The Rooms To Go furniture store at the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont Roads in Buckhead has closed. The store, located at 3256 Peachtree Road, occupies one of the most attractive redevelopment corners in metro Atlanta. It will not be replaced with anything anytime soon, however, as permits filed by the Florida-based retailer indicate that they intend to undergo a nearly $2 million renovation.
Rooms To Go, by way of two separate entities, "RTG FURNITURE CORP OF GEORGIA," and "LOGAN GEORGIA ASSOCIATES L P" owns the property, which according to Fulton County tax records, is actually three parcels totaling nearly 1.5 acres. The significant capital investment being made to the building suggests the company's long term commitment to the property.
Property records indicate that the company paid about $1.5 million for the combined three parcel site in late 1995 and that today the properties are valued by Fulton County at about $3.6 million.
It's unclear exactly how long the renovation will take, but the permits on file with the City of Atlanta indicate that work will include both interior and exterior renovations, including MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing.)
In recent years, a number of other furniture retailers have joined (or rejoined) the Buckhead market. Catty corner from Rooms to Go, Atlanta's Haverty's Furniture opened a "Style Studio" at Buckhead Square replacing The Container Store which relocated to a portion of the former Borders, north on Peachtree at Buckhead Triangle. The opening of Haverty's marked their return to the market and their return, in fact, to the exact center they had once occupied. Modani opened in the former Ethan Allen space in nearby Buckhead Pavilion in 2013 while Ethan Allen later returned to Buckhead in July 2017 at Lenox Marketplace.
Not far away, close to the Lindbergh MARTA station, The Dump opened in 2010 while Ashley (Furniture) HomeStore opened later that same year in Lindbergh Plaza.
There was one notable Buckhead furniture closure last year when HUFF Furniture shuttered their Peachtree Road showroom after more than 60 years in business.
Rooms To Go, which has regional offices in Dunwoody, operates about a dozen stores in Georgia in addition to outlet stores in Norcross and Forest Park and an "express" store in Gainesville.
The company closed their Rooms To Go and Rooms to Go Kids stores on Cobb Parkway not far from SunTrust Park a few years ago, and also relocated their Alpharetta store from North Point Parkway to Haynes Bridge Road where the more contemporary store now occupies a prominent corner. The former Alpharetta store, now a Party City, looked like the Buckhead store and its replacement store is reportedly what the Buckhead store will be modeled after.
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| Rooms To Go on Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta |
Morton "Morty" Seaman and his son Jeffrey Seaman opened the first Rooms To Go in Orlando, Florida in 1991. The company entered the Atlanta market in 1995 and also opened a distribution center in Suwanee the following year. Today, the company operates more than 130 stores and Georgia is the company's third largest market by store count, behind Florida and Texas.
The new and improved Buckhead Rooms To Go is expected to open later this fall.
Where did you buy the furniture for your home? What is your favorite brand of furniture? Are you surprised that Rooms To Go is renovating their store rather than selling the property?
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