According to a company release, it will be the fifth Warby Parker store in Georgia, joining locations in Buckhead, Westside Atlanta, Ponce City Market and Perimeter Mall.
The East Cobb store will be in Suite 205, between the Versona store and Ansley Atlanta Real Estate.
Warby Parker offers customers eye exams and sells a full line of optical eyewear and sunglasses, as well as contact lenses and accessories.
The store also features custom artwork by Atlanta artist and muralist George F. Baker III.
Opening hours for The Avenue East Cobb Warby Parker store are 11-7 Monday-Saturday and 12-6 Sunday.
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A handful of public electric vehicle charging stations in East Cobb are primarily centered along Johnson Ferry Road.
The latest are at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, where two free Volta charging stations have been installed in the corner of the parking lot closest to the East Cobb Library.
They provide a Level 2 charge, delivering 6.2 to 19.2 kilowatts, requiring a 208-240 Volt, 40 Amp circuit.
According to Evocharge, an EV charging station manufacturer, a Level 2 charge typically provides 32 miles of driving range per hour of charge, and takes an estimated 6-8 hours to fully charge.
Most electric vehicles are equipped with a Level 1 charge that provides a 1.2 kilowatt charge using a common household 120-volt circuit and provides typically four hours of driving range per hour of charge. The estimated time for a full charge is 11-20 hours.
Based in San Francisco, Volta has nearly 3,000 free EV charging stations across the country, including nearly 200 in metro Atlanta. Volta also has installed six chargers at Six Flags Whitewater and four at Town Center at Cobb.
Other EV charging stations in East Cobb charge customers to use their stations.
SemaConnect has installed two Level 2 stations at Woodlawn Point Shopping Center (1100 Johnson Ferry Road) that costs $1.50 an hour.
The same cost applies for two Level 2 chargers at the Koala Express Shell Station (1280 Johnson Ferry Road).
At Merchants Walk (1311 Johnson Ferry Road), there are two ChargePoint Level 2 chargers at the front entrance to the Kohl’s department store. The cost is $1.25 an hour.
The AAA Car Care Plus at 1197 Johnson Ferry Road has two EVGo Level 3 chargers. Those are considered the fastest chargers. An EVGo membership is required, and there are various levels of charging rates available.
Charge Hub, which helps EV drivers find charging stations, has created an interactive map. Other East Cobb-area EV stations include the Walgreens at 2975 Delk Road, the Franklin Gateway Sports Complex and GE Complex at Wildwood Office Park.
EV owners are encouraged to check with each charging station provider for availability, pricing and reservations before heading to the pumps.
Rivian, which received more than $1.5 billion in state tax incentives in the largest industrial project in Georgia, has drawn opposition for environmental reasons, and from locals who don’t want their rural way of life to be affected.
California recently became the first state in the country to ban the production of gasoline-fueled vehicles, by 2035, and other states could follow suit.
Georgia is not among those states that have tied state laws to federal vehicle emissions standards.
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Amid the sounds of tinkling champagne classes and a jazz band, East Cobbers, local dignitaries and shop owners at The Avenue East Cobb gathered Thursday afternoon to kick off a new era for the major retail center.
As an honorary wrecking ball—signed by many of the attendees—slammed into a window of the former Bravura store, and green and white confetti rained down on what will be a public plaza.
Guests were shown renderings of what will be the The Avenue East Cobb’s public plaza and other redevelopment features.
Cobb commissioners in June approved a site plan change at The Avenue, which is being managed by North American Properties, developer of Avalon and redeveloper of Atlantic Station and Colony Square.
East Cobb-area representatives Jerica Richardson and JoAnn Birrell spoke, and were given the honors of taking sledgehammers to the windows.
Commissioners Jerica Richardson and JoAnn Birrell with representatives of North American Properties, including CEO Tim Perry (center).
The Avenue East Cobb opened in 1999, and much like its other projects, NAP wants it to become a “destination” location, not just for shopping, but dining, entertainment and congregating with friends and family.
The redevelopment is expected to be complete by early next year.
Serving champagne on stilts.Signing the wrecking ball.
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After receiving a $27 million bond issue from the Development Authority of Cobb County, the fragrance and flavor company Arylessence announced Tuesday it’s expanding its campus in Northeast Cobb.
The bonds—and nearly $1.5 million in tax abatements over the next decade—were approved after Arylessence announced the construction of a new 54.000-square-foot building.
According to a release issued by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, the new facility will include greater manufacturing capacity, a receiving facility, office spaces and other amenities.
The project will create an additional 30 jobs for Arylessence, which moved to its present facility at 1091 Lake Drive—near the intersection of Canton Road and Jamerson Road—in 1986, after starting out in Smyrna in the late 1970s.
Arylessence “creates and manufactures custom fragrances and flavors for products in the personal care, pharmaceutical, home fragrance, food and beverage and industrial and institutional markets,” according to the Chamber, selling products in 57 countries.
Arylessence last expanded in 2018 with the opening of its Fragrance Research and Development Center.
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Tony Frese, vice president of business development, Lockheed-Martin Corp. and a Walton HS graduate.
What could be the largest package of bond and tax incentives in the history of the Development Authority of Cobb County was explained to the Cobb Board of Education Thursday.
There were a lot of “ifs” and “woulds” mentioned by officials from the Development Authority and the Lockheed Martin Corp. during a board work session.
That’s because Lockheed has only bid for a wide range of federal defense contracts that the company said could net Cobb government and schools more than $51 million in additional tax revenue over 26 years.
The proposal is codenamed “Project Mike.” Next week Lockheed will formally request the Development Authority’s approval of $1.6 billion in bonds and tax abatements, contingent upon a decision expected in the next few months by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Proposed tax abatements also come to the school board as a courtesy and don’t require a vote.
During the presentation, Tony Frese, Lockheed’s vice president of business development, told school board members that the federal projects it is seeking entail “next generation air dominance” and include classified high-tech work.
He rattled off some of the aeronautics’ giants current projects, noting that “some day they will come to an end . . . and we have to secure our future.”
Frese boasted of being a graduate of Walton High School, which gave him opportunities to attend Georgia Tech, become an aerospace engineer and work for Lockheed for 37 years.
He said that if Lockheed gets the contracts, it could add between 500 to more than 3,000 jobs by 2042.
When Frese was asked by vice chairman David Banks about the disparity in those figures, he said they depend on how many federal contracts Lockheed may receive.
The contracts would enable Lockheed, he said, “to attract the very best in aerospace engineers and talent and a wide spectrum of other high-tech opportunities.”
These opportunities, Frese said, “have been real for me, and with your support they will be real for many generations to come.”
Lockheed also would be spending more than $400 million to upgrade its Marietta plant on South Cobb Drive to accommodate the new workforce and projects.
When companies seek tax breaks from the Cobb Development Authority, they usually take place over a 10-year period.
Should Lockheed receive the contracts, those breaks would extend over 26 years, authority executive director Nelson Geter told the board.
“It’s beneficial to begin the abatement when the capital investment is to start,” Geter said, referring to the $400 million. “That’s why you’re seeing a 26-year cycle, instead of a 10-year cycle, because the last expenses associated with this project will occur 16 years after the original period [expires].
“It’s not a common but a proper process that we use when major capital investments are made over a period of time instead of one capital investment up front.”
Authority board member Clark Hungerford said the body wants to do “whatever we can do to assist [Lockheed] in setting up the bid to be as competitive as possible.”
Board chairman David Chastain, a proposal analyst for Lockheed, recused himself from the discussion.
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The Music Studio Atlanta, which offers music lessons to youths and adults, is opening a second location in East Cobb in September.
The new studio is located at the Pavilions of East Lake Shopping Center (2100 Roswell Road Suite 1128) and there will be a continuous open house starting on Monday up until the formal opening.
The business offers lessons in a wide range of instruments and includes a lounge, a professional front desk staff and performance opportunities.
Lessons will be offered seven days a week from fully credentialed musical teachers and the studio is “fully stocked” with instruments and sheet music.
The Music Studio Atlanta opened in Vinings in 2011 as a division of the Courtnay and Rowe in-home music academy.
The open houses will take place Monday-Saturday from 2-6 p.m. until the studio officially opens on Sept. 6.
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Dr. Melissa Wikoff, the founder and director of audiology at Peachtree Hearing in East Cobb, has been named a Next Generation Award winner by Cobb Young Professionals.
CYP is the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s networking and development arm for professionals in their 20s and 30s. Wikoff leads her own practice in addressing issues regarding hearing loss at 4939 Lower Roswell Road and is involved in the field nationally.
According to the Cobb Chamber, “CYP award winners and nominees are all in their 20s or 30s, active within their community, demonstrate leadership ability in the community and in their current role, and offer a unique perspective.”
Wikoff—pictured with fellow NGA recipient Jon Ingram, Director of Corporate Relations at the Woodruff Arts Center—opened Peachtree Hearing in 2016.
She is on the board of directors on the national level for the American Tinnitus Association (ATA) and at the local level for Aloha to Aging, an East Cobb-based non-profit that helps seniors and their caregivers.
Wikoff mentors students at the Washington University School of Medicine, where she earned her Doctor of Audiology degree, and founded a program called Hearing Aids for Holocaust Survivors.
She donates hearing aids and services to survivors in the metro Atlanta area and was recently honored with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s Jewish Abilities Alliance’s Very-Inclusive-Person award for her work with local hard-of-hearing community.
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On Wednesday, the store (2745 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 156) will start a four-day official Grand Opening with a ribbon-cutting at 3 p.m.
Owner LaVonya Williams-Tensley said that there will be special savings and prizes through Saturday (see flyer for more).
Like the original location in South Cobb, All Things Inspiration offers a variety of Bibles, Christian books, church supplies, Bible study materials, Christian greeting cards, Christian-themed gifts and more.
Williams-Tensley also said the store, which has meeting space, will host Bible study groups, book clubs, story times, author signings and other events.
“We are so excited to be blessed with the opportunity to make Marietta the home of our second store,” she said. “It is a privilege to serve God by serving the community with an enjoyable shopping experience, great customer service and access to an assortment of life changing resources.”
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There hasn’t been an official announcement other than what’s covering up the windows as renovations continue:
A J. Crew Factory store is coming to Merchants Walk (1311 Johnson Ferry Road).
It’s taking the former Calico Homes space, between the relocated Verizon Wireless spot and the Old Navy store.
Edens, the retail center owner, doesn’t comment on when its tenants are opening, and we’ve reached out to J. Crew for more information.
J. Crew Factory has metro Atlanta locations in Woodstock, Locust Grove, Lenox Square and Perimeter Mall. There’s also a J. Crew men’s store at Ponce City Market.
Set to open this month at Merchants Walk is a Perspire Sauna Studio, in the former Bar Method space. It’s a national chain with existing locations in Sandy Springs, Buckhead and Virginia-Highland, with another opening soon in Alpharetta.
Perspire is is providing updates about the East Cobb location on its Instagram page.
Remodeling is continuing for the Marshalls store where Stein Mart used to be, and while there is a Marshalls sign at the Johnson Ferry Road entrance to Merchants Walk, there still hasn’t been an official announcement.
Taking up a portion of the old Stein Mart store is a new Sleep Galleria store, and Cobb records indicate it’s received a business license.
There’s still no signage up over both of those forthcoming retailers.
First Watch update
Just down the road a bit, a former Wells Fargo Bank has been leveled at the Shops at Woodlawn (1062 Johnson Ferry Road) and will be the site for a freestanding First Watch restaurant.
A reader asked about this last week, and we can add that Cobb County has granted the breakfast and lunch restaurant a beer and wine pouring license.
First Watch hasn’t announced an opening date, as the construction of the new building is just getting underway.
Pure Barre, a gym and fitness center, will be opening soon in the space formerly occupied by the Draisen-Edwards Music Center, near McCray’s Tavern.
Pure Barre also is a franchise and its opening will make four fitness-oriented businesses at Parkaire, along with Anytime Fitness, Pro Martial Arts and CycleBar.
Pure Barre is updating its pre-opening events on its Facebook page, including a private class and shopping event on Aug. 21 at the Athleta store at Merchants Walk.
There also two “pop up” Pure Barre events Aug. 13 and Aug. 27 at 9 a.m. in front of the new studio.
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The Avenue East Cobb (4475 Roswell Road) has announced that it will have a groundbreaking celebration to kick off redevelopment plans on Aug. 25.
The event takes place from 5-7 p.m. on that date in the Central Lot, in front of what had been the Bravura store, with live music, “lite bites” and beverages.
The groundbreaking is free and open to the public and RSVPs can be made by clicking here. Guests may still be able to walk up and receive complimentary entry the day of the event, but they’re encouraged to sign up in advance.
Cobb commissioners in June approved a site plan change at The Avenue, which is being managed by North American Properties, developer of Avalon and redeveloper of Atlantic Station and Colony Square.
The Central Lot area is the focal point of the “jewel box” plans that include a public plaza with a live music and performance stage, restaurant and retail space and concierge service.
Bravura is relocating to the Alpharetta area, and The Avenue has moved its on-site offices there.
As we also reported earlier, a couple of restaurant/food changes are taking place at The Avenue, with Stockyard Burgers & Bones closing, and New York Butcher Shoppe opening in the fall, next to the J. Jill store.
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The sign’s been up on what had been Zoës Kitchen for several weeks now, as an East Cobb location of Cava Grill is getting closer to opening.
Last week the new Mediterranean fast casual restaurant received an occupational license from the Cobb Business License Division.
When we checked with Cava earlier this month, they said they didn’t have a specific opening date.
We followed up Monday with another request and here’s what we got back:
“Unfortunately, we don’t have an exact opening time set yet, but we’re aiming for soon. Be sure to follow us at @cava (https://twitter.com/cava) for all of our updates and announcements!”
Cava Group Inc., the parent company of Cava and Zoës, has been replacing the latter with the former concept in a number of locations, including metro Atlanta.
The East Cobb location at Merchants Exchange Shopping Center (4400 Roswell Road, Suite 157) totals nearly 3,000 square feet, according to a directory map of Columbia Properties, the center’s owner.
The Cava chain started in Maryland in 2011 and there are currently 133 locations across the country. There are 15 in metro Atlanta and Athens, including the Cumberland and Town Center mall areas, all of which were former Zoës locations that converted starting last year.
The menu (you can check it out here) includes a variety of “build your own” meal combinations, including salads, grains, dips and spreads, falafel, chicken, lamb, meatballs, roasted vegetables and Mediterranean-style toppings and dressings.
Cava also sells some of its product line at Whole Foods and other food retailers.
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“Southern Born…Southern Bred…And today because of you, Janis Holland…I am well and Southern fed! Yum! Thank you…. Holland Botanical!” wrote a customer.
For East Cobb resident Janis Holland, simply delivering fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables to her customers isn’t enough.
She likes to show what they do with the food they get from her mom-and-pop service, Holland Botanical, every week.
Holland also takes photos of meals she’s prepared for herself and her family, including most recently a bowl of peaches and cream oatmeal with grainless granola and honey.
“It really makes you feel good to know you’re doing a good job,” Holland says of the testimonials she’s received from customers.
For nearly nine years, she and her husband Jonathan have been serving the East Cobb, Roswell and Woodstock area, initially in a weekend pop-up format, and since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily home delivery.
A mixed vegetable and fruit basket arranged by Holland Botanical.
They’ve also put their sons, former and current football players at Pope High School, to work in what’s become something of a family business.
“It was a side hustle, but we wanted it to be something bigger,” said Holland, whose husband still runs a landscaping business. “We saw a need in the community for produce.”
Like any such entity, Holland Botanical has had to adapt quickly and in dramatic ways.
She said she switched from Saturday set-ups at the Shallowford Falls Shopping Center because “people here are busy on the weekends and they just couldn’t get here.”
She still does some pop-ups tied to community fundraisers and some seasonal mobile farmers markets at select locations in Atlanta.
But she reflects on the original format now as “a great idea at the wrong time.”
The overhead for a full-time farmers market is prohibitive, so going to an all-delivery format—with free delivery to ZIP Codes 30062, 30066, 30067, 30068, 30075 and part of 30188—has made the work she does more efficient.
“Everything stopped,” Holland said, referring to the onset of the pandemic, “and we rebooted it.”
Now it’s a full-time job for her, serving typically between 75-100 customers a week. They fill out their orders on her website by Monday afternoon, and she delivers Tuesday and Wednesday.
Holland travels once or twice a week to the State Farmers Market in Forest Park, filling out orders that include separate fruit and vegetable baskets and a combined fruit-veggie basket. She chooses some of the items based on availability and seasonality, and customers can make special requests.
Janis and Jonathan Holland with the Wit’s End Llama at The Bishop apartments in Sandy Springs, where Holland Botanical holds a seasonal mobile farmers market.
Holland Botanical charges $25 for a basket, which contains enough food for a typical family supply for a week. The emphasis is on Georgia-grown products, including items from other suppliers.
“We want to make it affordable to eat healthy,” Holland said.
While her delivery service is free, she does have a place on her order form for customers to add a gasoline tip, which she said is very helpful in times of soaring fuel prices.
While the margins are tight and the nature of a fresh produce delivery service remains fluid, she’s convinced this type of business is viable.
Despite the reality of the pivots she’s had to make, Holland’s passion for what she does hasn’t subsided.
“I don’t think we could sustain an à la carte menu,” she said. “But I believe in getting healthy food into peoples’ hands.”
While some remain careful accepting their food due to COVID concerns, “our customers are just so happy to see us.”
Holland also gives back to the community by donating leftover food to those who need it.
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The Parkaire Landing location of Earthwise Pet Supply store in East Cobb will be closing its doors for good on Saturday.
The store posted a social media notice earlier this month saying that “the odds were against us in this market. Inflation has risen so high, we are unable to keep up with current market rent rates.”
The store has been open for seven years, and in addition to providing wholistic and natural pet supplies and treats also has offered grooming and self-washing services.
Everything in the store is 30 percent off and grooming services also are being offered at a discount. The store is updating those sales on its Facebook page.
“We will be notifying everyone of where our groomers go so those of you who would like to keep your groomer can,” the message stated.
“Thank you so much for being loyal to us all these years. Unfortunately covid & inflation got the best of us. We wish you all the most abundant blessings. God Bless.”
Earthwise is located at 4880 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 10. The hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Phone: 678-909-6805.
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“We just fell in love with the business and the community,” said Sprayberry Bottle Shop marketing manager Brij Patel, left, of his family’s 20-year ownership.
In just a half-hour span on a mid-day afternoon, Brij Patel darts around the Sprayberry Bottle Shop filling a variety of roles, almost seamlessly:
Speaking with vendors as marketing manager, checking out customers intermittently and surveying the merchandise in the store his family has grown into a community favorite.
Now 36, Patel has spent the majority of his life at the small box standalone building at 2692 Sandy Plains Road at Kinjac Drive.
He was a teenager when his parents sent him and his older sister to America from his native Kenya to stay with a family friend while they obtained work visas to follow them.
Like many an immigrants’ path, the Patels saw a familiar opportunity as a gateway into a upwardly mobile life in America:
Buy and build up a small business as a way for their children to have an easier time.
For Patel, however, the Sprayberry Bottle Shop is more than just a place that enabled his family’s aspirations to be realized. After 20 years in business, it’s become a way of life for him, too.
“We just fell in love with the business and the community,” Patel said. “Everyone [who comes to the store] almost knows everyone else now. This is pretty much all we have.”
Two decades later, the store is poised for new opportunities to thrive. It sits at what had been planned as the entrance for the redevelopment of the blighted Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center.
The shop’s parking lot, in fact, was split by the road leading to the now-razed retail center.
As the zoning case worked its way through Cobb planning circles, Patel retained an attorney, but negotiations broke off with the developer, Atlantic Residential, to create an entrance solution that worked for all parties.
Patel said all he wanted was for the back part of his lot closed off to cut-through traffic.
But grocery chain Lidl, which was to have been the anchor of the new mixed-use development, pulled out, concerned that traffic access would be difficult.
Fencing at the back of the Sprayberry Bottle Shop surrounds the former Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center.
The tentative entrance to the new development will be right-in and right-out for northbound traffic on Sandy Plains, but Patel said he hasn’t seen any further details.
While he’s glad the cut-through traffic is gone, the construction site also has cut off access from Post Oak Tritt Road and East Piedmont Road.
Patel said those are routes used by a good number of his customers.
“It’s been a bit of a business loss,” he admitted. “It’s gotten slower.”
But he’s optimistic that the redeveloped area behind his store “is going to be awesome for everyone.”
The redevelopment comes after more than two years of business challenges for the Sprayberry Bottle Shop.
While the shop never closed as the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, the stress and strain of labor and supply chain issues eventually took a toll.
Patel’s clever and upbeat updates on the store’s Facebook page (which has nearly 10,000 followers) on occasion included notices of the store closing for a couple of days, just to give everyone some time off.
Josh Stump, a manager at Sprayberry Bottle Shop, confers with a customer.
Social media pushes and word-of-mouth referrals from customers are “100 percent” how the store does its marketing.
Surrounded by five warehouse liquor stores within a small radius, Patel said special events are another way to give the shop some visibility.
Those events include auctioning off a rare bottle of Bourbon for $1,600 for a cancer charity. Patel estimates the store has helped raise $20,000-$30,000 over the years in community give-backs.
As the store marked its 20th anniversary on July 1, Patel penned a heartfelt message, detailing not only his family’s journey, but expressing gratitude.
“To see how much love our community has shown us over the years, leaves me speechless to this day,” he wrote. “I will keep pushing harder, and give back whenever I can and I will become the best game player on our team.
“I wouldn’t change a thing about anything today as I wouldn’t have 20 years ago. To growth, to positive energy, to great friendships in this beautiful world.”
Brij Patel said his family found “a little gem tucked away in Marietta” and “put everything we had into it over the past 20 years.”
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Leadership Cobb, a leadership development program of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, announced on Monday its Class of 2022-23.
They include elected officials and community and business leaders who will spend the next 10 months involved with “leadership training, teambuilding, and educational experiences highlighting our community’s greatest success stories and most significant ongoing challenges,” according to the Cobb Chamber.
The program began in 1983, and the new group includes 54 individuals:
Val Akopov, Wellstar Health System
Alex Almodovar, City of Acworth
Tiffany Barney, Cobb County School District
Megan Benvenuto, Northwest Family YMCA
Chris Britton, Brasfield & Gorrie
Flynn Broady, Cobb District Attorney
Daniel Browne, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Ann Burris, Georgia Department of Human Services
Stacey Chapman, CROFT & Associates,
Robin Cheramie, Kennesaw State University
Braxton Cotton, Cobb County Sheriff’s Office
Stephanie Cox, Cobb Chamber | SelectCobb
Michael Cunningham, Deputy Chief, Cobb County Fire & Emergency Services
Chad Curry, 41 South Creative
Ross Dicken II, Cobb EMC
Joy Doss, The Doss Firm, LLC
Corey Ferguson, Dallas Smith & Company
Lara Ferreira, The Third Door & Temperance Trailers
Marla Ferrell, Genuine Parts Company
Jordan Fessehaie, Delta Air Lines
Lynn Flanders, Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority
Matt Giddens, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
Joseph Goldstein, Goldstein’s, Inc. and Marietta City Council
Michael Gordon, Mauldin & Jenkins
Tim Gould, City of Smyrna
Christopher Hansard, Superior Court of Cobb County
Ashley Jenkins, Gas South
Bobby Johnson, Johnson & Alday, LLC
Sheree Knowles, HRKS
Jessica Lee, Atlanta Braves
Joseph Malbrough, The UPS Store Smyrna
Taneesha Marshall, Federal Aviation Administration
Felicia McDade, Salesforce
Tamie Montgomery, Walton Communities
Komal Patel, Lockheed Martin
Drew Raessler, Director, Cobb County Department of Transportation
Taylor Rambo, Sew Dreams Come True
Amy Reeves, Wellstar Medical Group Pediatrics at Brookstone
Adam Ross, Cumberland CID
Mike Schroeder, 1885 Grill
Monique Sheffield, Cobb Board of Commissioners
Jennifer Stanley, Northside Hospital Cherokee
Falecia Stewart, MUST Ministries, Inc.
Sean Stewart, Kaiser Permanente
Lydia Stinson, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Lisa Sunday, SouthState Bank
Andrea TheoJohn, The ADS Agency
Chris Thomas, Chick-fil-A, Inc.
Dennette Thornton, Arthur M. Blank Sports & Entertainment
Hillary Thrower, The Home Depot
Aimee Turner, Croy Engineering
Michael Urbina, Urbina Law Firm, LLC
Bobby Van Buren, The Insurance Gurus
Chris Young, Accenture LLP
The theme of the new class, according to the Cobb Chamber, is “Together We Can. . . . In addition to learning about all the great things happening in Cobb County and beyond, Leadership Cobb wants to confront inequities that exist and provide the class opportunities to step up as leaders to address these challenges.”
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Last year the organization raised nearly $100,000 for a number of local non-profits and drew the interest of more than 800 participants along a course around the McCleskey Family-East Cobb YMCA (1055 East Piedmont Road, between Roswell Road and Sewell Mill Road).
Dog Days Run coordinator Butch Carter, a longtime Rotary member, said the goals this year are to surpass those figures.
“It’s a huge run, but we’d like to get to a thousand,” he said of the number of entries for the 5K event.
But he notes that while “every runner is important,” entry fees comprise only a portion of the money the event raises.
Carter said there’s a real need for more local businesses and organizations to sign up as sponsors, and Rotary members are busy knocking on doors and ringing the phone lines.
“That’s where we need to focus,” said Carter, whose auto repair shop, Honest-1, is among this year’s sponsors. “The vast majority of what we raise comes from some great local companies.”
Other sponsors include the Indian Hills Country Club, the YMCA, Pinnacle Orthopaedics, and the Malon D. Mimms Company.
Sponsorships range from $250 to $10,000, and for $1,000 or more a sponsor will get a table at the race site on the YMCA grounds.
Sponsorship levels also include a company’s name on the race shirt and event signage, as well as social media and website mentions and verbal recognition during the event.
A presenting sponsor—at $10,000—not only is the subject of a featured podcast highlighting its organization, but also receives eight complimentary tickets and gets to offer remarks during the Rotary Club’s Give Back Ceremony.
That’s a dinner held in the fall to announce the grant recipients from the Dog Days Run proceeds.
Recent organizations include Aloha to Aging, the Cobb Library Foundation, Family Promise, the MDE School, the Cobb Public Safety Celebration, The Exenstion, YMCA and the AVID program at Wheeler High School.
Carter said organizations must apply every year, and they “have to explain what they’re going to do” with the grant money.
All sponsorships also have at least one free race entry.
For other participants, registration is $30 through July 31, and $35 afterwards and for “phantom” runners, those participating elsewhere.
The Dog Days Run begins at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 6, and race-day registration begins at 6:30 a.m.
There also are cash prizes for category winners, including overall male and female, master male and female, grandmaster male and female and senior male and female.
To register, and for more information, click here. For volunteer information, click here.
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From Cobb County government, the deadline has been extended to apply to the end of business today, and vendor selection will be announced next Monday, July 18:
Cobb’s annual International Festival is accepting applications until this Monday, July 11 for food vendors, artists and community groups for the event at Jim Miller Park Event Center in Marietta on Aug. 27. The festival features food, costumes and cultural performances from around the world.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
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Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Local businesses can sign up now for the 2022 Cobb Chamber Taylor English Golf Classic on Monday, Sept. 19 at Indian Hills Country Club in East Cobb.
The event helps businesses enjoy time with business friends, clients or prospects, and to network with Cobb Chamber leadership and board members.
More from the Chamber on what’s slated, and how to sign up:
“The cost is $265 per golfer or $1,000 per foursome. This annual sell-out event fills up fast, so participants are encouraged to register early to be guaranteed a spot.
“The four-person, Ft. Lauderdale scramble begins with a shotgun start at 11 a.m. Registration and the driving range open at 9 a.m. and the chipping/putting contest is at 9:15 a.m. Box lunches are provided on the cart.
“Businesses can take advantage of the marketing opportunity the tournament presents through several levels of sponsorship. Sponsorship participation allows local businesses to show support for the Cobb Chamber and those participating, along with positive messaging for their company. All sponsorship levels include different forms of signage and advertising at the event and recognition in Chamber communications. The top levels include event tickets.
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The space that’s been open next to the J. Jill store at The Avenue East Cobb will be occupied this fall by New York Butcher Shoppe.
North American Properties announced Thursday that the South Carolina-based chain will open its third metro Atlanta location in November.
NAP also said Warby Parker, an eyeglass retailer, and Tempur-Pedic, a sleep products manufacturer, will be opening stores at The Avenue this fall.
New York Butcher Shoppe, which was founded in 1999, has 20 locations in five states, including Milton and Sandy Springs. Most of its locations are in South Carolina and North Carolina. Other locations include Augusta, Birmingham, Ala. and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and another is opening soon in Arizona.
In addition to premium Angus steaks, New York Butcher Shoppe offers chicken, pork, veal and lamb entrees, salads, fresh seafood, parmigiana meals and roasts.
Specialty items include cheeses, pastas and “exotic sausages” as wall as “premium” charcoal, “high-quality” vegetables and “international” grocery items.
NAP said in a release that The Avenue East Cobb location will also include the first wine bar for New York Butcher Shoppe.
The news comes a few days after Stockyard Burgers and Bones announced it was closing at The Avenue after nearly eight years, due to labor and supply shortages.
Warby Parker will open in November across from Panera Bread and Temper-Pedic will open a showroom between the New York Butcher Shoppe and High Country Outfitters next spring.
NAP, which recently unveiled overhaul plans at The Avenue, said in the release that the permitting process for its “jewel box” concept—with two retail/restaurant buildings and a concierge area with valet parking, a public plaza and live music and events stage—will begin soon, with a groundbreaking event in the fall.
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“It has been an extremely challenging time for restaurants over the last couple years. Unfortunately, we were never able to recover from the effects of the pandemic, continuous cost increases and labor shortages at this location.”
The original Stockyard restaurant on the Marietta Square, which opened in 2014, and another in Vinings remain. There was a Stockyard location in Sandy Springs that closed in 2018.
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