Walmart plans to open two new Walmart Neighborhood Market stores in Warner Robins in the coming months. Each store will measure about 42,000 square feet and unlike recent openings in metro Atlanta, each will have gas pumps, too. One location is slated for North Houston Road at Green Street on a parcel that formerly housed The Family Mart. The other location is to be built on previously undeveloped land at Russell Parkway and Lake Joy Road near an existing CVS Pharmacy.
A new QuikTrip is scheduled to open in "about two weeks" at the corner of Georgia 120 and Riverside Parkway in Lawrenceville. The new QT replaces a shuttered Pike Family Nursery and will also mean the closure of an existing QT about a tenth of a mile away, on Riverside Parkway. This move follows similar relocations the c-store has made in Chamblee and Alpharetta.
Pottery Barn has signed a "temporary lease extension" and will remain open at North Point Mall for at least another year. I previously announced the store would be closing January 31st but that information, while correct at the time, has changed.
Williams Sonoma, a store I hinted was likely to leave North Point following the opening of Sur la Table is in fact leaving the mall. Williams Sonoma's last day at North Point will be January 19th.
After a number of delays, the new Pita by the Beirut at Perimeter Village in Dunwoody opened this past Monday. Dunwoody is the third overall location for the Peachtree City-based restaurant.
Handy Ace Hardware has reopened on Lawrenceville Highway at Tucker Town Square in Tucker. The new Handy Ace Hardware is meant to replace the former location at Cowan Road and Lawrenceville Highway that burned to the ground in December 2012. The new location opened a few weeks ago and replaced the shuttered Tucker Flea Market. The Ace store is open and well stocked but still not at 100% and won't be for weeks, if not months, according to an associate at the store. The store was first announced to be relocating to Tucker Town Square in November, 2013, and it's unclear what caused the year plus delay.
Royal Design Fine Jewelry is opening soon in the former salon space at Terminus 100. The jewelry store will hope to find success in a space that has played host to two failed salons, first D.C.-based The Grooming Lounge, and later Alpharetta's William David Salon.
Following heavy renovations, new equipment and new signage, Checkers is nearly ready to reopen near North DeKalb Mall. The twin-drive thru / walk up restaurant closed over a year ago but signaled its interest in reentering the area late last year. After receiving necessary approvals from local government, work on the building began in earnest. The most significant changes diners will notice are a new logo and new, more modern building / accents.
Paper Mill Grill and sibling concept, Ritter's have both closed. Paper Mill Grill was located on Village Parkway, just off Johnson Ferry Road, while Ritter's was not far away on Lower Roswell Road. The two restaurants were owned and operated by husband and wife, Ritter & Brigid Jones. Ritter's was opened in April, 2004 followed by Paper Mill Grill in February, 2008. Locals I spoke with describe the two closed restaurants as "terrible" and "awful" and credited recent East Cobb additions such as Chequers, Common Quarter, Seed and Zeal and catalysts for the closures. One reader saying, "it's not like East Cobb has a ton of great restaurants, but when a few good ones open, the crappy ones will close."
A new Wild Wing Cafe is coming to Hamilton Mill. The Atlanta-based wing joint will open in the former Rick Tanner's Grille & Bar / Field House. Another Wild Wing Cafe is coming soon to Ashford Place in a former Romano's Macaroni Grill on Ashford Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody.
Nancy's Hallmark will soon close its store in the Kroger-anchored Georgetown Shopping Center on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody. The store is reportedly closing because they "can't afford the rent." A liquidation sale will begin Saturday and will continue until the store is cleared out.