After nearly two years in business, Kefi is closing in Buckhead. Backed by Chick-fil-A and described as a "modern family club," Kefi opened at the landmark Buckhead Triangle shopping center in August 2019. The concept - toy store, coffee shop, co-working and daycare - all in one roughly 29,000 square foot "playtainment" space, was created by Red Wagon Ventures, an incubator funded by Chick-fil-A. The concept seemed far-fetched from the start, and perhaps tried to be too much.
Drew Panayiotou, a veteran advertising and marketing executive with Disney, BBDO, Best Buy and Coca-Cola, among others, was the concept's co-creator and served as CEO of Kefi and also President & Managing Partner of Red Wagon Ventures. According to his LinkedIn profile, Panayiotou departed the business this past October to become Chief Marketing Officer at Verily Life Sciences, an Alphabet Company.
Panayiotou's departure followed the departure of David Williams, VP, Marketing and Commercialization, who after helping to get the concept off the ground, left Kefi and returned to Chick-fil-A in October 2019 according to his LinkedIn profile.
Corey Wardell, who had been hired away from Atlanta-based co-working business Roam where he served as Director of Finance, was originally hired as VP, Finance & Operations at Kefi. This past January, Wardell was promoted to Co-founder and CEO while Nathan McFarland, originally VP, Head of Technology, was also promoted to Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer this past January, according to their respective LinkedIn profiles.
Xander Coffee, named for Panayiotou's son, was perhaps the most popular element of the concept. Featuring not only Counter Culture Coffee, but also Emerald City Bagels and a mini Lucky Lotus smoothie and açai bowl counter, Xander attracted the neighborhood and became a gathering spot in ways that Kefi could not.
In a message posted to the Kefi website that announces the May 22 closure, the company stops short of blaming COVID-19 for the closure but seems to suggest its timing - so soon after Kefi first opened - was a contributing factor.
"Like everyone, we never could have predicted that a global pandemic would force us to temporarily close after 6 months of operation. When we cautiously reopened after several months of lockdown, we weren’t sure anyone would show up again. But we were overwhelmed with the support of our families and will never forget how our community showed up for us."
Kefi's closure brings a significant vacancy to Buckhead. Buckhead Triangle owner Selig Enterprises has in years past backfilled the former two-level Borders Books & Music space with a relocated The Container Store and an Xfinity store, as well as leasing to Nova Sushi in a portion of the downsized FedEx Office, adjacent to Kefi.
When Kefi opened, it brought life to the sprawling space that had been sitting vacant since May 2017 when electronics retailer hhgregg shuttered all stores after filing for bankruptcy. hhgregg had itself replaced bankrupt electronics retailer Circuit City when it opened in 2012.
At least one grocer had in the past looked at the current Kefi space but was reportedly turned off by the high rent and inferior visibility of the Wieuca Road facing building.
Are you surprised to see Kefi close? Did you ever visit Kefi? What would you like to see open in place of Kefi in Buckhead?
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