Three-13 Salon, Spa and Boutique, 2663 Canton Road (hair care and spa)
They will be among those competing for the Chamber’s overall top small business of the year, to be announced in August.
In addition, the Chamber has named four small businesses to watch out for that include The Auto Accident Attorneys Group, 1454 Johnson Ferry Road. “These are businesses that have launched three years ago or less and have already achieved substantial progress,” the Chamber said in a statement.
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A 1956 Chevy on display at the Bradley’s Bar & Grill Car Show in 2017. (ECN file).
While many festivals and community events continue to be scratched from the calendar in East Cobb into the fall, Sunday will provide a chance to get out and about (weather permitting) in an actual public gathering designed to follow ongoing health protocols.
The Avenue East Cobb is holding what it calls a “Cruise, Brunch, Shop” event from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sunday. The first part of that is a reference to a custom car show that will be on display, with restaurants and shops also open as retailers there start to drum up some regular business.
There’s no cost to come out and look around, and the organizers are estimating that more than 100 custom cars and trucks will be on hand for your perusal.
The retail center at 4475 Roswell Road was almost completely closed for several weeks, with the exception of a few non-essential-designated businesses, during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Around 40 retailers and restaurants will be open Sunday morning.
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Time’s running out for small businesses impacted by COVID-19 to apply for federal relief grants administered by SelectCobb, the economic development arm of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.
The deadline is this Friday, June 26, at 5 p.m., and you’re eligible if you are a Cobb-based business with 100 employees or less. Home-based businesses also are eligible.
A total of $50 million in grant funding comes through the federal CARES Act and was approved by the Cobb Board of Commissioners. Money can be used for payroll and other business expenses. A short video on the program can be seen here.
Here’s more from the county on how the grant program breaks down:
One to ten employees: up to $20,000
11 to 50 employees: up to $30,000
51 to 100 employees: up to $40,000
For information on this grant, qualifications, how to apply, documents needed and more, visit selectcobb.com/grants.
An independent panel appointed by Select Cobb will review all applications, and priority will not be given to Cobb Chamber members.
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A Tokyo Valentino sign has gone up over the doors of what had been a Mattress Firm store at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb.
But there’s nothing in public documents that indicates a change of business from what had been applied for and is listed in Cobb County new business filings and state business formation documents as a clothing store.
East Cobb Newsfirst reported on May 25 that Michael S. Morrison, owner of the Atlanta-based Tokyo Valentino adult store chain, was named in Georgia Secretary of State’s records as the organizer and authorizer of a new business at that address to be called 1290 Clothing Co., LLC.
That’s the same name of a general retail store that was granted a new business license by the Cobb Community Development Agency on March 13.
Initially Morrison denied he knew anything about 1290 Clothing Co., saying he had a Tokyo Valentino store in Marietta.
But he later said he wasn’t sure what was going to go in the Johnson Ferry space, which would be his first venture in East Cobb.
East Cobb News has left a message with Morrison seeking comment about the Tokyo Valentino sign in East Cobb.
The five Tokyo Valentino stores and another store owned by Morrison called Stardust in Brookhaven sell a variety of adult books, DVDs, sex toys, adult lingerie and “smoking accessories.”
The Sandy Springs Tokyo Valentino store opened last December, also in a former Mattress Firm store. Initial filings indicated it would be for dancers’ clothes, but it opened as Tokyo Valentino. After a dispute with the city, he added non-adult items to meet code requirements.
A permit was also required for renovation from what had been the Mattress Firm in East Cobb. County building records showed an application was filed on May 14 by Pembroke Real Estate Partners, LLC, in Miami.
That’s the new owner of the building at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road. Pembroke’s principal is Frank Koretsky, a Miami-based entrepreneur who has holdings in adult lingerie and sex toy businesses.
According to Cobb tax records and previously reported by East Cobb News, Pembroke purchased the 0.53 acres and building at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road on Feb. 4 for $1.5 million.
Cobb building permit records show an inspection was completed on May 29 at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, and that a certificate of occupancy was issued last Thursday, June 11.
There’s no mention in those records of a business named Tokyo Valentino, only 1290 Clothing Co.
There’s also no indication of a name change with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, where business incorporation papers are filed.
Businesses that have previously received licenses in Cobb County and want to change their names can do so for a $10 fee.
As of Friday, the last day new business licenses and business name changes were publicly listed, there was nothing to indicate a change at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road.
Commissioner Bob Ott has said that because of a general commercial zoning classification that goes back to the 1970s, there’s nothing the county can do about an adult store moving in at that location—as long as there are no code violations.
Ott told East Cobb News Tuesday evening that’s still the case, but that “I have staff looking into what options the county may have moving forward.”
Nearby citizens have spoken out at a commissioners’ meeting and organized an online petition against an adult store in East Cobb.
One of those citizens, Lisa Sims, said she had seen the Tokyo Valentino sign and wasn’t surprised but was “very disappointed.”
Morrison has battled local governments for years over his stores, going back to the late 1990s, especially his original store on Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta.
Last year the City of Atlanta sought to shut down that store, which has video booths and private rooms. Morrison is legally challenging the city’s adult entertainment ordinance.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners, with a 5-0 vote, approved funding for a $50 million Small Business Grant Program designed to help struggling businesses recover from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will come out of the $132 million allocated to Cobb in the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
The agenda item provides $500,000 to the “Select Cobb” division of the Cobb Chamber to administer the grant program. That group will educate, advertise and administer the program with a board comprised of a diverse group of business interests. Only companies with fewer than 101 employees will be able to apply.
The applications will be reviewed by commission district so all areas of the county are equally represented in the number of companies approved for grants. The amount of funding awarded to an individual small business will vary based on business size:
One to ten employees – up to $20,000
11 to 50 employees – up to $30,000
51 to 100 employees – up to $40,000
A Cobb Chamber survey recently found that 32% of Cobb businesses worry the COVID-19 situation will put them out of business and 60 percent say they will need some sort of financial assistance to continue.
The process for the application is as follows:
The application will be uploaded at 10:00 a.m. on June 8
The application portal will be open until June 26 at 5:00 p.m.
All grants submitted in that time frame will be evaluated. This is not first come first served.
On Wednesday, June 10 from 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m., join Select Cobb to have your questions answered and to discuss the application and review process for the SelectCobb Small Business Relief Grants. Speakers for the webinar will include:
John Loud, President, LOUD Security & 2020 Cobb Chamber Chairman
Commissioner Bob Ott, District 2 Commissioner, Cobb County
Kevin Greiner, President & CEO, Gas South & SelectCobb Chairman
Jason Gaines, Planning and Economic Development Division Manager, Cobb County Community Development Agency
Dana Johnson, COO, Cobb Chamber & Executive Director, SelectCobb
Sharon Mason, President & CEO, Cobb Chamber
Please note that you do not have to be a member of the Cobb Chamber to apply or receive funding as part of the SelectCobb Small Business Relief Grant Program. No preferential consideration will be given for Cobb Chamber members. For more information on the SelectCobb Small Business Relief Grants, visit selectcobb.com/grants.
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A few more business reopenings to note, as more restaurants are now serving in their dining rooms, gyms are welcoming back clients for in-person classes and more.
Dan Edmonds, general manager of the East Cobb Tavern (Shallowford Corners) says starting Monday, you can sit down and eat inside, with regular hours back to 11 a.m. to p.m.. They’re also continuing takeout and curbside service, which continues from 3-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Also on Monday, Mezza Luna Pasta & Seafood (Pavilions at East Lake) is reopening its dining room with limited seating and reservations only
The CycleBar East Cobb (Parkaire Landing) reopened over the Memorial Day weekend, and is gradually adding classes and offering summer specials to students and teachers;
At Paradise Grille (Highland Plaza), the indoor dining room is closed, but starting tonight they’re having weekly live music on the patio. South of the Border’s dining room has reopened.
The dining rooms of all 3 East Cobb locations of J. Christopher’s have reopened, for usual breakfast-lunch-brunch service between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m.;
When the pandemic struck McCray’s Tavern was making plans to move into the former Loyal Q space at Parkaire Landing. After several weeks, there’s no specific opening date that’s been announced yet but they’ve been conducting interviews and are saying for now they’re opening soon.
Proprietor Scott McCray also has been busy preparing his new Marietta Square restaurant, Mac’s Chophouse, to open in the former Shilling’s space.
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If you have Coronavirus-related event changes, business openings or closings to share with the public, e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Contact us at the same e-mail address for news about efforts to assist those in need, health care workers, first responders and others on the frontlines of combatting Coronavirus in East Cobb.
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The program is called the Select Cobb Small Business Grants, after the chamber’s economic development arm, which will distribute grants to qualifying businesses in amounts ranging from $20,000 to $40,000. The funding can be used on personnel, rent, utilities and acquiring PPE for employee safety.
Here’s what SelectCobb sent out late Thursday afternoon:
Applications will open on June 8, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. and close on June 26, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. A full list of eligibility requirements and more information about the application process will be available at www.selectcobb.com on June 1. The website and email address for this program—www.selectcobb.com/grants and grants@selectcobb.com—will be available on June 1. Also, a webinar on how to apply for the small business grants will be held on June 10th at 10:00 am through the Cobb Chamber.
“Maintaining jobs and promoting growth within Cobb County has been and always will be our number one priority for our small business community,” said Kevin Greiner, president and CEO of Gas South and Chairman of SelectCobb for the Cobb Chamber. “The SelectCobb Small Business Relief Grants will allow Cobb’s small businesses to stand strong during this pandemic and continue to meet necessary business expenses, as well as providing capital to acquire PPE and other resources to ensure a safe working environment for their employees.”
To be considered for the SelectCobb Small Business Relief Grant, small businesses must meet the following requirements:
Business must be an existing for-profit corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship;
Business headquarters or primary location must be within Cobb County;
Business must have 100 or fewer full-time, W-2 employees, i.e., employees working at least 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month;
Business must have been in continuous operation for a minimum of 1 year prior to March 13, 2020;
Business must have a current business license issued by Cobb County Government, City of Acworth, City of Austell, City of Kennesaw, City of Marietta, City of Powder Springs, or City of Smyrna;
Business must be current on all local taxes;
Business may be home-based or located in an owned or leased commercial space;
Business must certify if they have received PPP funds as of time of application submittal; and
Business cannot be a publicly traded company.
Grant funding will be available in three different tiers based upon the number of full-time, W-2 employees employed by the company as of March 12, 2020. The tiers of grant funding include, up to $20,000 for 1 to 10 employees; up to $30,000 for 11 to 50 employees; and up to $40,000 for 51 to 100 employees.
“I’m gratified that the board came together to address an important segment of our community, the small business community,” said Chairman Mike Boyce after the vote. “It demonstrates when it is all said and done, this board has the best interest of the county at heart. We work every day to do the best we can with the money we have—whether it is county money, state money, or federal money—we all have a duty to make sure the taxpayer’s money is spent appropriately and I think this is one action that reflects that.”
SelectCobb staff will review each application to ensure that all eligibility requirements are met. Once applications are closed, an independent committee of business representatives will review each eligible application and decide which companies will receive grant funds and how much will be provided, up to the maximum allowed by each tier. The committee will be comprised of individuals from all areas of Cobb, and will include a diverse group of industries being represented, including banking, certified public accountants, law, small business and county government.
The committee will review applications per Commission District so that all areas are equally represented in the number of companies being assisted. Once determinations are made, a public announcement of grants funds will be made by representatives of the selection committee, SelectCobb, Cobb Chamber, and Cobb County Government.
“Cobb County should be applauded for creating one of the largest small business grants in the region,” said Dana Johnson, executive director of SelectCobb. “I want to thank the Board of Commissioners for their leadership and commitment to ensuring that Cobb County remains one of the top destinations for small businesses.”
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After some discussion Tuesday morning, the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved using more than $50 million of federal COVID-19 stimulus funds to help small businesses and low-income renters facing evictions.
In the case of the small business grants, a total of $50 million will be earmarked to help businesses retain employees and meet other expenses to stay open.
The proposal would limit eligible business to those with 100 employees or less and stipulated that they must own or lease commercial property for their operations in Cobb County.
But commissioner Lisa Cupid of South Cobb got her colleagues to agree to expand the criteria to those who have home-based businesses.
She also wanted to cap the number of eligible business with up to 20 employees.
Select Cobb, the development arm of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, will oversee the selection of the businesses to get the grants. Starting next Monday, more information will be available on its website about the application and eligibility process.
Select Cobb and commissioners will appoint an independent committee representing a variety of industries and business sectors to choose the grant recipients.
An equitable number of businesses will be chosen from the four commission districts, and they will be eligible for funding as follows:
1 to 10 employees – up to $20,000;
11 to 50 employees – up to $30,000;
51 to 100 employees – up to $40,000.
Select Cobb will receive $500,000 in stimulus funding to oversee the selection and distribution process.
Also Tuesday, commissioners approved spending $1.5 million of the federal stimulus funds to help tenants work out agreements with landlords for back rent in order to avoid eviction.
Star-C, an Atlanta non-profit with offices in Cobb County, will administer that funding. Under the plan, low-income apartment dwellers facing evictions would receive a “scholarship” of up to 70 percent of their overdue payment total. The remaining 20 percent would be paid by the tenant and the landlord would be asked to pay the remaining 10 percent and waive the late fee.
Cobb County has received $132 million in funding from the federal CARES Act, and earlier this month approved spending $1 million to reimburse Cobb non-profits who’ve been providing emergency food supplies.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners designated several categories to spend the rest of the money, and these are subject to change.
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Commercially-zoned property with a building that housed a Mattress Firm store at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road was purchased in February for $1.55 million (ECN photo)
A vacant retail building located in the heart of East Cobb has a new owner and is being renovated for a new use.
What that use may end up being has been the subject of a flurry of social media chatter in recent days about whether a sex shop is on the way.
Specifically, the subject of that speculation is that a new location of Atlanta-based Tokyo Valentino—with five adult retail stores in the metro area, including the city of Marietta—is replacing the former Mattress Firm store at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, across from Merchant’s Walk.
Cobb County business license records and a pending building permit application indicate plans for a retail store at that address called 1290 Clothing Co.
That business also has registered as a corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office as 1290 Clothing, LLC, and lists the same registered agent as Cheshire Bridge Holdings, LLC, the parent company of Tokyo Valentino.
Michael Morrison, the Tokyo Valentino owner who has battled the city of Atlanta and other local jurisdictions for years over his businesses, is named in the 1290 Clothing Co. business formation documents as organizer and authorizer.
But he denied he is opening a new store in East Cobb.
In a public statement issued Monday, Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott said he has received more than 500 messages from citizens about the subject, and said there is nothing the county can do if a sex shop is coming to that building on Johnson Ferry Road.
The half-acre on which it sits is zoned general commercial, the broadest of the commercial zoning categories in Cobb County, and includes most kinds of retail shops.
“Unfortunately, due to the zoning already in place on the property dating back to the late 70s, it appears that the retail shop meets all county code requirements,” Ott said in his message. “The U.S. Constitution doesn’t allow a county to come in and arbitrarily change existing zoning and/or add stipulations.”
He also said that contrary to some of the citizens’ queries he’s received, the matter will not come before the Cobb Board of Commissioners during its Tuesday regular meeting.
“That is not true,” Ott said. “There is nothing on the agenda tomorrow related to this store.”
A new business license was granted by the Cobb Community Development Agency on March 11 for 1290 Clothing Co., at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, to an applicant named Tomika Hugley.
According to Cobb building permit records, an application for a renovation at that same address was filed on May 14 by Pembroke Real Estate Partners, LLC, in Miami.
That’s the company listed in Cobb Tax Assessors Office records as the Feb. 4 buyer of 0.53 acres and a building with 5,444 square feet at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, for $1.55 million.
Building permit records indicate the renovation project is described as a “move-in only” for the tenant “1290 Clothing Co.” but no inspection has been conducted.
When contacted by East Cobb News Friday about whether he’s opening a store in East Cobb, Morrison said, “I have no idea what you are referring to.”
He said that “any applications that we submit for future stores have my name on them” and noted his store in Marietta, and that he was not involved with the 1290 Clothing Co. enterprise.
According to a Georgia Secretary of State’s business filing, 1290 Clothing Co. LLC was registered on Jan. 21, 2020. The filing names Michael Morrison as the 1290 Clothing Co. organizer and authorizer, with an Atlanta residential address located off LaVista Road in DeKalb County.
East Cobb News has been unable to reach Hugley or Rebecca Crider, the registered agent for the new store on Johnson Ferry Road. Crider also is the registered agent for other Tokyo Valentino businesses, including the Marietta store, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Many of the social media comments about the new Johnson Ferry Road store have come on a Facebook group, East Cobb Moms Exchange. East Cobb News has been contacted by some members of the group and other citizens, but none could provide further information.
An online petition urging readers to contact Ott has received more than 1,000 signatures.
In 1998, the city of Atlanta first tried to shut down Morrison’s original store on Cheshire Bridge Road, which opened in 1995 and was called Inserection, because of its video booths, massage rooms and private bedrooms.
In 2014, Morrison—who served two-and-a-half years in prison for federal income tax invasion in the mid-2000s—rebranded his business Tokyo Valentino and opened new locations.
Last year Morrison opened a store in Sandy Springs, also in an abandoned mattress store building, initially saying it would be a dancer clothing store under a different name.
The city claimed the store violated its merchandising code by having more than a quarter of its square footage space devoted to adult merchandise sales.
Morrison, who also has had legal disputes with Brookhaven over his Stardust adult retail store, eventually complied in December by adding non-adult items at the Sandy Springs store, now called Tokyo Valentino.
There are two other Tokyo Valentino stores, on Northside Drive in Buckhead and on Pleasant Hill Road in Gwinnett County.
Ott said his staff visited the Tokyo Valentino store in Marietta, at 345 South Cobb Parkway, and said it’s strictly a retail store, unlike what’s on Cheshire Bridge Road.
The Marietta location sells adult lingerie, sex toys, body art and jewelry, books and DVDs, smoking accessories and novelty gifts and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.
The Tokyo Valentino store in Marietta is located at Cobb Parkway and Frey’s Gin Road, across from the Marietta Diner. (ECN photo)
Pembroke Real Estate Partners, the new owner of the 1290 Johnson Ferry Road property, is a registered corporation in Florida, and whose principal is listed as Frank Koretsky.
According to his personal website, Koretsky has added real estate investing and philanthropy to his business interests.
He has sold consumer electronics and video tapes and built up two adult video distribution companies, International Video Distribution and East Coast News, which “now exist as the largest entities in their respective industries.”
Koretsky also is a holder in adult lingerie and sex toy businesses.
On Monday Ott reminded East Cobb residents of community opposition to a We Buy Gold store on Lower Roswell Road near Johnson Ferry Road several years ago.
“There was a large outcry about that store coming to East Cobb,” he said. “Then, like now, there wasn’t anything the county could do because it met all the code requirements. That store is now an ice cream shop in large part because in a very short period it became obvious to the owners that the people weren’t interested in having that business in their community.”
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Next Wednesday two of the three East Cobb restaurants run by Doug Turbush—Seed Kitchen and Bar at Merchant’s Walk and the Drift Fish House and Oyster Bar at The Avenue—will be reopening, but not their dining rooms.
Seed, Drift and the Stem Wine Bar adjacent to Seed have been closed entirely since March 17.
In a message issued Friday, Turbush said Seed and Drift will reopen with limited hours, from Wednesday-Sunday from 5-9 p.m., and with only takeout/pickup/delivery service available.
There are new takeout menus that have been prepared, including some offerings from Stem, with appetizers and family meals that can be ordered. A statement issued by Turbush’s publicists didn’t indicate when dining room service would resume, but he did say this:
“We have been working diligently to reopen in a way that is both safe and responsible and in the best interest of our employees, guests and community. Our entire team appreciates the support we’ve received over the last two months, and we can’t wait to be back in the kitchen and serving guests in our neighborhood again.”
Diners can call ahead starting at 12 noon at Seed at 678-214-6888 and at Drift at 770-635-7641. Delivery is available via DoorDash.
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Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb is proposing that $50 million of the $132.6 million in federal Coronavirus-related stimulus funding the county is getting be used to help small businesses get back on their feet.
He’s proposed a spending measure to be considered at Tuesday’s regular business meeting that would call for the creation of an independent body to select the businesses receiving the assistance and for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce to administer the grants, which are provided through the federal CARES Act.
Eligible businesses would have 100 or fewer employees and may not have received previous funding from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or Small Business Administration loans available through the CARES Act.
In addition, 60 percent of the grant money for each small business must go toward hiring or maintaining employees. The businesses cannot be publicly traded and must have a primary or branch location in Cobb County.
The amount of funding selected businesses would receive including the following:
The Chamber would receive $500,000 of stimulus funds to administer the grants, which would be selected evenly across the four commissioners districts by a committee chosen by commissioners and the Chamber.
Ott also has proposed spending $1.5 million in CARES Act money for eviction relief that would be administered through Star-C Communities, an Atlanta based non-profit that works to reduce transiency in affordable housing communities.
The organization would receive $120,000 to administer the assistance program. As drawn up in the proposal, low-income apartment dwellers facing evictions would receive a “scholarship” of up to 70 percent of their overdue payment total. The remaining 20 percent would be paid by the tenant and the landlord would be asked to pay the remaining 10 percent and waive the late fee.
Those items will come up for consideration after a related measure asking commissioners to designate several categories for spending the federal stimulus funding.
They include the following:
Disaster Relief/County Preparedness
Economic Development/Business Loans
Emergency Food Program
Emergency Shelter Program
School Assistance Programs
Job Training
County Contingency
Commissioners could add and change the categories at a later time. Last week they approved the first amount of CARES Act funding, $1 million in reimbursements for non-profit agencies like MUST Ministries that have been providing emergency food aid to those in need.
This Tuesday’s meeting starts at a special time, 1:30 p.m., and this will be a virtual meeting streamed on the county’s YouTube and Facebook pages and Website as well as the Cobb TV23 public access cable channel on Comcast.
Public comment also is available and those who wish to take part by phone or computer must sign up at this link.
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We’re starting another updated list of business reopenings—mostly restaurants but any others—as more dining rooms start to welcome guests.
Kathyrn Brown at Willie Jewell’s Old School Bar-B-Q (2550 Sandy Plains Road) checked in to say the dining room has reopened at a reduced capacity, and that they’re staffing up for Memorial Day and catering for home graduation parties, etc.
All locations of Moxie Burger and Moxie Taco are open for dining room service for lunch only for now, also with limited tables for social distancing reasons. When you order to eat in (they encourage you to call in ahead of time), you’ll get your food and drinks in to-go containers.
Dinner hours (4 p.m.-close) are remaining takeout/curbside, and reopening “will depend largely on the success of the guidelines being followed during lunch.” The new hours are Sunday–Thursday 11 – 8; Friday—Saturday 11– 8:30.
Paradise Grille (3605 Sandy Plains Road) reopened for dinner Monday and continues takeout/curbside/pickup. The hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and the kitchen closes at 9 p.m.
Fuji Hana East Cobb (1255 Johnson Ferry) has reopened for lunch (11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.) and dinner 4:30-10 p.m., takeout/delivery) 678-570-8071;
Open for dining room takeout/curbside/delivery is Hong Kong Star(4719 Lower Roswell Road), which has removed tables to meet social distancing guidelines.
Bay Breeze Seafood (2418 Canton Road) has reopened, and is offering dining room, patio and curbside/takeout service.
A restaurant that has been closed since the COVID-19 outbreak is Stockyard Burgers and Bones at The Avenue East Cobb (4475 Roswell Road), which is now open again for dining room service from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Curbside pickup and takeout service is still available.
Send Us Your News!
If you have Coronavirus-related event changes, business openings or closings to share with the public, e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Contact us at the same e-mail address for news about efforts to assist those in need, health care workers, first responders and others on the frontlines of combatting Coronavirus in East Cobb.
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Half Price Books is continuing curbside pickup service while allowing customers back inside on a limited basis.
Earlier this week we updated some dining room reopenings at East Cobb restaurants and for the next few days will be adding to this post about other business reopenings, changes in hours and services, etc.
Pam Kirby at Half Price Books got in touch to say that the store at Woodlawn Square Shopping Center that has been closed to in-store browsing has reopened to customers to browse and shop inside.
Those hours are limited to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; they’re still taking advance orders for curbside pickup as they’ve been doing for several weeks now.
The Bookmiser store at 3822 Roswell Road has been open all along for inside shopping and curbside pickup, and provides shoppers with hand sanitizers upon entry. Some of the live events that have been planned are being rescheduled virtually, and the link has more details.
The Book Exchange at 2932 Canton Road is open and is also conducting author interviews and book club events via Zoom; details at its Facebook Page, as well as info about a GoFundMe drive that’s ongoing.
The Book Nook Marietta at 1547 Roswell Road announced this week it’s a couple weeks away from from reopening.
More salons and personal care businesses are starting to reopen, following some revisions to the statewide executive order.
Nancy’s Salonreopened earlier this week at Merchant’s Walk, and is strongly encouraging appointment business only and is telling customers they must wear face masks.
Orangetheory Fitness at Merchants Festival announced it’s reopening soon and is booking classes.
Send Us Your News!
If you have Coronavirus-related event changes, business openings or closings to share with the public, e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Contact us at the same e-mail address for news about efforts to assist those in need, health care workers, first responders and others on the frontlines of combatting Coronavirus in East Cobb.
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We’re keeping track of a flurry of announcements by East Cobb businesses in recent days about their reopening plans, and in the case of restaurants, the return of dining-room service.
Among those restaurants allowing you to dine in now is Taqueria Tsunami on Johnson Ferry Road, where the patio also is open, as of today (Thursday).
Like many restaurants that are allowing customers to eat-in, management posted the following safety/sanitation measures it is undertaking, noting it’s also trained staff on the new procedures:
Continuous and routine hourly sanitizing/cleaning of all highly trafficked and touched areas of the restaurant (from bar tops down to all door handles)
Provide masks and gloves for team members
Team member wellness screen every shift
Encourage guests to wear masks and practice social distancing while in the restaurant
Limited our seating capacity, as required by state regulation, to ensure social distancing and capacity limits are met
Use of disposable, one-time use menus
Removal of salt and pepper shakers and condiments from the tables (available upon request, and sanitized after use)
Added antibacterial stations for our team and guests
Focus on sanitation and cleanliness during our shift staff meetings to promote the importance of rigorous hand washing procedures
Encouraging customers, vendors and team members to remain home if showing any sign of illness or being in contact with someone who has the virus.
Ted’s Montana Grill at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center also has opened up its dining room, starting at 11:30 a.m. daily.
A few other restaurants of note are taking additional steps before fully reopening.
Paradise South of the Border (Highland Plaza Shopping Center) will be opening its dining room and the patio for limited dine-in starting Monday, May 18 but for now the Paradise Grille dining room is remaining closed, and is being used for curbside pick up only
The Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant at East Lake is expanding its hours, but only for takeout and curbside: Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Monday-Friday 5-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 5-10:30 p.m.; Sunday 4-10 p.m.; plans are to reopen the dining room in a couple of weeks.
Send Us Your News!
If you have Coronavirus-related event changes, business openings or closings to share with the public, e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Contact us at the same e-mail address for news about efforts to assist those in need, health care workers, first responders and others on the frontlines of combatting Coronavirus in East Cobb.
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!
A new Cobb-based campaign has launched to help restaurants struggling with business loss because of COVID-19. Sterling Seacrest Partners, a Cobb risk management and insurance brokerage firm, is working with Atlanta businesses to “Take Out the Virus” (www.takeoutthevirusATL.com). Area businesses are pledging to support local restaurants, helping restaurant employees and their families.
Here is how it works, Sterling Seacrest Partners has pledged to pay for take-out orders purchased at area restaurants. The firm will give each of its 150 employees $50 for ordering take-out from a local restaurant. They will give employees $100 if the employee orders from a restaurant that is also a Sterling Seacrest client.
“We thought this was a great concept because it aligned so closely with our core values to support our team members, our clients and our community,” says Garry Hill of Sterling Seacrest Partners. “We are fortunate to live in such an incredible city for food. These restaurants are an integral part of the fabric of our community. As a firm, we felt like we needed to do something and not just at home and watch.”
Sterling Seacrest is challenging other Atlanta area businesses to support area restaurants by sponsoring a night of ordering in to help Take Out the Virus.
Several businesses have already signed up, including Benedetti Gucer & Associates, a wealth management firm, Piedmont Pediatrics, and Leff & Associates Public Relations.
For Piedmont Pediatrics, the doctors wanted to support their people who have been working straight through the pandemic crisis and to support the restaurant community around the hospital.
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Since the Taste of East Cobb was cancelled this month due to COVID-19, organizers of the food festival have been busy with an alternative they announced on Monday.
They’re calling it the Taste of Takeout East Cobb, and on Saturday, May 23, during the Memorial Day weekend, they want you to order takeout from local restaurants to help them get back on their feet. From the announcement:
“This effort is our way of showing our love for the many local restaurants and businesses who have supported #TOEC over the years…and long into the future.
Here’s David Wilson, the Taste of East Cobb 2020 co-chair:
“We know that our East Cobb restaurants and businesses are hurting as a result of the COVID–19 pandemic. Ordering a take–out meal for the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend is an easy way to help your neighbor and show how much you appreciate the businesses that have helped make East Cobb what it is today.”
The other co-chair, Amy Davies, says the new name is a temporary one, in light of the special circumstances of the time.
“Dealing with the pandemic doesn‘t have to mean eating the same boring home–cooked meals over and over again. This is a great time to order something new and try an East Cobb restaurant or shop you may not have visited before.”
Any restaurant or business seeking a mention from the Taste of East Cobb can contact either Wilson orDavies at tasteofeastcobb@gmail.com.
The organizers have started doing those promos on their social media feeds already, including sponsors of the cancelled festival.
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!
Over the weekend the owners of Sandy Plains Marketplace announced that the Publix GreenWise Market does now have an opening date:
It’s June 17, and Orkin and Associates also noted in a social media posting that other shops and restaurants will soon be “filling the few vacant spaces that are left.” The message didn’t indicate any specifics.
The GreenWise organic foods and products store will be the first for Publix in Georgia, and it was to have opened in April.
But those plans were put on hold in the wake of COVID-19, and those businesses that had been open went into limited operations.
Among those is a newly opened Clean Juice store, which announced last week it’s fully opening on May 19.
We’re working to get more details on some of those businesses that had been planning March openings, including the First Watch breakfast-lunch eatery. It’s part of a national chain and most of its outlets were temporarily closed on April 13.
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!
A few more restaurants in East Cobb are opening up their dining rooms, or announcing they will be soon, since we noted a few last week that had opened their doors or would be soon.
On Wednesday, Eggs Up Grill (4401 Shallowford Road) is reopening its dining room for its usual breakfast-lunch hours from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Wing Cafe & Tap House (2145 Roswell Road) is reopening its dining room and starting up takeout/curbside with a limited menu. No specials will be offered for the time being, 770-509-9464;
The Mellow Mushroom on Johnson Ferry is still doing takeout/pickup/delivery for now, but is planning to reopen its dining room next Monday, May 11 with limited seating due to social distancing guidelines.
A few doors down, East Cobb Tavern reopened Monday and will be open from 3-8 p.m. for dining room and curbside service.
Last Monday, Suburban Tap reopened its dining room and will allow only 10 patrons per square foot and dining parties of six people or less per table. Salad bar and buffet service are discontinued for the time being.
Among the first East Cobb restaurants to reopen its dining room was Bradley’s Bar & Grill on Lower Roswell Road.
Other business reopenings
East Cobb Family Dentistry (2969 Johnson Ferry Road) reopened on Monday, and is now booking appointments for the week of May 11, 770-913-6800;
The Credit Union of Georgia (1020 Johnson Ferry Road) has reopened its lobby for appointment service only (along with continuing drive-thru service) Monday–Friday from 8 a.m. to 5pm and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.;
The Eurocar auto repair shop (4696 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 100) is open Monday-Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6pm and Friday from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., 770-565-7070;
Lenox Chem-Dry (3020 Canton Road, Suite 110) cleans and sanitizes carpet, upholstery and tile, 770-419-1788.
Send Us Your News!
If you have Coronavirus-related event changes, business openings or closings to share with the public, e-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Contact us at the same e-mail address for news about efforts to assist those in need, health care workers, first responders and others on the frontlines of combatting Coronavirus in East Cobb.
The Cobb Chamber, in collaboration with health and community leaders, has released a compilation of guidelines to assist businesses in their efforts to safely reopen as the state moves toward economic recovery. The guidelines are available at https://covidsupport.cobbchamber.org/covid-19-resources.
“We’ve heard from businesses across different industries that this would be helpful for them and we really appreciate the work of our taskforce to put this together,” said Sharon Mason, president & CEO of the Cobb Chamber. “This guide is to provide tips and tools to help businesses be prepared to reopen in a safe way for their employees and customers. Additionally, our recent webinars have and will continue to focus on helping businesses be prepared to reopen safely.”
The guidelines deliver public health protocol for companies to consider as they prepare their own plans for a phased reopening and a reintroduction of staff and customers to their establishment. Topics covered in the guidelines include preparing your workforce and workspace and information on mitigating the spread of the virus. The guidelines take into consideration daily health tests, sanitization, reconfiguring the workspace to allow for social distancing, and a number of other recommendations on how their space could be reimagined to be as safe as possible for employees and visitors.
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Employees at Frenchie’s Modern Nail Care in East Cobb prepare for a new way of doing business. (ECN photos)
When she opened her nail salon in the Shallowford Falls Shopping Center last August, Rhoda Gunnigle told customers that “We Love Clean.”
That’s the slogan for Frenchie’s Modern Nail Care, and Gunnigle, as a newly-minted franchisee of the national company, earnestly meant to live up to it.
She’s had to stress that message even more, and have her staff take even greater hygiene measures, as her shop reopened Friday after a six-week closure due to the Coronavirus crisis.
Frenchie’s East Cobb owner Rhoda Gunnigle goes over new safety measures with her staff.
Salons like hers were allowed to open last Friday by Gov. Brian Kemp, but Gunnigle wanted to take extra time to train her staff to meet extensive new requirements.
She also wanted to gauge the willingness of customers to patronize a business in a “personal touch” industry that’s been caught in the crossfire over how much reopening should be allowed as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll.
“We have some [customers] who have been so supportive,” Gunnigle said Thursday, taking a break from final preparations. “And there are others who are not ready yet, and that’s understandable.”
Georgia’s reopening has been criticized in national media and by public health officials, and Gunnigle said she understands the concerns.
But she has her own. Like many business owners, she filed right away in March for federal relief under the Paycheck Protection Program, and earlier this week finally got the loan money. Under the PPP, employers must spend at least 75 percent of the money on payroll, or the loan will not be forgiven.
Gunnigle said she’s going to use all of it to pay her employees, while she scrambles to pay her landlord and meet other financial obligations. She got a six-month reprieve on her Small Business Association loan she used to start the business, and that’s helped.
Frenchie’s employees were busy cleaning and disinfecting nearly every surface of the salon before it reopened.
She said she’s glad she waited to reopen at least for a few days, and understands why some people don’t want to get their nails done, or hair cut, for now.
“But if you wait until it’s too comfortable, it may be too late,” Gunnigle said, speaking from a business owner’s perspective.
“How can you wait while while expenses pile up? With the rent due, I didn’t feel I had much of a choice.”
Frenchie’s is doing a slow reopening, available for now only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and by appointment only.
She’s not allowing walk-ins, and anyone coming through the front door—even the mailman—is asked questions about international travel, possible exposure to the virus, and more.
Gunnigle is acting as the front desk receptionist, using only three staffers at a time, instead of the typical six. They all must wear masks, which are optional for customers.
Guests must wash their hands and practice social distancing. Clear plastic screens shield customers and employees alike.
After guests leave following a “touchless checkout,” the area where they sat, including their chairs, is fully disinfected. Disposable items are promptly tossed away.
Gunnigle said she’s going beyond the state-issued mandates, including those from the Georgia State Board of Cosmetologists and Barbers, which also regulates nail salons. She feels confident that she and her workers are as prepared as they can be.
She says that “I feel as safe in here as I do at home” and understands that some may think that getting a manicure isn’t the most important thing in the world right now. “But there are people who want to come back the safe way.”
Cobb commissioner Bob Ott stopped by Intrigue Salon, which also has reopened on Johnson Ferry Road (Photo courtesy Intrigue Salon).
Owner Jeff South also was waiting for delivery of Synexis, which is described as a “biodefense technology to mitigate infectious microorganisms.”
It’s similar to the technology used to clean and disinfect schools, hospitals and restaurants. Synexis produces hydrogen peroxide in the same physical state as the oxygen and nitrogen in the air, and the molecule is known as Dry Hydrogen Peroxide (DHP).
South said his salon is the first in the world to to install Synexis, and that it’s effective against airborne and surface viruses, bacteria and fungi.
Intrigue also is limiting customers to only those with appointments. Customers must also wear masks, and although gloves are optional their hands must be washed.
They also will be asked health questions by stylists, who are sanitizing chairs and their work stations after every customer, who will have a clean cape and clean tools.
Intrigue also is not blow-drying hair for now, but is offering a free serum treatment before guests leave.
Those measures, like those undertaken by other salons, are a blend of hygiene and the pragmatism prompted by social distancing.
While a number of “personal touch” businesses are waiting a while longer, Rhoda Gunnigle of Frenchie’s says “we can’t stay home forever. The economy cannot continue to be shut down.”
Among her first customers this weekend is her mother, who lives in the North Georgia mountains and whom she hasn’t seen for nearly two months because of social distancing.
As a business owner who felt the initial shutdowns nearly cast a fatal blow to her enterprise, Gunnigle said “I’m still not out of the woods.”
Reopening her nail salon—if only for a few days at a time, and far from full operations—”is a risk, but as a business owner you have to take some risks.”
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners, with a 5-0 vote, approved funding for a $50 million Small Business Grant Program designed to help struggling businesses recover from the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding will come out of the $132 million allocated to Cobb in the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
