The short-lived Krispy Kreme on Buford Highway in Doraville will soon reopen as a Chase Bank. The freestanding restaurant opened in late 2013 and closed by early 2016. The Doraville location, 5768 Buford Highway, was previously an abandoned Long John Silver's restaurant before it was demolished and rebuilt as the doughnut shop. Property records indicate the site is .62 acres.
A building permit filed with the City of Doraville indicates that the New York-based bank plans to convert the 2,625 square foot restaurant into a bank.
The new Chase will join an existing Wells Fargo as outparcel banks of the Burlington [Coat Factory] anchored center. An outparcel McDonald's which opened in 2013 replaced a bank too, but the building was demolished for the new restaurant.
A restaurant-to-bank flip is not new for Chase, but to convert the building is. The decision to convert rather than start from scratch was likely due, at least in part, to the newness of the Krispy Kreme building and the existence of a drive-thru.
As we reported in April, Chase is also in the process of renovating a short-lived Pollo Tropical restaurant on Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta, too.
Chase previously opened Atlanta area branches on Piedmont Road in place of a Pizza Hut and on Cheshire Bridge Road in place of a former Sonny's BBQ. In both cases, the bank demolished the existing structures to build new branches in their place.
Chase also opened a new branch in East Cobb in place of what was built as a Donatos Pizza that was later converted into a Mama Fu's Noodle House, and even later a Flying Biscuit Cafe. The East Cobb branch was also built from scratch.
A source close to the situation indicated the plan is to have the new Chase open in the fall.
Are you pleased by the repurposing of the former Krispy Kreme in Doraville? When was the last time you visited a bank in person for someone other than a mortgage? Do you think we will see another bank consolidation in the near term?
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