very under appreciated.

Anonymous said...

I am so sad we loved shopping at this location.

Anonymous said...

It's sad. I like Ingles. I wish they would open back in East Cobb. Publix and Kroger as well as Walmart has saturated the area. Same old same old. Ingles offered different products and was about the same price as Kroger and Publix. Better bakery than Kroger and Walmart. The closest one is Acworth. Hopefully they will grow in Georgia.

Anonymous said...

Ingles is in the real estate business and it serves them well when things aren't going well on the grocery side.They pretty much own the property their stores sit on and many own the entire shoping center strips.

Jodyml813 said...

Yes, for now. They've been trying to get it rezoned and sold for a while now but it is open right now.

Steve said...

It's worth noting that Ingle's does not and has never had a store ITP.

alex said...

Not a surprise lol. I like Ingles but they don't seem interested in maintaining a serious presence in the ATL.

Anonymous said...

Their corporate office and warehouse were practically blown away during Helene. They’re lucky to still be in business.

Anonymous said...

I hope this location never closes because I love shopping there!

Anonymous said...

I drive by the Dacula location frequently and work out at a Gold's Gym right across the street. (For that reason, I'm not sure how successful the OneLife fitness will be.) The few times I've been in there, I found their prices to be higher than both the nearby Kroger and Publix. My (admittedly uninformed) sense is that Ingles does better in more rural areas where they can compete on equal footing with Winn-Dixie instead of those aforementioned giants. Also, the few times I've been in there, I've never seen it particularly busy, especially for such a large store.

Anonymous said...

They don’t operate in the same areas as Winn Dixie.

Anonymous said...

I do too. In8les sells some things longer than other stores after they were discontinued, but not expired. Used to get the Product 19’s there for two years after discontinued and not expired. Delicious!

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