A second East Cobb location of the First Watch breakfast/lunch restaurant concept will be opening in the fall.
That’s the latest word from the Bradenton, Fla., company, which has more than 400 restaurants in 28 states, including one at Sandy Plains MarketPlace.
The new eatery will be converted from a former Well Fargo Bank branch at 1080 Johnson Ferry Road, on an outparcel fronting the Shops at Woodlawn and that has been used as a COVID-19 testing location.
“Right now, they are working hard to get things finished in Marietta, Ga., with the projected opening date approaching in the fall,” said First Watch message sent to East Cobb News. “We always hope for the best and know our development team is knocking out that punch list to stay on schedule.”
First Watch, which also has a location on Cherokee Street in downtown Kennesaw, serves up a variety of breakfast and lunch items, specialty juices, coffees and teas.
The Johnson Ferry corridor is a competitive one for the breakfast/lunch concept, with Goldbergs Bagels in an adjacent building, as well as J. Christopher’s, Flying Biscuit and 101 Bagel Café.
A third metro Atlanta location of Sleep Galleria is set for a July opening at Merchant’s Walk, according to a company social media message.
Sleep Galleria, which opened in 2018, has existing stores in Acworth and Johns Creek.
The store will occupy a part of the former Stein Mart space, and a construction fence has been erected (see below).
The rest of the vacant space is listed as being the future home of Marshalls, but no formal announcement has been made.
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Artisan Custom Closets, located on Wylie Road in the East Cobb area, has been named the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Small Business of the Year.
Artisan president Lisa Carlquist accepted the trophy with Cobb Chamber officials Monday as part of the organization’s Small Business of the Year awards luncheon.
Here’s what the Chamber said in a release about Artisan Custom Closets:
“The Artisan Custom Closets team is dedicated to finding the best possible solution for its customers by providing perfectly functional and aesthetically appealing storage systems to clients according to their storage requirements, budget, and style preferences. The team provides clients with a one-on-one consultation and 3D imaging designs before manufacturing in Marietta and installing custom pieces within the home, guiding clients through each step from start to finish.
“Artisan Custom Closets pride themselves on being the only company in Georgia to have its designers certified by the Association of Closet & Storage Professionals. Additionally, the company uses environmentally friendly products that are made from 100% recovered or recycled wood fibers. With 20,000 customers in the Atlanta area, the team’s strong work ethics, professionalism, and quality of workmanship has expanded the business to new heights.”
“Our mission is simple, to make people’s lives more organized and save them time,” Carlquist said in her business’ application. “It has been quite the journey over the last 25 years in this industry watching people start out viewing custom closets as a luxury; now, most people see them as a necessity.”
The Chamber explained that once the field was narrowed down to five finalists, a site visit by an independent panel of judges takes place. “The visit is meant to be a fresh, in-person opportunity to present the ideals, practices, values and day-to-day operations discussed in their initial application.”
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Nearly three decades after starting a community magazine that expanded to a community parade and festival, EAST COBBER publisher Cynthia Rozzo announced this week that she is retiring.
In a publisher’s note in the May/June issue of the EAST COBBER—the 310th—Rozzo said her last day in the post will be June 29, her 60th birthday.
She also said she the EAST COBBER parade and community festival, which has not been held the last two years due to COVID, is not being staged this year as well.
“It was always my intention to provide useful and relevant information that East Cobb residents could not find anywhere else and that focused exclusively on East Cobb,” Rozzo wrote.
“After so many years of meeting readers and business owners, I am reminded every day of how many really nice people there are in this community. East Cobb has so many residents who take the initiative to help out, to share their opinions and/or talents, in order to make East Cobb County a better place to live.”
In a post script, she asked that “if there is anyone out there that wants to carry on the mission of the magazine/and or the annual parade and festival” to contact her.
Rozzo told East Cobb News that she’s working with a potential buyer in the community to continue publication.
“There are a lot of personal reasons,” she said, “but it’s just time.”
She said she wants to be available for her family—her mother and sister live in her native area of Cleveland, Ohio—and she said her husband is interested in eventually moving to Florida.
Rozzo said when she sat down two weeks ago to write the publisher’s note—typically the last task before the magazine goes to press—she said to herself that “I think this may be the time to say something. I didn’t know how to let it go.”
Rozzo started the EAST COBBER in 1993, publishing 11 times a year. The parade started in 1995, staged along Johnson Ferry Road on a Saturday morning in September.
A community festival after the parade had been held at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.
She has been active in many East Cobb community activities, including the East Cobb Business Association. Most recently, she moderated a Cityhood debate sponsored by the ECBA.
Rozzo also was named the East Cobb Citizen of the Year by the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.
Rozzo also ran for the Georgia legislature in 2012, losing in the Republican primary to then-State Rep. Matt Dollar.
She and her husband, George Haralabidis, who have three children who graduated from Walton High School, will be visiting his native Greece for the next few weeks while she finalizes what she hopes will be a successful transfer of a magazine she built from scratch, and that developed into an influential community enterprise.
In her note, Rozzo thanked readers for “connecting with me and your neighbors. It will take a long time for me to process the rareness of this connection, and the feeling that it’s over. But it’s not over. The changes people create in one another do not go away. You made EAST COBBER with me, and its spirit will live on in whatever comes next for us all.”
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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Lilac Wine, an Atlanta acoustic trio, is returning to The Avenue East Cobb’s Electric Avenue Friday concert series on May 27.
With warm sunshine splashing down on a glorious spring Friday evening, the easy rhythms of Lilac Wine reverberated from an impromptu stage.
The Atlanta acoustic trio covered popular tunes from the 1970s and later for a couple dozen onlookers at The Avenue East Cobb as part of the retail center’s Electric Avenue concert series.
Among them was a bluesy rendition of U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” that featured a bass solo.
Every Friday through October, local bands will be featured in what’s being called The Avenue’s Central Boulevard—the middle of the parking lot between the Kale Me Crazy eatery and the Banana Republic store.
It’s being envisioned as a permanent greenspace-style plaza surrounded by new restaurants with patios and retail shops, the heart of The Avenue’s reimagination that includes shopping, dining out and a growing array of entertainment activities.
Last summer, North American Properties—which developed the Avalon complex in Alpharetta and overhauled Colony Square and Atlantic Station in Midtown—entered into a joint partnership with present owners PGIM to manage the 23,000-square foot The Avenue, which opened on Roswell Road just east of Johnson Ferry Road in 1999 on the site of a former golf driving range.
Changes in the retail landscape and a desire to create a more dynamic lifestyle destination space prompted a dramatic conceptual revision.
A relaxing start to the weekend at the Electric Avenue concert.
In a recent interview with East Cobb News, NAP officials said they’ll soon be presenting site plan changes that need approval of the Cobb Board of Commissioners and going public with other details.
Four or five new restaurants are in the works, and some new retail tenants are expected to be signed soon, according to Brittni Johnson’s NAP’s public relations director.
In addition to Electric Avenue, the stage is the venue for a Comedy Live series featuring acts from the Punchline Comedy Club. A number of regular kids’ events have been added, and there are ongoing outdoor fitness and yoga classes at barre3, cooking workshops at the Olea Oliva store and cornhole leagues.
“Everyone feels it has all this potential to be tapped into,” said Sara Hemmer, NAP’s director of marketing.
PGIM was ramping up beyond some of its longstanding holiday-themed events when NAP signed on. At Avalon, NAP schedules more than 200 events a year.
But that’s a much larger facility than The Avenue, and the NAP team started with a Fall Fest and Halloween events and has built from there.
A first-ever Menorah lighting was a success, drawing several hundred attendees, and plans are to make that an annual event, along with Christmas-themed activities.
Initially, the plaza area was planned for the front of the mall. But Hemmer said there were some noise complaints from nearby residents following some of the concerts.
“That was another reason to move it to the middle,” Hemmer said.
The reconfigured location is in close proximity to nearby restaurants, and as Lilac Wine continued to play, a couple emerged from Stockyard Burgers & Bones, beers in hand (guests can bring their own food to stage events but not beverages).
As the overhaul planning has continued, NAP has met with residents of the nearby Easthampton subdivision, as well as the East Cobb Civic Association.
Michael Saadaala, director of property operations at The Avenue, said that they don’t want the community to have any unexpected surprises as the final plans are presented.
NAP officials are scheduled to visit the retail center this week before those plans are formally submitted to the county. Hemmer said that barring delays, construction could begin by August, with completion in the first quarter of 2023.
Another key feature will be a valet and concierge service for those who want it. But it will be optional, and self-parking will still be available.
“For those who want to spend the money, they’re going to get the service,” said Saadaala, who spent 18 years in hospitality operations with the Four Seasons hotel and resort chain.
He’s part of a current NAP team onsite that has four people, but that could grow to around 15 once the valet and concierge services begin.
“They will be face and voice of our property,” Hemmer said in reference to the concierge staff. “They’ll be putting the hospitality component into our events.”
Another part of the overhaul that goes beyond bricks-and-mortar is a rebranding of The Avenue, including a new logo.
A branding design guide includes messaging such as “The Avenue is the shopping center known for being East Cobb’s every day adventure” and “East Cobb’s gathering spot to shop, eat and say hello.”
While some of the new concept is geared around drawing in families with younger children, the comedy shows are aimed at ages 13 and older.
The overall idea, Hemmer said, is to appeal to “everyone who is coming here,” noting that some of the more avid cornhole participants are empty-nesters.
“We want everyone to feel like there’s something here for them to enjoy.”
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Last week Soliant, a health care, education and life sciences staff outsourcing company, held a ribbon-cutting for its new Cobb offices at the Atlanta Galleria Office Park.
The new space includes nearly 23,000 square feet and initially will have 130 employees, with a goal of having up to 300 employees by 2023.
Soliant currently has a workforce in metro Atlanta of around 850 employees, including a recent expansion in Peachtree Corners.
The company has other locations in Tampa, Boston and Jacksonville.
Solana was founded in Atlanta in 1992 The Atlanta Galleria Office Park will offer convenient amenities to Soliant’s internal colleagues, including a fitness center, outdoor sports league and fitness, daycare, concierge service, on-site restaurant, café, bike share, and electric vehicle charging stations. They also have direct access to The Battery, which includes Truist Park, home of the 2021 World Series Champions the Atlanta Braves, as well as more than 500,000 square-feet of dining and entertainment options.
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For several months, Edens Real Estate—which owns and operates the Merchants Walk Shopping Center in East Cobb—has listed a Marshalls retail store (1311 Johnson Ferry Road) in its directory as a soon-to-be-occupant of some of the former Stein Mart space.
While there’s no indication on the exterior of what’s coming, we checked recently with Edens to get some more information.
East Cobb News was told last month that Edens doesn’t comment about such matters regarding its tenants, and we were referred to a spokeswoman for The TJX Companies, Marshalls’ parent company.
She said in response to our request for information that “although we appreciate your inquiry, Marshalls has not announced any store changes in Marietta at this point.”
These aren’t uncommon replies from corporate retail companies, who like to announce openings and relocations on their own time.
But we continue to get queries from readers, and have contacted TJX again and will post more when we get an update about when the store may be opening.
Marshalls has been located in East Cobb as an anchor the East Lake Shopping Center for many years, but Brixmor, the landlord of that property, has the Marshalls space listed on its directory as being available.
In January, ToNeTo, an Atlanta blog focusing on retail and restaurant news, cited an unnamed Marshalls source saying that the store would be moving from East Lake to Merchant’s Walk and taking up most, but not all, of the Stein Mart space.
There’s not much space available at Merchant’s Walk. Roadrunner Sports has moved from a space adjacent to the Stein Mart space to Suite 310, and the Verizon Store has moved to Suite 90, where Nuvo Salon was located.
Next Door, Suite 70, the old Calico Home space, is available.
Suite 470, the free-standing building near Whole Foods were Verizon was previously located, will become a One Medical location.
The former 18/8 men’s clothing store (Suite 120) also is vacant. Suite 440, which had housed a Bar Method fitness studio, will be occupied by a Perspire Sauna Studio.
Marshalls would occupy most of the former Stein Mart location, according to a Merchant’s Walk map posted by Edens Real Estate, the retail center owner.
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General manager Michael Masters demonstrates the bagel boiling process that customers can watch (via window at right), with a stone oven in the background.
What’s the difference between a standard bagel and a New York—make that Brooklyn—bagel?
Boiling and baking them, said Michael Masters, general manager of the 101 Bagel Café that opened late last week in East Cobb.
It’s a process that’s done on the premises, in the former Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop at 4811 Lower Roswell Road, at Johnson Ferry Road.
Specifically, Masters explains, it’s all about the water used for the boiling, and a 14-step process to get rather close to the taste of the Catskills water that made New York bagels famous.
“It’s very special water,” he says, “and you can taste the difference.”
Masters, who previously was GM of the first 101 Bagel Café, says these bagels have a crisper taste.
“I’ve eaten more bagels over the last four years than I did in my entire life before this,” he said.
The flavors, and the toppings, are endless. The bagels can be plain, wheat, garlic and onion, egg, sesame, poppyseed, cinnamon and raisin and blueberry.
His favorite is jalapeño cheddar, and there’s Asiago cheese and plain bagel colored rainbow-style.
As for the cream cheese schmears, customers can also choose from jalapeño cheddar, strawberry, honey almond, bacon and scallion and a nova lox spread, among others.
Those also are made at the store, which also sells muffins, omelettes, wraps, melts, soups, hashbrowns, juices, coffee and energy drinks.
As Masters talked, staffers were busy setting up and accepting deliveries. The store had a soft opening on Friday, and owner/operator Rob Miller said a ribbon-cutting and more formal promotions will be coming soon.
The East Cobb location is the third 101 Bagel Café to open since the initial spot on Cobb Parkway near The Battery in 2018.
There’s another in Duluth, and in the coming months locations will open in Dunwoody and Milton.
East Cobb was an easy choice, Miller said, given a sizable Jewish community with three synagogues here (and three more in Roswell) and established bagel eateries nearby.
“I know Bagelicious [on Johnson Ferry Road] has been around forever,” said Miller, who moved to Atlanta from Miami three years ago.
A former behavioral psychologist, he ran a coffee shop and events space there, his foray in the food business.
As he was settling in Atlanta, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
While the initial 101 Bagel Café was affected for a time by closures, the situation meant that “I had to get creative with my business.”
A mobile app was created and curbside service was introduced, and Miller said his employees for the most part “stuck with us.”
Supply chain issues and inflation have prompted a price increase for a bagel—it’s $1.59, up from $1.29, Miller said, but he vowed that “they’re not going up for the next 12 months.”
He has a business partner who shares his commitment to stay focused on incremental growth in carefully selected locations.
The East Cobb store has a viewing window for customers to watch the boiling and baking process, and there are three large tables inside.
A patio in front will have up to six tables, and Miller’s longer-term plans are to have some live musical entertainment.
101 Bagel Café 4811 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 1112 Hours: 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily Website
Patio tables and chairs will soon front what had been a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop at Lower Roswell and Johnson Ferry roads.
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Pictured L-R: JR Connolly, Connolly Investments; Bob Ott, former Cobb County Commissioner; Mike Servold, VP of Operations, Kroger; Jerica Richardson, Cobb County Commissioner; Victor Smith, President, Kroger Atlanta Division; Ruben Fernandez, VP of Merchandising, Kroger; Patti Rice, Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance; Henry Simpson, Project Manager, Kroger; Brandon Ashkouti, Eden Rock Real Estate Partners; Paul Harrell, Robertson Lois Roof Architects.
The centerpiece of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill mixed-use project will be under construction soon.
Kroger held a groundbreaking celebration Tuesday for its planned superstore at 1310 Powers Ferry Road.
It’s on the site of the former campus of Brumby Elementary School, and is the last component of the development to get underway.
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, current commissioner Jerica Richardson and former commissioner Bob Ott were on hand, as were representatives of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance.
The Kroger store will total 90,000 square feet and will include a gas station. Completion is expected by March 2023.
Inside the store the features will include a cheese shop, expanded deli offerings, grocery pickup and self checkouts.
It will replace the Kroger store at Powers Ferry and Delk Road.
“This new store signifies Kroger’s ongoing commitment to the community and to the ongoing economic prosperity of the region,” said Felix Turner, Kroger’s manager of corporate affairs for the Atlanta division.
Kroger received $35 million tax abatements from the Development Authority of Cobb County, but a Cobb judge rejected issuing those bonds after a legal challenge from Larry Savage, an East Cobb resident who has run for Cobb commission chairman.
But in 2019, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the issuing of the bonds. Kroger had indicated it might pull out of the project if it didn’t get the tax breaks.
The 23 acres at the southwest intersection of Powers Ferry Road and Terrell Mill Road was rezoned for the mixed-use project in 2018, and regarded as a transformational redevelopment in the community.
In addition to a 289-unit apartment building, the $120 million MarketPlace Terrell Mill development includes retail and restaurant space.
Among the new business there is a Regions Bank, Lush Nail Salon and Ideal Dental. Restaurants include Chick-fil-A, Panera Bread, Wendy’s and Los Abuelos Mexican Grill.
The first building to be completed in the complex is Extra Space Storage, a self-storage facility.
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The debut food truck lineup includes Island Chef (Caribbean items), Willie B’s Sisters (soul/comfort food), Baltimore Crab Cake ATL and Hermanas Italian Ice.
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Money Smart Week 2022 will be held Saturday, April 9 – Saturday, April 16. This week-long free virtual programming provided by governmental, non-profit, and educational institutions will focus on supporting the needs of low-to-moderate income households to encourage greater financial well-being in our communities.
This year’s line-up includes:
Monday, April 11: 2 pm: Spend Smart. Eat Smart, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (register here)
Tuesday, April 12, 2 pm: Credit: Build & Improve It!, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (register here)
Wednesday, April 13, 2 pm: Buying or Refinancing a Home: Options & Tools, North West Housing Partnership (register here)
Thursday, April 14, 2 pm: Social Security: Understanding Retirement, Spouse, & Survivor Benefits, Social Security Administration (register here)
View more details at www.moneysmartweek.org. Registration is advised. Questions for the panelists can be submitted during the registration process.
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LaVonya Williams-Tensley, owner of All Things Inspiration, a new Christian bookstore serving the East Cobb area, reached out to us about her business having what she’s calling a “soft opening” on Saturday.
The address is 2745 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 156, in The Corners Shopping Center (where the Queen of Hearts antique store is located), and the opening event lasts from 12-4 p.m. Saturday.
It’s the second such store for Williams-Tensley, who also has a store on Veterans Memorial Highway in Austell with the same name.
All Things Inspirational sells books and Bibbles, Bible study materials, church supplies, gifts, and games, music and DVDS. For more information you can click here or call 786-208-4560.
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Gas prices in the East Cobb area have been holding steady for a few days, many of them at $4.29 a gallon for unleaded like this Kroger station at the Pavilions at East Lake.
But AAA—The Auto Club Group says gas prices in Georgia are averaging an all-time high, more than the recession of 2008-09, when the average in the state was as high as $4.16.
AAA spokeswoman Montrae Waters said that $4.29 average across the state is a record, up 32 cents from last week, nearly a dollar from last month, and $1.61 from March 2021.
That means that a 15-gallon tank costs $64.35 to fill.
The national average is $4.32, with gas costing in excess of $6 a gallon in some parts of California.
The costs figure to increase as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, and Waters said that “unfortunately, drivers should anticipate gas prices to remain high for weeks to come.”
Some tips from AAA-The Auto Club Group on saving money on gas:
Slow down — if you’re on the highway, know that gas use increases as your car passes 50 mph. If you drive the speed limit, you could reduce your car’s fuel consumption.
Drive more gently — gradually brake and accelerate, rather than stomping on the gas pedal or brake pedal.
Avoid engine idling — it can waste fuel.
Make one trip, instead of many — make a comprehensive list of items you need to buy and then make a single trip outside of your home, rather than multiple short trips.
Clean out the car — lighter cars use less fuel. Get the junk out of your trunk, cargo areas and passenger compartments.
Stay regular on vehicle maintenance — get your car checked out regularly and make sure your tires are filled to the correct pressure level.
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!
Dr. Roger Tutterow, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University, will discuss the economic forecast for the East Cobb area on March 29 at a luncheon of the East Cobb Area Council of the Chamber of Commerce.
Tutterow is Chief Economic Advisor for Henssler Financial and is the Director of the Econometric Center in the Coles College of Business at KSU.
He also has been an economic adviser to former Georgia governors and current Gov. Brian Kemp.
His appearance comes as inflation has reached a 40-year high in metro Atlanta. The costs for fuel, food, energy and other basics have risen by an average of nearly 10 percent over the past year, according to the consumer price index of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The East Cobb Area Council luncheon begins at 12 p.m. March 29 at Indian Hills Country Club (4001 Clubland Drive). Tickets are $30 for Cobb Chamber members and $40 for general admission.
Registration is open until March 24 and can be completed by clicking here.
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Gasoline prices in Cobb County and across Georgia rose by an average of 13 cents a gallon in the last week, according to AAA-The Auto Club Group, and are likely to increase more due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Regular unleaded gas prices that were commonly around $3.29 a gallon in the East Cobb area last week are now at or around $3.45 a gallon. In Cobb County overall, the AAA-calculated average is $3.48 a gallon.
The Georgia average is $3.50 a gallon, costing motorists $52.50 to fill a 15-gallon tank of gasoline.
The national average is even higher, at $3.60 a gallon. Current prices are about a dollar more than they were this time a year ago, and are closing in on record prices that exceeded $4 a gallon at the start of the economic recession in 2008.
Last week national crude prices neared $100 a barrel after a sharp 71-cents-a-gallon rise as Russian military troops invaded the Ukraine.
“As the conflict escalates with more sanctions and retaliatory actions, the oil markets will likely respond by continuing to increase the price of crude oil to reflect more risk of disruption to tight global oil supplies,” AAA-The Auto Club Group concluded.
Some tips from AAA-The Auto Club Group on saving money on gas:
Slow down — if you’re on the highway, know that gas use increases as your car passes 50 mph. If you drive the speed limit, you could reduce your car’s fuel consumption.
Drive more gently — gradually brake and accelerate, rather than stomping on the gas pedal or brake pedal.
Avoid engine idling — it can waste fuel.
Make one trip, instead of many — make a comprehensive list of items you need to buy and then make a single trip outside of your home, rather than multiple short trips.
Clean out the car — lighter cars use less fuel. Get the junk out of your trunk, cargo areas and passenger compartments.
Stay regular on vehicle maintenance — get your car checked out regularly and make sure your tires are filled to the correct pressure level.
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!
Submitted information from the Cobb Chamber of Commerce:
The Cobb Youth Leadership (CYL), a development program sponsored by the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta that focuses on developing leadership skills through interactive participation, is seeking applications for members of its 2022-2023 class.
Created in 1989, the program provides students a unique opportunity to learn about their community as well as meet and interact with students from other high schools. Students attending public or private high schools or home-school students in Cobb County must complete and submit an application for CYL in the spring of their sophomore year. Applications are reviewed by the CYL Steering Committee and approximately 55 students are chosen for the class. Students participate in the program during their junior year of high school.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2022-2023 class. Students may complete the online form at www.cobbchamber.org/cyl. All applications must be submitted by Friday, April 15, 2022.
For more information about Cobb Youth Leadership, contact Katie Guice at (770) 859-2334 or kguice@cobbchamber.org.
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Marietta native Sam Springer has opened an East Cobb location of PuroClean, a restoration and remediation franchise.
Located at 1230 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite J-10, Puro Clean provides 24/7 emergency water damage remediation, smoke and fire damage restoration, mold, and biohazard removal services.
The franchise service area also includes Kennesaw, Dunwoody, Marietta and nearby communities in metro Atlanta.
“Starting business ventures and exploring entrepreneurial opportunities has been one of my greatest passions for well over a decade,” Springer said in a release issued by PuroClean.
“I am proud and excited to be a part of the PuroClean network so that I can continue doing what I love to do – servicing my community in a meaningful way.”
Springer opened his first restoration business after graduating from college, and also was an insurance property adjuster.
PuroClean was founded in 2001 and has more than 375 franchise locations in North America, all independently owned and operated.
For more information on PuroClean East Cobb, call (770) 627-0900.
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It’s an annual national effort to encourage individuals and families to develop automatic savings habits, prepare for unexpected expenses and retirement and reduce debt.
Through Friday the Credit Union of Georgia will be posting savings tips on its social media platforms.
The credit union’s savings products include regular savings accounts, money market funds, certificates of deposit, club accounts, college savings accounts and kids club accounts.
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After running a bakery in their native Brazil for more than 20 years, Ubiracy and Raul Goncalves wanted to open something similar, but on a different scale, when they emigrated to the United States six years ago.
In São Paulo, they had a staff that extended beyond their immediate family. When they moved to the metro Atlanta area and settled on an East Cobb location last year, they went looking for a physical space ideal for the new concept:
A European-style coffee house with homemade baked goods, aimed at luring pedestrian traffic.
“We didn’t want to necessarily have a Brazilian bakery,” said their daughter, Clara Goncalves, who along with her sister Ester helps out at the Vanilla Café e Gelato, which opened last week at The Avenue East Cobb.
It’s located in Suite 1010 (in the original Olea Oliva space), near the East Cobb mural. Indoors are five tables—room for 10-12 people, and two more outdoor tables near the entrance.
As she did in Brazil, Ubiracy makes all the baked goods—cakes, brownies, pastries, cookies and more—some of them from traditional Brazilian recipes. Ester Goncalves, her other daughter, took a course in gelato-making in Brazil and oversees that part of the operation.
The coffee comes from Bellwood, an Atlanta-based roaster, and there’s also a premium on locally-sourced food ingredients.
The aim, Clara says, is to entice customers to linger after shopping or a meal nearby.
“This area calls for a different kind of a coffee shop,” she says.
There aren’t many indie coffee shops in the East Cobb area—Mzizi Coffee Roasters, on Johnson Ferry Road near Shallowford Road—is an exception.
Vanilla Café opens as The Avenue East Cobb will soon be overhauled with more restaurants and events.
It’s part of a reimagined “socially magnetic” and “modern gathering place” undertaken by North American Properties, which is managing the retail center after developing Avalon in Alpharetta and renovating Colony Square and Atlantic Station in Atlanta.
Vanilla Café is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 12-6 p.m. on Sunday.
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The deadline to sign up is Monday, Jan. 10, for the 20-day program, which includes training, credentialing and job placement. The training is free to eligible applicants.
Classes will take place Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., starting of Feb. 21 and ending March 18.
The Cobb classes will be held at the Construction Ready offices located at 1940 The Exchange SE, Suite 200, Marietta. For more information and to register, please click here.
Construction Ready says that “the need for skilleed workers has continued through the pandemic,” with several thousand construction job openings existing currently in Cobb County.
Partial funding for the program comes from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund, a part of the federal CARES Act. CEFGA received $3.3. million to expand Construction Ready, and the GEER funding also supports broadband and connectivity extensions, mental health services, workforce training, childcare, and tech innovation.
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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!
