Bits & Bites

The Toco Hills location of indie vendor business Westside Market is closing on December 31.  The market opened in March 2018 and was the second location to open of the locally owned business.  The roughly 14,000 square foot space was far smaller than the flagship and original location on Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard which measures about 85,000 square feet.  Real estate sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that the Toco Hills location struggled financially for years and that its size limited its sales potential.  The store was reportedly on a short-term lease that was not renewed, with the landlord (Edens) opting to pursue a long-term lease with another, as yet undisclosed, tenant.  Following its closure at Toco Hills, the original Westside location will remain open as well another on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell and one in Greenville, South Carolina.  

Bonus Bits & Bites

A new location of Zeus Greek Street Food is coming soon to Roswell.  The casual Greek eatery will open at 10350 Alpharetta Street, a freestanding structure first built in 1985 as a Burger King.  The roughly 3,300 square foot building was most recently home to La Poblanita Bar & Grill, a local Mexican restaurant.  The first and currently only other location of Zeus is on Powers Ferry Road, not far from Truist Park.  Zeus is part of Last Call Hospitality, an Atlanta-based group that also owns Mambo Italian Street Food and Prickly Pear Tapas Tacos & Tequila.   

   

Bits & Bites

David Abes of DASH Hospitality will open his latest concept, Good Vibes Ice Cream Shop & Soda Pop in Dunwoody Village (5503 Chamblee Dunwoody Road) Thursday March 6.  The new shop replaces a former Bruster's Ice Cream which closed in 2024.  Abes, formerly an executive at Here to Serve and Buckhead Life, among other groups, has become a fixture in Dunwoody Funwoody with an ever growing roster of family-friendly concepts including BAR{n} booze {n} bites, Morty's Meat & Supply, Message In A Bottle, a seafood restaurant and Yoffi, a Mediterranean eatery.   

Bits & Bites [ Commercial Real Estate News Atlanta] '

Dollar Tree in December closed locations on Metropolitan Parkway in southwest Atlanta and on Johnson Ferry Road in Brookhaven.  No reason was provided for either store closure and there is not yet word on what, if anything, may replace either store.   

[Opening Bits] A Look A Recent Atlanta Area Restaurant Openings and a Call to Action

The end of the year typically brings news of closures and other disappointing developments.  Several ToNeTo Atlanta readers have even reached out to express their concern at the number of closures we have reported, with still more reported elsewhere.  With that in mind, as we look forward to a new year and new opportunities, we wanted to highlight several openings that have occurred in recent weeks.   

Bits & Bites

The owners of Eden plan to bring their popular juice, smoothie and smoothie bowl business to Atlanta.  Husband and wife Chris and Stephanie Beck opened Eden on Chambers Street in downtown Woodstock in June 2021 and have signed on to backfill the former Jamba at Madison Yards in Reynoldstown.  Jamba, a franchise of Atlanta-based Focus Brands, opened in the Publix-anchored center in June 2020 and closed quietly earlier this summer.  Jamba has struggled in metro Atlanta having previously closed locations in Buckhead, Decatur, East Cobb and Midtown, among others.  Eden, which serves a similar menu to Jamba's has a 4.9 rating on Google with nearly 200 reviews and will hope to find better success in the intown space. 

Bits & Bites

Office Depot is closing its store at Buckhead Crossing near the Lindbergh MARTA station in Buckhead.  The 22,457 square foot store relocated to Buckhead Crossing from nearby Lindbergh Plaza when the latter was redeveloped into what it is today.  The current Office Depot occupies a portion of what was once a Cub Foods grocery store.  Office Depot is currently offering all in stock merchandise at savings of up to 40 per cent off, with most "deals" only 10 per cent.  Signage at the store directs would be customers to the next nearest location at The District at Howell Mill in West Midtown.  Office Depot previously closed a store along Roswell Road in Sandy Springs where ToNeTo Atlanta reported in July that a new HomeGoods is expected to open.  

Bits & Bites

Wok Provisions opened August 11 at Walmart-anchored Perimeter Village shopping center (4709 Ashford Dunwoody Road) in a roughly 1,800 square foot space next to Poke Bar.  The new Szechuan Chinese restaurant opened in a space which was most recently home to Pita Mediterranean Street Food. ToNeTo Atlanta exclusively reported on the restaurant this past December.     The new restaurant is similar to, but not an exact replica of, the WOK Provisions on Buford Highway in Duluth which opened last May.  Whereas the Duluth outpost features a primarily Szechuan menu with limited seating, the Dunwoody location features a mix of Szechuan, Cantonese and American Chinese fare.  

Bits & Bites

LL Flooring (formerly Lumber Liquidators Flooring) is opening a new location in Smyrna.  The new store, in the former West Marine, is opening in The Promenade (2460 Cobb Parkway), the same plaza as Best Buy and The Juicy Crab.  West Marine closed its store in the center this past fall.  following the August closure of longtime tenant Scalini's Italian Restaurant.   The new LL Flooring marks the Richmond, Virginia-based company's 13th store in Georgia joining those in Kennesaw, Duluth, Roswell and Cumming, among others. 

Bits & Bites

Food That Rocks returns to City Springs TODAY, June 8! The popular food festival, presented by Taste of Atlanta, will be one day only this year and will feature tastes from than two dozen different Sandy Springs area restaurants as well as assorted adult beverages from select partners.  General admission tickets are still available and can be purchased here.  Use promo code "food5" to save $5 on each ticket.  

Bits & Bites

Big Lots is closing its longstanding store at East Cobb Station along Roswell Road in Marietta.  The store, which includes not only the Columbus, Ohio-based retailer's typical product mix but also a separate furniture showroom, started their liquidation sale May 23 offering "up to 30% off the entire store" with "nothing held back."  The sale, however, excludes ALL food which is a good 20 percent of the store.  There is no word yet on what may replace the roughly 32,000 square foot space.  

Bits & Bites

Tommy Bahama has closed at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead.  The tropically themed men's and women's clothing retailer opened its first floor space in the mall's Nordstrom wing in 2016 after operating a larger space on the mall's second floor for many years.  Tommy Bahama continues to operate a storefront at Avalon in Alpharetta.  Also at Avalon are Lilly Pulitzer, which closed its outpost at Phipps Plaza in 2022 and Johnny Was, which closed its Phipps Plaza boutique earlier this month and reopened at The Shops Around Lenox May 12.  All three brands are owned by Atlanta-based Oxford Industries.     

Bits & Bites

Five Below is coming to Buckhead!  The specialty discount store is opening in Buckhead Place (3232 Peachtree Road) in a nearly 12,000 square foot space adjacent to existing anchor Marshalls that was most recently home to Pier 1.  Most Five Below stores are about 8,000 to 10,000 square feet but the retailer announced plans to March to both open 200 new stores and further expand  space allocated to their "Five Beyond" items which include those priced at $6 and more.  The retailer, which is primarily found in suburban shopping centers, is also looking to expand in urban areas.  "In addition to our traditional focus on suburban power centers, we are now accelerating urban, as well as semi-rural stores, and are testing alternative venues," Five Below CEO Joel Anderson said on an earnings call with analysts in March. 

Bits & Bites

Funky clothing retailer Psycho Bunny is opening a second Atlanta area outpost.  Following the brand's Atlanta area debut in late 2019 at Lenox Square in Buckhead, a new Psycho Bunny is coming to Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody.  The new Psycho Bunny is replacing current Francesca's on the second floor of the suburban mall.  For its part, Francesca's is slated to reopen in a smaller space elsewhere in the mall.  Sources close to the mall tell ToNeTo Atlanta that the new Psycho Bunny is slated to start construction in about a week and open in "late summer."   

Bits & Bites

Madewell is slated to open its new Buckhead boutique Wednesday April 5.  The new shop, located in The Shops Around Lenox, replaces South Moon Under which closed this past fall.  The new Madewell includes the brand's newish addition of men's clothing and accessories.  The new Shops Around Lenox shop replaces the Lenox Square outpost which "moved" across the street.   

Bits & Bites

Raising Cane's will open their first metro Atlanta location tomorrow, March 16.  The restaurant, located at 3485 Braselton Highway in Dacula is located between Arby's and Starbucks and was built on the site of a demolished former BB&T bank.  The Baton Rouge-born chain has plans for at least ten locations in metro Atlanta in years to come.  ToNeTo Atlanta has previously reported on two other confirmed locations including those coming to Buford and Woodstock. 

Bits & Bites

Postino WineCafé  will open its second Atlanta area restaurant Monday January 23 at Brickworks Atlanta (1000 Marietta Street) in West Midtown.  The opening follows the debut of the Arizona-based chain in Atlanta this past September when they opened at Tuxedo Festival near Chastain Park.  The chain likes to honor prior tenants of spaces they occupy, with a video tape wall in Buckhead in homage to the Blockbuster Video that occupied it before, and a wall of retro Matchbox cars in West Midtown, an allusion to the space's prior use as a Ford Motor Car dealership. 

Bits & Bites

Henri's Bakery officially opened its fifth overall bakery cafe December 22 in Brookhaven.  The new shop, located at 2163 Johnson Ferry Road, was previously Corner Pizza and before that a Domino's Pizza franchise.  Henri's Brookhaven joins existing outposts in Buckhead, Sandy Springs, Marietta and Upper Westside.

Bits & Bites

Patagonia opened its newest Atlanta area store Saturday December 17 at The Krog District.  The new store marks the second in Atlanta for the Ventura, California-based chain.  The brand's Buckhead Village store has been a neighborhood mainstay at the corner of East Andrews Drive and Cains Hill Place for more than two decades.  Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard made headlines in September when he announced plans to donate the entire company to fight climate change. 

Bonus Bits & Bites

Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar plans to open its third Atlanta area location February 1 near North Point Mall in Alpharetta.  The new restaurant is located at the corner of Haynes Bridge Road and North Point Parkway and occupies a newly built, freestanding building.  The first Atlanta area Lazy Dog opened in Peachtree Corners in 2019 followed by a second at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody this past January.