After a series of delays, Cousins Maine Lobster plans to make their Atlanta area brick & mortar debut at Lenox Square on Thursday, June 21. A franchisee of the Shark Tank invested business already operates an Atlanta area food truck by the same name, but the outpost at Lenox Square provides a permanent, weather protected location for fans of the restaurant to enjoy authentic lobster rolls.
Egg Harbor Cafe opened its fifth Atlanta area location on North Point Parkway & Georgia Lane in Alpharetta last week. The restaurant, which occupies the former Haiku Sushi Steakhouse, offers breakfast & lunch options and is based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The chain entered the Atlanta market in 2011 with a restaurant in Johns Creek. Subsequent locations have opened in Buckhead, Sandy Springs and East Cobb.
A new location of Bishops salon has opened at Toco Hills shopping center. The new men's and women's salon opened this past weekend in a portion of the former Shoe Center space where Spiller Park Coffee has already opened and Pao Pao Ramen, Pao Pao Rolled Ice Cream and Kale Me Crazy are opening soon. The Portland, Oregon-based franchise has about 30 locations nationwide, but is expanding rapidly with its first Atlanta area location having previously opened at Parkview on Peachtree in Chamblee, and another planned for the new Whole Foods 365 anchored North Decatur Square shopping center near Decatur. Another ten locations are planned for metro Atlanta in the coming years, according to sources close to the salon.
Alex Kinjo is opening a new restaurant called Pho Nam at Krog Street Market in place of Nature's Garden Express. The new concept, Kinjo's second upcoming restaurant, is slated to open "in July." As ToNeTo Atlanta reported in April, Kinjo is also relaunching former Midtown eatery NAM as NAM Kitchen, at the new City Springs development in Sandy Springs.
A new Wild Wing Cafe is planned for The Collection at Forsyth in north Forsyth County. According to planning documents, the new restaurant will open in place of what was once Coldwater Creek. The Charlotte, NC-based franchise is the latest in a string of new restaurants to have joined the development in recent years, including Chicken Salad Chick earlier this year and Grub Burger Bar in 2016.
Atlanta based Mediterranean fast-casual eatery Bezoria plans to open its third overall restaurant next Friday, June 22 at Cumberland Mall near Smyrna. The new restaurant will open on the mall's first level, across from Jason's Deli and in place of where the United States Post Office was located previously. (The USPS has since relocated to within the second floor food court.) The latest Bezoria joins the original location on Peachtree Street in Midtown and the second location on Old Milton Parkway in Alpharetta.
The Belk store at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead has started liquidation sales ahead of their planned end of July closure. As ToNeTo Atlanta reported last fall, Phipps Plaza owner Simon Property Group plans to demolish Belk and its adjacent parking deck and construct One Phipps Plaza, a new mixed-use development. The project, due to be completed in 2021, will include a a 13 story, Class A office tower, Life Time Athletic, Food Hall, Nobu Hotel and Restaurant and greenspace.
Charlotte, NC-based luxury apartment developer Northwood Ravin has completed its purchase of the soon to close Sears at Gwinnett Place Mall. The store, which the company announced last month would close as part of a larger "right sizing" effort for the struggling chain, sits on 11 acres at the suburban "dead mall." Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District Executive Director Joe Allen confirmed the purchase took place about two weeks ago but shared no further details of what the developer's plans may be. Northwood Ravin has previously developed, owned or managed a number of metro Atlanta apartment communities including Point on Scott in Decatur at Decatur Crossing and 1160 Hammond in Sandy Springs. The firm is also bringing another 450 units to Decatur Crossing via "Scott Crossing," part of the development's second phase.
Thank you to all who reached out after seeing my feature about the filming of Stranger Things at Gwinnett Place Mall with Astrid in the ATL on WGCL, CBS 46. A number of readers have asked for the link to be shared so here it is. No, I was not ready, and yes, I do have some alfalfa action going on.
Bubble tea purveyor Bubbleology quietly closed its outpost in Lenox Square in Buckhead. The kiosk cafe opened in late 2015 and reportedly closed overnight Sunday and was already completely gone from the mall by Wednesday morning. The shop was located between Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret on the mall's main level. A second Atlanta area location at Mall of Georgia in Buford, which opened shortly after the Lenox location, remains open for now. Two other U.S. locations remain open at Florida Mall in Orlando and Citrus Park Mall in Tampa. The U.K.-based beverage cafe specializes in bubble tea and was founded in London in April 2011. Although popular in Europe and the Middle East, the intensely sweet options offered in Atlanta seemed to fall short in attracting consumers more accustomed to authentic bubble tea from many of the city's Asian restaurants.