Brookwood Kroger Shutting Down (Atlanta, Peachtree City: sublease, tenant, closing)

[koko339]

Kroger closing Brookwood store | Atlanta Business Chronicle

...to be replaced by Sam Flax, which will be closing its Westside location.

[arjay57]

Dang, that was one of niftiest little urban grocery stores in town. Hard to believe they had declining sales.

[testa50]

This is an age-old strategy Kroger has. When you have a few stores near one another, close the smallest/middle one and consolidate. To prevent a competitor from opening shop in your wake, sign an agreement with a non-grocer to fill the space after you leave. My cynical view is that Kroger is just doing this to cut costs and get a bump at the Ansley and Howell Mill stores. They will lose some market share but boost profits.

In Peachtree City they did the same thing a few years back. There were three Krogers--one in North PTC, one in the middle, and one in the south. Besides a Publix on the eastern outskirts of the city, they were the only gig in town. Well, they suddenly announced they were going to close the middle one and sublease the space to, of all things, a Goodwill. They painted it as a charitable move or something. The developer was supposedly unable to prevent the Goodwill from opening in a sublease, which seems impossible to me, but that's beside the point. People got uberpissed and Kroger just decided to leave the store open when all was said and done.

It would be supremely awesome if Trader Joe's would open another location there (now THAT is a profitable grocer), but of course Kroger has been in the game too long to let that happen.

[koko339]

Trader Joes isn't too far up Peachtree from this location, no? While it is sad that this node is losing a grocer, I am glad there is already another tenant lined up.

[LynnHarris]

@koko339, thanks for sharing this news -- and also thanks to "testa50" for providing insight into Kroger's business strategy, because I had always wondered why that Kroger closed in Fayette county.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by LynnHarris

@koko339, thanks for sharing this news -- and also thanks to "testa50" for providing insight into Kroger's business strategy, because I had always wondered why that Kroger closed in Fayette county.

Did it finally close? I know it stayed open longer than they said it would. edit: here is an article from the incident:

http://archive.thecitizen.com/node/20635

People didn't care about the store closing--what they hated was that Kroger was trying to block another grocer from entering by putting in a thrift store.


And yeah, Trader Joe's is roughly 3 miles north of there. I just know the 10th street one is always so packed that opening a new one (with more parking) would probably not be a terrible move.

[DTL3000]

I'm not all that excited about having a Sam Flax there but I suppose it's better than nothing. I saw where the Aveda Institute is moving into the old Borders. I have no idea if the Buckhead location is closing.

I don't know why that Kroger struggled. The closest one is Ansley or Howell Mill and those are both a huge pain to get to during rush hour.

[Iconographer]

Sad for the SCAD students (my daughter included). Many of them don't drive and depended on that store. But having Sam Flax within walking distance will be a good thing.

[midtown mile girl]

Originally Posted by DTL3000

I'm not all that excited about having a Sam Flax there but I suppose it's better than nothing. I saw where the Aveda Institute is moving into the old Borders. I have no idea if the Buckhead location is closing.

I don't know why that Kroger struggled. The closest one is Ansley or Howell Mill and those are both a huge pain to get to during rush hour.

The buckhead Borders is closing. If Kroger had actually put in some time and effort into that store, it would have survived. It looked neglected and it was not as upscale as it should have been. Also, it lacked a Peachtree entrance into the store, which would have helped.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by midtown mile girl

Also, it lacked a Peachtree entrance into the store, which would have helped.

I have never understood why so many stores in Atlanta don't have doors on the street.

I've also never understood why Atlanta businesses tend to put their parking lots up front and the actual businesses in the back. You can still have a car oriented culture -- just put the parking lots behind. That's one thing I've always liked about this Brookwood shopping center.