Emory Point loses anchor grocery Earth Fare (Roswell, Decatur: lease, insurance)

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

I think it could be much better utilized. There are some wonderful architectural elements on some of the old storefronts, and that is what they should capitalize on. Some of the buildings and storefronts along Oxford and North Decatur are pretty dowdy and need to be updated and brought more in line with the original look of the village when it was created in the late 1920's. it never really recovered from the 1972 fire that took out the Emory Cinema and several other storefronts; they were replaced by that eyesore of a parking lot next to the old Everybody's. There's just too much parking area fronting the streets, and it needs to be relegated to the areas behind the storefronts with only a couple of cuts for ingress and egress. I don't think the greenspace created on the roundabout is really necessary, either.
Back in the time I was growing up there it was much more of a functioning village for the neighborhood than it is now, and had a much more well-rounded retail mix. It even had a Kroger where the CVS is now.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Em...!4d-84.3260189

Some of the void has been filled by Emory University. They have a number of casual lunch restaurants on their quad. There just really isn't enough there in Emory Village. And rents are a problem there. The businesses leaving and/or closing always complain about it.

There aren't many restaurants left-Saba, Double Zero, Lucky's, Jimmy John's, Chipotle, Romeo's, Dave's Cosmic subs and a couple of other places on Oxford.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

Back in the time I was growing up there it was much more of a functioning village for the neighborhood than it is now, and had a much more well-rounded retail mix. It even had a Kroger where the CVS is now.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Em...!4d-84.3260189

Bummer! When did the Emory Kroger close?

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Bummer! When did the Emory Kroger close?

1998

Emory neighbors, faculty and students rally to protest closing of Emory Village Kroger

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

1998

Emory neighbors, faculty and students rally to protest closing of Emory Village Kroger

Durn. Well, I guess it's been 30 years since we lived on that side of town. That was a handy little grocery store back in the day.

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by bu2

The Cuban place is closed now. I'm surprised F2O is still open. Its always pretty empty at night. The fish, Italian and Cuban place were all quite good.

Keiba's and Slice and Pint both recently closed in Emory Village.

The non-student customers are a drastically different crowd than the Village. They draw some from Druid Hills, but most seem to be employees or from elsewhere.

What succeeds in both places seem to cater more to students, sandwich places and burger/bar places like Marlow's Tavern. Other than the people in Emory Point, nobody lives near there. Druid Hills is separated by CDC and the Emory campus. And there's a good stretch of commercial and convoluted intersections before you get to much in the opposite direction. They have to get people to go there as a destination. And people have to know its there, which with that type of development, much is not visible from the street.

Emory Point would have worked much better at Emory Village, but the Historic Association fought any significant changes.

The Cuban place —Papi’s is still open—so if you are in the mood for Cuban/Caribbean don’t forget it’s still there. BTW had lunch at the Mediterranean place-Aladdin’s —place was packed—food was very good, but not really cheap for fast-casual.

[southkakkatlantan]

Originally Posted by jeoff

Earth Fare Grocery at Emory Point is closing this week—not sure if anything is lined up to replace it. Guessing the business space at Emory Point is less than 2/3 full. Jos A Bank men’s store closed a while back, along with the fish place, the burger place, the mismanaged yogurt place, and at lest 2 pizza/Italian restaurants. I think that at least half of those spots are still empty (a Cuban place did replace the fish place)—and those are just the closings that I have paid attention to. The General Muir is the only restaurant there that might warrant a special trip. I think that the apartments are still renting well, and the mixed use complex still seems safe/nice/well-maintained. Still, if the place is only 2/3 full with a healthy economy, what happens when things slow down?
While at Emory village, Everybody’s Pizza’s replacement is now closed. Still, the Village seems to be doing better than the Point.

Didn't even know Everybody's Pizza had closed...when did that happen?

[Thulsa]

Originally Posted by southkakkatlantan

Didn't even know Everybody's Pizza had closed...when did that happen?

Everybody's Pizza closed in 2013. As I understand the story, the owners wanted to retire but could not find anyone to sell it to.

[arjay57]

The restaurants at Emory Point seem to do a lot of daytime business. Every time I'm over there for lunch I run into people I know from other parts of town.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The village is organic, while point is forced.

Originally Posted by Iconographer

Yes, this. Add to that the problem of lousy exposure and connectivity to the street...a problem it shares with another foundering development, Buckhead Atlanta. I believe you and I discussed this problem on another thread, cq.

Y'all are going to tear me apart for saying it, but here it goes:

The Village has tons of door-front parking and is right across the street from the Emory campus. The Point has a couple dozen spots (sandwiched between two large residential buildings) which are likely always full from the residential side, a parking deck behind the residences, and a lot across the street. If you're dropping in for a quick bite, which it seems several of the places at the Point cater to, that is going to be a turn off. It's also about 3/4 mile walk from the closest corner of Emory's campus. While dedicated people may walk that far for a quick bite, most won't.

Originally Posted by cqholt

Emory Point is separated from CDC and Emory's campus by a 4 lane arterial street. Pedestrians may not feel comfortable crossing.

So, pedestrians may not feel comfortable crossing a 4-lane road at signalized intersections, but a non-signalized 5-way roundabout and other non-signalized busy roads are all fine? Yeah, not buying that.

This is about location and parking ability, I'm sure.

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

Y'all are going to tear me apart for saying it, but here it goes:

The Village has tons of door-front parking and is right across the street from the Emory campus. The Point has a couple dozen spots (sandwiched between two large residential buildings) which are likely always full from the residential side, a parking deck behind the residences, and a lot across the street. If you're dropping in for a quick bite, which it seems several of the places at the Point cater to, that is going to be a turn off. It's also about 3/4 mile walk from the closest corner of Emory's campus. While dedicated people may walk that far for a quick bite, most won't.



So, pedestrians may not feel comfortable crossing a 4-lane road at signalized intersections, but a non-signalized 5-way roundabout and other non-signalized busy roads are all fine? Yeah, not buying that.

This is about location and parking ability, I'm sure.

Never had a problem parking at Emory Point (it might be a problem if the place were ever 100% leased, but it has probably never hit 75%). I just think it is probably a little too much, currently, at least a building too much—to get much more than that a restaurant or business has to be something special, or very well run, or small with very low overhead, or just a very good fit for the area.

Crossing the street is not stopping the CDC folks who want to spend Emory Point sort of money for lunch—it is easier for me to get to the Point, than it is to get to my car on campus. But, it is too expensive for most folks to eat there too often, and then there are some folks that just would rather eat at their desks anyway—I think that folks are just overestimating how many potential lunch customers are at the CDC.

Parking at the village, can be a little more difficult—overall there is a good bit of parking—but it is divided up among specific stores —so there is not enough at Panera bread or any of the stores south of N. Decatur (except for Everybody’s)—that’s why they have to do valet parking there sometimes). And, if you park at Chipotle and later walk accross the street for an ice cream, they say that is tow-worthy.