A new breakfast spot called Hot Betty's Breakfast Bar soft opened earlier this week on Main Street in downtown Tucker. The new independently owned eatery replaced The Freakin Incan, which closed this past March. Hot Betty's is open for breakfast and brunch and features not only classics like gourmet biscuits and omelettes, but also a rotating specials menu, vegan and gluten-free options, and hand-crafted cocktails, wine and beer.
The Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams store at Avalon in Alpharetta is closing. The designer furniture store, which opened as part of the mixed-use project's first phase, opened in 2014 and is slated to close in the coming weeks. The store is currently liquidating all in-stock merchandise at savings of 40 to 60% off. The following discounts are applicable to the identified product categories.
40% off: Sofas, Sectionals, Beds, Case goods & Occasional chairs
50% off: Pillows, Accessories, Lighting, Rugs, Bedding and Chairs to be sold as a set
60% off: Used Rugs and Drapery panels.
The original Atlanta area Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams store at the corner of East Paces Ferry and Peachtree Roads in Buckhead will remain open.
The Cook's Warehouse is closing its Chamblee/Brookhaven store in Peachtree Station to focus on its Ansley Mall and eCommerce business. Mary Moore, owner of The Cook's Warehouse, made the announcement to customers in an email Thursday.
"Economic pressures require difficult decisions and this time in our company’s history is no different. To maintain our dedicated team and strong brand developed throughout the years we are once again changing our model. As painful as it is for all of us, we will be closing our Peachtree Station location and continuing forward with our Ansley Mall location and online business while we look for opportunities to again grow our footprint."
The Chamblee location opened in 2017 and was meant to replace the Brookhaven location which closed. Moore previously closed The Cook's Warehouse locations in Decatur (2017) and East Cobb (2018).
C. Ellet's and Gio's Chicken Siciliana at The Battery Atlanta have both closed, with sources telling ToNeTo Atlanta that the former could reopen as a new concept from the Hopkins, while the latter is reportedly gone for good. Punch Bowl Social, another Battery tenant, has apparently "made the COVID-19 cut," with the company confirming earlier this month they were permanently closing units in Stapleton, CO and Schaumburg, IL due to an unwillingness on the part of those landlords to renegotiate lease terms, something it seems the company was able to successfully do with Braves Development Company in Atlanta.
South Buckhead restaurant Saltyard has for now been rechristened "Saltyard by OSHA." The restaurant, which hit the market last year, seemingly changed hands in late March. The new owners reportedly will eventually rename the restaurant OSHA Thai & Sushi Factory, but have adopted the joint name and hybrid menu for the time being, featuring new offerings like Terityaki Chicken & Rice, Butter Shrimp Tempura and Clay Pot Ramen along with Saltyard items like Steak Frites and Seared Filet of Salmon.
GNC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week and is closing some 888 stores with plans that could include eventually closing as many as 1,200 stores. The 85 year-old retailer of vitamins and dietary supplements has struggled for years to remain relevant and competitive but still has 5,800 stores overall. In metro Atlanta, closing sales are due to begin this weekend at GNC stores in Canton, Covington, Decatur, Savannah, two in Kennesaw and one in Fountain Oaks shopping center on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. Liquidation sales are slated to run through September 20 or until in-stock merchandise is sold out.
Local fitness business SculptHouse has closed its studios in Sandy Springs and Nashville, as well as its pop-up in Charlotte. The Atlanta-based brand, started by Katherine Mason in 2017, will continue to operate studios in Buckhead and Dallas as well as their online retail store.
Over in Brookhaven, Skull Shine Studios was to have relocated from Dresden Drive to Clairmont Road, but has instead had to close for good. Co-owners Jennifer Smith and Jenny Holding had hoped to open in Skyland Shopping Center in January, but pushed the opening to March 16. Unfortunately, the timing could not have been worse as the owners had to make the gut-wrenching decision to simply never open. The business partners had first operated {the skeleton}, a pop-up of sorts, on Dresden Drive as of this past October. There are currently no plans to open elsewhere, with the partners refunding pre-paid memberships and selling fixtures and equipment.
Microsoft announced Friday that it plans to permanently close nearly all of its retail stores, as it focuses its efforts instead on its online sales efforts. In Atlanta, the company operates two stores, one at Lenox Square in Buckhead, the other at Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody. The stores, which by all accounts were an imitation of Apple's incredibly successful retail outlets, never lived up to expectations and their closure should come as little surprise to retail observers.