More than three years after ToNeTo Atlanta first reported that a local Barnes & Noble was being marketed for redevelopment, a new plan has surfaced with a surprising tenant. RaceTrac, which is headquartered just a half mile from the current bookstore, has submitted plans to Cobb County to open a new "showcase store" at the property located at 2952 Cobb Parkway.
The new RaceTrac, roughly four times the size ofthe company's typical units, will feature a convenience store, but could also house a sit-down restaurant, offices, retail, training and meeting space and a chef's kitchen, among other things, according to the filing. "This store will provide RaceTrac a location to try out new services, meet with vendors and have a show case operation for training purposes," the proposal goes on to say.
While large for RaceTrac, the new location is still a fraction of the size of Georgia's two Buc-ee's - located in Warner Robins and Calhoun - which each measure more than 50,000 square feet. The Lake Jackson, Texas-based chain opened a 74,000 square foot location deemed "the world's largest convenience store," earlier this June in Sevierville, Tenn.
The Barnes & Noble property is currently split-zoned "General Commercial" (GC) and "Neighborhood Shopping" (NS) and RaceTrac is seeking to have the property rezoned to "Community Retail Commercial" (CRC) to more easily allow for their plans to move forward. RaceTrac also proposes to retain the three existing driveways including two on Akers Mill Road and one on Cobb Parkway. The proposal is to be heard before Cobb County's Board of Commissioners Planning Commission December 5.
The fact that RaceTrac is based in Cobb County, which like the proposed new location, is situated within the Cumberland CID, combined with the fact that the company plans to re-purpose the building, should make their proposal especially appealing to the Commission.
The 2.4 acre proposed RaceTrac property, located at the southeast corner of Cobb Parkway and Akers Mill Road across from Cumberland Mall, would also include 16 fueling stations and 12 EV charging spots. RaceTrac opened their first EV chargers at a new-ish location in Oxford, Alabama this year. Returning from a visit to Birmingham, we visited the RaceTrac in September and noted the presence of the EV spots, which according to a company release, made their official debut in October.
The Cumberland area, despite having a tremendous amount of vehicular traffic, does not have many fuel providers. A Costco at Cumberland Mall does offer fuel but is rarely without 30+ vehicles queued up waiting for gas. A Costco executive previously told ToNeTo Atlanta that the Cumberland fuel center is their busiest gas station on the east coast. A few years ago, Costco added a pair of pumps, but the addition of the RaceTrac should take some pressure off of the Costco fuel center.
A site plan of the project reviewed by ToNeTo Atlanta indicates that the traditional fueling station will feature the "Piedmont@Dobbs Canopy Spacing Design," likely referencing the small format RaceTrac that opened near Georgia State in downtown Atlanta in late 2019.
A Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar and Raising Cane's were reportedly interested in the Barnes & Noble in 2021 - but for new build, freestanding buildings - but those plans failed to materialize.
The new RaceTrac would be a little more than a mile from an existing location at 2550 Spring Road. The company in 2012 tried unsuccessfully to open a fuel center and convenience store on Powers Ferry Road near Wildwood Center where apartments and a restaurant opened instead. More recently, RaceTrac sought in 2018 to open a new location on Windy Hill Road at Cobb Parkway but ultimately "tabled" their efforts. The site, then home to a Folks restaurant and Chevron gas station, is today home to Goodfellas Pizza Bar & Grill and the Chevron.
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| Typical RaceTrac |
A few miles away from the Barnes & Noble site, RaceTrac eventually opened a new location on a site where rival QuikTrip was forced to sell.
There is no definite timeline for when Barnes & Noble may close but planning documents suggest work on the RaceTrac could start at soon as June 2024.
For its part, Barnes & Noble will continue to operate a dozen stores in metro Atlanta including a new smaller format store that just opened in October where it replaced a former Bed Bath & Beyond at the Avenue East Cobb in East Cobb. In addition to the East Cobb outpost, they include those on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, North Point Parkway in Alpharetta, Perimeter Center West in Dunwoody, Peachtree Parkway in Peachtree Corners and Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw, among others. Barnes & Noble closed their store at the Edgewood Retail District in Atlanta early last year after which off-price retailer Marshalls opened in its place last fall.
Family-owned RaceTrac traces its roots to 1934 and now operates nearly 600 convenience stores and fuel centers across Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Tennessee. According to FORBES, the company is Georgia's second largest private company and saw 2022 sales reach $16.2 billion.
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