This weekend McDonald's will permanently close their longstanding Dunwoody restaurant at 2460 Jett Ferry Road in the Williamsburg at Dunwoody shopping center. The restaurant, located in an outparcel of the center, is owned by McDonald's, according to DeKalb property records, rather than Regency Centers, owners of the center itself. Customers were informed of the upcoming closure Thursday. The restaurant will operate its normal hours but will close at 11 PM on Sunday August 16 and not reopen.
DeKalb tax records indicate the McDonald's opened in 1984, is 4,266 square feet and sits on about eight tenths of an acre.
The closure of McDonald's in Dunwoody marks the second fast food burger chain to close in the area in the past two years following the early 2018 closure of Burger King at 5468 Chamblee Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody Village, about two miles away. Despite reported interest in the space, the former Burger King remains available according to a sales flyer from Brand Properties.
McDonald's closures, while rare, have happened elsewhere in metro Atlanta. In early 2018, McDonald's closed a restaurant at 5220 Buford Highway in Doraville. As ToNeTo Atlanta readers may recall, this closure was quite special as it marked the permanent closure of the oldest McDonald's restaurant in Georgia. The restaurant, which had been completely rebuilt at least twice, first opened in 1961. Amazingly, the restaurant, which like many of the burger chain's, was owned by McDonald's corporate, was demolished a short time after its closure, and as of earlier this year, was sitting barren.
For Dunwoody residents seeking to satisfy their fast food burger cravings, there will remain a second area McDonald's open for business at the corner of Perimeter Center West and Ashford Dunwoody Road, just north of Perimeter Mall.
McDonald's closure in Dunwoody comes as several of its competing burger joints have also recently closed outlets in the greater metro Atlanta area. ToNeTo Atlanta reported Thursday that Hardee's, Burger King and Wendy's closed a total of six Atlanta area restaurants in recent weeks with Hardee's having been the most recent, closing their near 40-year old location on South Main Street in Alpharetta.
Are you surprised that McDonald's is closing this Dunwoody restaurant? What is your favorite fast food burger? What would you like to see open in place of McDonald's in Dunwoody?
Please share your thoughts below.