[EXCLUSIVE] Upscale Fitness Operator Bringing New Co-Working Concept to Atlanta

Life Time, Inc., the Chanhassen, Minnesota-based operator of upscale athletic clubs, plans to bring their co-working concept "Life Time Work" to metro Atlanta this year.  The business, launched in 2018 to complement the fitness facility's primary attraction, claims to be "the first and only coworking concept that combines exceptional spaces with a world-class health club experience."  Life Time Work locations are typically located in, adjacent to, or near new or existing Life Time facilities.  

Interior of a typical Life Time Work 

[CLOSURE ALERT] Draper James Shutters Buckhead Boutique

Draper James, the women's boutique in Buckhead founded by actress, producer, and entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon, has closed.  The store, located in the Shops Around Lenox, across from Lenox Square, opened in November 2017, and reportedly closed at the end of 2021, according to a store employee at the brand's Nashville flagship.  The store's closure leaves a 2,150 square foot space available in a center that in recent years has become a popular destination for growing brands to enter the Atlanta market.  

[EGGSTRA EGGSTRA!] Eggspensive Eatery Effin Egg to Enter Atlanta

Effin Egg, a new breakfast eatery, plans to enter the Atlanta market.  Pushed from an intended September 2021 opening, Effin Egg's Atlanta debut is now planned for mid-February in Decatur, where the eatery will open in the Shops at The Artisan at the corner of West Ponce de Leon Avenue and Commerce Drive.  The quick serve restaurant will occupy suite C, an 1,185 square foot space previously home to Smoothie King, and before that, The Chocolate Bar.  (The 4,235 square foot former Ted's Montana Grill next door remains vacant.) 

[EXCLUSIVE] Marshalls Secures New Suburban Shopportunity

Off-price retailer Marshalls is on the move in East Cobb.  According to newly updated site plans for Merchants Walk (1289 Johnson Ferry Road), Marshalls will occupy approximately two thirds of the former Stein Mart store which closed in 2020 when the Jacksonville, Florida-based company filed for bankruptcy and subsequently closed all of its stores.  An existing store about four miles away in the Marshalls at Eastlake shopping center, would "move" to Merchants Walk later this fall, according to source at the retailer.

[UPDATE] Alex Kinjo Bringing Vietnamese Eats to Virginia Highland

 A new restaurant called Mai Kitchen is slated to open in March in Virginia Highland. The restaurant, which replaces Genki Noodle and Sushi (1040 North Highland Avenue), is being opened by Alex Kinjo, who over the years has opened more than a half dozen Asian restaurants around metro Atlanta including MF Sushi, NAM and Sakura Ramen Bar, among others.  Genki, which closed in 2020, had been in business for about a decade.  When Genki opened in 2011, it replaced longtime neighborhood favorite Everybody's Pizza, which had been a Virginia Highland mainstay for two decades.