Regional grocer Ingles closed one of its many suburban Atlanta area stores earlier this month. The store, located at 1221 Dacula Road in Dacula (Hamilton Mill) in Gwinnett County, closed as of January 4. Locals were reportedly warned a few days ahead of the planned closure but no reason for its shutter was provided.
Elmer Ingle opened the first Ingles in Asheville in 1963. In the years that followed, Ingle grew his business largely by focusing on smaller towns and suburban communities. Following the Dacula closure, the Asheville, North Carolina-based grocer will operate about 50 stores in Georgia, and roughly 200 around the southeast.
The grocery chain's remaining presence in Georgia includes stores in Acworth, Cartersville, Carrollton, Covington, Dawsonville, Douglasville, Fayetteville, Peachtree Corners, Lilburn, Loganville, and Stone Mountain, among others.
A new large format Onelife Fitness is planned in place of the former Dacula grocery store. The McLean. Virginia-based fitness club, which was acquired in October by private equity firm 26 North, already has more than a dozen locations across Georgia, including existing facilities in Lawrenceville and Cumming.
In years past, Ingles has closed several stores in the greater metro Atlanta area including:
3530 Highway 20 SE in Conyers, which is now a Food Depot
2546 Powder Springs Road in Austell, which was demolished
4400 Hugh Howell Road in Tucker, which is now partially occupied by a Goodwill thrift store
2700 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in Suwanee, which is now a Super H Mart
10010 Highway 92 in Woodstock, which is now Stars & Strikes, a bowling facility
1090 Buford Road in Cumming
1050 Grayson Highway in Lawrenceville, which is set to become a new Gwinnett County Records Management and Storage Facility
1154 Lawrenceville Highway in Lawrenceville, with a potential fitness club replacement coming this year
Are you surprised that Ingles decided to close its store in Dacula? Where do you do most of your grocery shopping? What is your favorite grocery store?
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