Signs of Life At Phipps Plaza, Vince Opening This Spring

After experiencing relatively high number of vacancies with a number of large tenants either closing or relocating, Phipps Plaza has recently added two new retailers to its mall offerings. A few weeks ago K-La opened; now I have learned that Vince will be opening this April and will occupy 1,700 s.f. on the second level near Center Court. While K-La is nothing special, ( a mini Blue Genes if you will), Vince is a nice addition to the mall. The Phipps Location will be the brands 13th location nationwide and is one of many the retailer hopes to open in the next 12-18 months. This past year retail stores were opened in Los Angeles, New York City, Dallas, San Francisco, Orlando, and Boca Raton at Boca Town Center, another SIMON property. The company plans to expand its retail efforts with additional international locations, beginning with a retail store in London. Already sold at department stores such as Bloomingdale's and local boutiques such as Sandpiper, Vince is a mere 7 years old but has become a favorite amongst fashionistas and celebrities alike. Based in Los Angeles, Vince was launched by Rea Laccone and Christopher LaPolice whom had worked together at Laundry in the 90's started Vince "to be the antithesis of a big fashion business." With a price-point above that of some mid scale lines such as J. Crew and below designer labels like Burberry and Marc Jacobs, the line has carved out a good nice in the womens ready to wear market and is making inroads with the newer men's line. The brand’s current offerings have grown to include leatherwear, trousers, detailed tops and outerwear with plans in the coming year for swimwear, handbags, loungewear and shoes.
ToNeTo Atlanta!

Former My Panini to Become BobbyG's Chicago Eatery

The former My Panini at Lindbergh City Center will re-open as BobbyG's Chicago Eatery early next year. One of two concepts thus far to fail in the Lindbergh City Center, My Panini lasted about a year before it closed and neighbor eatery Hot Stix didn't fare much better, closing shortly thereafter. BobbyG's hopes to fill a niche not currently served in the area. Similar to its original location in Alpharetta, the eatery will offer sandwiches as well as "Chicago style" pizzas and hot dogs. With Urban Flats next door offering some pizza, BobbyG's will offer more variety at a lower price point. Urban Flats seems not quite sure what they want to be with prices ranging from the single digits to over $20 for main entree items. Urban Flats seems destined for closure in the first quarter of 2010 unless a new reduced lease is signed. With so many of the nearby condos and apartments empty, the upscale restaurants in the area are having an especially tough time keeping tables filled and the doors open. BobbyG's is capable of competing if not thriving in the area if they can deliver a quality product and higher properly. ToNeTo Atlanta

lululemon Strikes A Pose In Buckhead, Opening November 13th

Canadian yoga apparel company lululemon will open their first boutique in Atlanta next week. After talk of a Buckhead location for what seemed like years, it's finally having its Grand Opening Friday, November 13th. With a showroom in Virginia Highlands, a Buckhead boutique was said to be coming to Ben Carter's The Streets of Buckhead, but with SOB in limbo, it seems as though lululemon just could not wait any longer to supply Buckhead Betties with super comfortable and curve loving yoga and workout apparel. The retailer has selected a prime location for their new boutique, a couple doors down from the Coca-Cola Roxy theatre in a space that was most recently occupied by the short-lived shopSCAD retail store. ToNeTo Atlanta

Alert The Mainstream Media! H&M Opening At Cumberland Mall

After I broke the news June 2 that Swedish retailer H&M would open its fifth Atlanta store at Cumberland Mall this Fall, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta Business Chronicle have finally picked up the story as well. Announcing yesterday that the store will open November 19 in Cumberland Mall, both media outlets were nearly five months late on breaking the news. Similar to previous Atlanta store openings, the first 100 shoppers in line will receive an Access to Fashion gift pass valued from $10-$100. Though the number of gift passes as well as their maximum value has deceased by two thirds since the original Atlanta store openings last year, its still a smart promo to get people out and shopping. Additionally, though each source reports that the retailer will introduce the new Jimmy Choo for H&M line on November 14th, neither makes it clear that no Atlanta area store will be one of the "select locations" to carry this line. In the United States the Jimmy Choo line will be available in five stores in New York, four stores in California and one store in Chicago. ToNeTo Atlanta

STELLA Down Like Its Neighbors In Oakland Cemetary

STELLA Pasta Pizza Spirits in Grant Park will be closing at years end. STELLA, the sister restaurant of Osteria 832 Pizza & Pasta from VaHi opened in March of 2008, but never really caught on in the neighborhood. An original member of the "Deathwatch" on my previous site, the restaurant just did not fit with the area. Rich Chey of HomeGrown Restaurants will replace STELLA with his successful Asian concept, Doc Chey's Noodle House in February. ToNeTo Atlanta

LOLA Out, Cantina In At Terminus

LOLA, currently described by Here To Serve as a Mediterranean concept, will finally be re-concepted. Since opening in 2007, LOLA was recently re-labeled to offer Mediterranean cuisine rather than simply Italian, but it seems that was not enough to save the concept. "Cantina," set to open early in the first quarter of 2010, will be a Mexican style restaurant with some elements borrowed from sister eatery Noche. Similar to what Riccardio Ullio did with the re-concepting of his midtown eatery Cuerno to La Lupe Taqueria, the prices at Cantina will be lower and the atmosphere a little more ethnic that LOLA's. With luck, these changes will be enough to save the space, but the problem may be just as much the location as it is the food. Cousin's Terminus has been a disappointment to all, with a number or closures already at the development, not even two years old. Many Buckhead residents are not pleased with the parking and valet situation and the "wind tunnel" of sorts that forms in the breezeway between the towers. I wish Tom and the rest of the Here To Serve team the best of luck with the new concept, but it will definitely be an uphill battle. ToNeTo Atlanta

Iconic Mednikow Prepares to Leave Phipps Plaza

Mednikow is shuttering its Phipps Plaza location. In business for over a century, its current location on the second level of Phipps Plaza in Buckhead is to close by year end. Although they initially thought of relocating elsewhere, store owners have opted to just close the store and consider reopening elsewhere when the economy recovers. Their second location in Memphis, Tennessee remains open as does their e-commerce site. Phipps vacancies are starting to add up with large openings where the former Niketown and GAP and later Harold's were located. There has been speculation recently that Barney's New York Co-Op may be on its last leg, and the plastering of promotional materials about the store at Lenox and Phipps only makes that more believable. ToNeTo Atlanta

Vendor Huts, A Good Idea Gone Horribly Wrong

Walking near Woodruff Park last week, I noticed a number of new green huts being installed and was curious as to their purpose. Now I wish I didn't know! The city of Atlanta has contracted with General Growth Properties Inc. to handle what is being called the city's "on-street vending program." Yes, that's the same General Growth Properties that filed the largest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history this past April. Locally, General Growth owns North Point, Cumberland and Perimeter malls but this is an especially strange move for the city. A city that is strapped for cash and facing budget cuts left and right contracts with a financially unstable company to manage a new program. I'm not even a city of Atlanta resident, and I have serious questions about this decision. The icing on the cake though, is that many of the items I have seen hawked in these city-owned kiosks are counterfeit designer goods and cheap knock-offs. The million dollar restrooms were bad enough, does the city really need to spend money on projects like this? To their defense, revenue is said to be generated through the sale of ad space on 3 panels per kiosk, but how profitable a venture this will turn out to be is questionable. Thus far, Absolut, BEBE and Levi's ads have been spotted, interestingly though, this was on units not currently in use. (As of today, both the apparel advertisers have had their ads removed)

City officials are looking to the company to bring a standardized look to what is now a mess of vending stands, and to impose quality standards on the merchandise vendors sell. (though this aspect seems to have been overlooked thus far) In an Atlanta Business Chronicle editorial in August, several major Atlanta hospitality officials voiced their support for the city's proposed vending program. This week, Atlanta will come one step closer to replacing Mayor Shirley Franklin. What will Norwood, Reed or Borders do with this program?

When the first phase of installation is complete, there are to be 20 kiosk units in the downtown area, including locations near the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coke. The units are designed and installed by Stak Design, a Texas-based firm specializing in custom design and fabrication of retail merchandising units, specifically for the shopping center and trade show industries.

All of the kiosk units will include three advertising panels. The kiosk advertising will be managed by Cemusa, a global leader in the management of street furniture advertising in more than 160 cities around the world. ToNeTo Atlanta

The Havana Restaurant Crisis

After nearly a year's absence, Havana Sandwich shop is being resurrected, strangely though, this is occurring in two different locations. Havana sandwich shop is set to reopen in the Crossroads Village Shopping Center... or is it? Two separate restaurants are set to open on Buford Highway, both named Havana Restaurant and both claiming to be the resurrected location of the original eatery at Druid Hills and Buford Highway that burned to the ground just over a year ago. Each restaurant even duplicates the iconic palm tree that extended the "v" in Havana. The location at the Crossroads Shopping Center (Buford Highway at Clairmont Road- pictured above) is being opened by Debbie Benedit and the location at Northeast Plaza (pictured below) is being opened by William Benedit. Just so we are clear, Debbie was co-founder of the original Havana Sandwich Shop with her late husband Eddie, William is a relative of Eddies. Mrs. Benedit's store is scheduled to open Today whereas Mr. Benedit is looking at opening January 1st. Both locations are within 3 miles of the original, though Mr. Benedit may have the advantage of being in a larger space in an established shopping center in the former Cafe Mex (originally built as a Long John Silvers), Mrs. Benedit's location is smaller and is surrounded by empty storefronts, so she won't have the benefit built-in traffic. One bright spot: the Crossroads Village Shopping Center is home to the south's most successful and high traffic El Pollo Loco location as well as one of metro Atlanta's few Aldi locations. ToNeTo Atlanta