4Rivers Smokehouse sponsored a post on facebook earlier this week announcing that construction of their first Atlanta area restaurant is underway. Last year, I was first to report the restaurant's plans to open in the former fire station No. 16, a two story building on Marietta Street, that dates to 1920. There is still no word on when the restaurant is expected to open, other than it will be before the end of the year.
The existing Burger King on Main Street East at Wisteria Drive in Snellville will soon undergo an extensive renovation. The renovation is likely to result in the restaurant's temporary closure. The restaurant will receive the brand's most up to date branding and logo and follows similar renovations of Burger King restaurants on Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth and Memorial Drive in Decatur.
A new Dollar General store is planned for the intersection of Mableton Parkway and Queens Mill Road in Mableton. The new freestanding store will be built on a vacant piece of land adjacent to the Impact Worship Center.
Framingham, MA based TJX Companies, the parent of T. J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, is planning to launch a new store this year. TJX told investors on Wednesday that it will open a new line of home furnishings stores this year. The concept is intended to be complementary to its existing HomeGoods chain which sells furniture, kitchenware and lamps, among other things. On a call with analysts outlining its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, TJX CEO Ernie Herrman said the company will open four U. S. stores under its new nameplate this fiscal year. The company's strategy will be to encourage customers to shop at both the new stores and existing HomeGoods locations. While this may sound silly, that strategy is similar to the approach it's taken with T. J. Maxx and Marshalls, both of which perform quite well, in some cases in the same shopping centers as each other.
A new Your Pie pizza restaurant is coming to Grant Park. Existing husband & wife franchisees Morgan & Lisa Maclellan plan to open the new restaurant later this summer. The Grant Park Your Pie will be located in the street level retail space of The George, a new apartment building currently under construction on Memorial Drive at Hill Street. The George will include a total of 11,500 square feet of retail/restaurant space of which Your Pie will occupy 2,200. The Maclellans opened their first Your Pie in the Perimeter Mall area in 2014.
Family Christian Stores, the Grand Rapids, MI chain of Christian books and related merchandise, announced earlier today that they will close all 240 stores nationwide. The retailer had been struggling for years, and filed for bankruptcy in 2015. The chain, which employed more than 3,000 people chain-wide, blamed the closures on “changing consumer behavior and declining sales.” The chain has no current representation inside the perimeter of Atlanta, but does operate locations near North Point Mall in Alpharetta, near Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth and near Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw, among others.
Struggling department store JCPenney today announced plans to close "as many as 140 stores." The closings should take place by the end of June with specific locations expected to be revealed by mid-March. JCPenney will also close two distribution centers. Locally, JCPenney operates a number of stores including locations at Northlake Mall in Tucker, North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Mall of Georgia in Buford, Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw and The Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia.
DICK'S Sporting Goods plans to open what will be its 20th store in Georgia (679th overall) in Hinesville, southwest of Savannah. The new store will celebrate its grand opening Friday March 1oth through Sunday March 12th. In the coming months, DICK'S plans to open additional Atlanta area locations in Tucker, Sandy Springs and Cumberland.
Atlanta's second Black Walnut Cafe is currently targeting an "April" opening on Peachtree Parkway in Norcross. The Woodlands, TX based casual eatery opened their first Atlanta area location last year in Alpharetta but abandoned their planned Dunwoody location after they determined their parcel was not large enough to support the restaurant.
Following news that designer brand BCBG Max Azria was having financial troubles and had gone through a series of corporate layoffs this past fall, comes word that the retailer is shuttering most its retail network. BCBGMAXAZRIA, which also owns the couture label Herve Leger, will reportedly close over a hundred stores by April. In Atlanta, BCBG stores at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody and Avalon in Alpharetta are both closing with sales already underway. Both stores are offering 50% off all full price merchandise and an additional 30% off all clearance merchandise, for total savings of 70% or more. The Herve Leger store at Phipps Plaza (which not long ago relocated from Lenox Square) is also closing, with 50% off full price merchandise, and 60-70% off everything else in stock. The BCBG store at Lenox Square will reportedly be the only store locally remaining open. The labels will reportedly continue to be sold in Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's.