My friends over at Roots in Alpharetta got some cool scoop from Alpharetta.
Kent, Washington-based R.E.I. plans to open a new location in Alpharetta in the former Office Max. Dick's Sporting Goods has an existing location across the street. R.E.I. opening near North Point rather than at or near Avalon is surely a shot in the arm for North Point Mall and the greater North Point area. R.E.I. currently operates four stores in metro Atlanta: on the Northeast Expressway not far from Emory, in Kennesaw near Town Center Mall, in Dunwoody near Perimeter Mall, and in Buford near the Mall of Georgia.
Verizon Wireless plans to open a new retail store in the former Rio Nuevo/Famous Dave's/Houlihan's location on North Point Parkway. Verizon currently has a location in the former O'Charley's restaurant, also on North Point Parkway, and will likely close it when the new location opens.
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse will "relocate" their existing restaurant on Roswell Road at I-285 in Sandy Springs to 11655 Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta. The space they will occupy has formerly housed two other establishments, Chill and originally Rainwater. The 18,000 square foot building was built for Rainwater in 2001, and was purchased by Sizzling Steak Concepts, the franchise's owners. The closure in Sandy Springs and opening in Alpharetta will reportedly take place simultaneously later this fall. Sizzling Steak Concepts, the largest Ruth’s Chris franchisee in the country, will own and operate the new location. Sizzling Steak Concepts franchise partners Mark Oswald, Nancy Oswald, Jim Brooks and Phil Brooks opened their first Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Atlanta in 1986. Today, the franchise group operates ten restaurants with an eleventh coming to Charleston, S.C. this fall and a twelfth coming to Greenville, South Carolina in 2016.
From my friends at The Carrollton Menu comes news that Birmingham-based Books-A-Million will open a new location at Arbor Place Mall in Douglasville. The nearly 6000 square foot store will open in the Dillard's wing later this fall. In addition, Francesca’s Collection will open at the mall in 2015.
In other news around the metro:
ROXX Tavern has finally opened its new location on Northlake Parkway in Tucker. I first announced plans for the restaurant last summer but it seemingly took longer than expected to get the restaurant open. The original ROXX Tavern is located on Cheshire Bridge Road in a converted McDonald's.
A Smoothie King franchise is coming to Loehmann's (soon to be The Fresh Market?) Plaza. The 900 square foot smoothie shop will open adjacent to Moe's Southwest Grill in the coming months. Interestingly, there used to be a Planet Smoothie in the center, close to where Great Clips is, but it closed years ago.
The Painted Pin is now open on Miami Circle in Buckhead. The new bowling, bocce, bar and fun emporium is open only in the evenings during the week, but all day on the weekends.
King of Pops has spawned a local "me-too" competitor in the form of Pop Stars. Reportedly conceived when "chief pop star" Ayesha Paul craved quality ice pops while pregnant, Pop Stars is clearly trying to capitalize on the interest in and success of King of Pops. Interestingly, rather than enter the market at or below its established competitor, Pops Stars retail for three bucks, fifty cents more than King of Pops (King of Pops can cost more than $2.50 if you purchase with a card and or are at a festival.) For the record, King of Pops was launched by Steven Carse in Atlanta in 2008, modeled after paletas - the Latin American ice pops he fell in love with on an earlier family trip. Pop Stars was launched by Ayesha Paul this past April.
Tesla Motors plans to open a new dealership in Decatur by the end of the year. The new Tesla dealership will be located at 1580 Church Street, just off North Decatur Road, not far from Suburban Plaza. The site is a former Isuzu dealership and will be renovated to suit Tesla. Tesla's neighbors in Decatur include both Nalley BMW and Infiniti dealerships. The new Decatur dealership, scheduled to open by the end of the year, will be Tesla's second in metro Atlanta: their first is in Marietta. A third unit, in Buckhead, has been discussed for months over a year, and may finally be announced once Decatur progresses.
Tilly's will soon open a new location at Mall of Georgia in Buford. The new store will open in space 1092, formerly home to Forever 21. Forever 21 recently relocated to a larger, two level store near the food court. Irvine, California-based Tilly's sells clothing, shoes, and accessories for various outdoor sports including surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding and motorcross. Tilly' closest competition would likely be considered PacSun. Currently there is only other Tilly's in metro Atlanta, at North Point Mall in Alpharetta.
A new First Watch restaurant is coming to Kennesaw. The breakfast and lunch eatery will open on Cherokee Street near Jiles in a nearly 4700 square foot building previously home to Barbecue Street. University Park, Florida-based First Watch entered the metro Atlanta market early last year with its opening in Johns Creek. First Watch locations in Johns Creek and Smyrna were purchased and converted as they had been J. Christopher's locations. Today, First Watch has a total of five locations open in metro Atlanta.
dd's Discounts is opening a new store at Cedar Village Shopping Center on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross.
Stacy Wisniewski, proprietor of Butter & Cream, plans to open her new ice cream shop June 20th on Church Street in Decatur. Butter & Cream will reportedly feature a variety of housemade ice cream options as well as a few sorbet flavors. Butter & Cream occupies the former Taste boutique, across the street from popular Decatur FroYo joint Yogurt Tap.