[EXCLUSIVE] Exciting Additions Coming to Historic East Cobb Shopping Center

About a year and a half after acquiring it, an Atlanta-based real estate firm is breathing new life into a nearly 70 year old Marietta shopping center.  Hendon Properties purchased East Cobb Station (originally known as Town and Country Center) along Roswell Road in September of 2024 for $22.35M.  

At the time, the center had plenty of vacancies and was anchored by a Goodwill thrift store as well as new locations of Planet Fitness and O'Reilly Auto Parts.  Stream Retail, who had owned the roughly 18 acre property since October 2015, had tried unsuccessfully to add more compelling inline tenants or outparcel businesses.  

Originally opened in 1958, Town and Country was once home to Dunaway Drugs, F.W. Woolworth, J.C. Penney, Kinney's Shoes, and both Kroger and Winn Dixie supermarkets, among other tenants.  

According to newly updated leasing materials, the center will soon welcome new locations of Lidl, Burlington, Hibbett Sports, and 7 Brew Coffee.  

The new Lidl will mark the return of a grocer to the center for the first time in many years. Lidl will occupy a 24,000 square foot space between Planet Fitness and O'Reilly.  To make room for Lidl, an existing location of PPG Paints will relocate to a space to the right of Goodwill.  The Germany-based discount grocer opened a new Atlanta area store at Phase 2 of The Interlock on Northside Drive near Georgia Tech this past October and as ToNeTo Atlanta has reported in recent weeks, is starting to grow again in town with several locations in development.  The new Lidl would be the fifth in Cobb County, joining existing locations on Floyd Road in Mableton, Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb, Whitlock Avenue in Marietta, and Powder Springs Road in Marietta/Austell.  

Burlington, which more than ten years ago occupied the nearby former Woolco and current Andretti Indoor Karting & Games, is essentially returning to the area but with a much smaller store.  The new Burlington will measure about 19,300 square feet and will also open to the right of Goodwill in an anchor space previously home to ApplianceSmart.  Burlington has been especially aggressive in the Atlanta market in recent years due in part to their successful bidding on former Joann and Bed Bath & Beyond stores.  The New Jersey-based retailer's recent Atlanta additions include stores in Tucker (former Office Depot), Edgewood Retail District, and Akers Mill Square (former Bed Bath & Beyond) and most recently, Northeast Plaza in Brookhaven.  New Burlington stores in former Joann stores are slated to open April 24 in Suburban Plaza in Decatur and May 1 at Newnan Pavilion in Newnan.  The company also recently won at auction the rights to Saks OFF 5TH leases of stores in Lawrenceville (Sugarloaf Mills) and Woodstock (Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta).

Birmingham-based Hibbett Sports will open in a roughly 5,000 square foot space next to Kids Empire.  The company, which was acquired in 2024 by UK-based JD Sports, sells a variety of sporting goods and apparel and already operates about 100 stores around the state.  

The new 7 Brew Coffee is coming to a grassy outparcel along Roswell Road.  7 Brew, which despite having only opened its first store in 2017, started 2026 with more than 600 locations open across 38 states and hundreds more in development.  The company currently has 25 "stands" across Georgia making the Peach State their tenth largest market by unit count.  

Are you pleased to hear of the upcoming openings in East Cobb Station?   What else would you like to see open in East Cobb Station?  What is your fondest memory of Town and Country Center?

Please share your thoughts below.