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!
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!
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 little more than three years after opening at Woodlawn Square Shopping Center, the Alumni Cookie Dough location is closing in East Cobb this week.
Co-franchisees Eric and Leana Tatum made the announcement on a social media posting Monday, saying the last day of business is Saturday.
The message to customers said that “your love and loyalty have meant the world to us, and we are forever grateful for the community we have built together.”
In response to a request for information from East Cobb News, Eric Tatum said the business was not profitable and “our landlord was nice enough to give us a manageable deal on early termination of our commercial lease.”
He said he’ll be looking for employment after the store closes.
The Tatums—he’s a Walton High School graduate—opened an East Cobb location of the Athens-based novelty food shop in October 2021, serving up cookie dough-based desserts, ice creams, sundaes, pretzel bites and more.
In addition to its original location in Athens, Alumni Cookie Dough also operates stores in Milton and Cumming. Another store in the Augusta area closed in 2023.
The Tatums were vendors at the Taste of East Cobb and invited local school and community organizations for special events.
The East Cobb store will observe regular hours until Saturday’s closing, “pending icy weather,” the closing message said. “We’ll probably close around 6pm on Saturday.”
Hours are 1-9 Wednesday-Thursday and 12-10 Friday-Saturday.
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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Less than three years after its opening, the 101 Bagel Cafe has closed in East Cobb.
There’s a sign on the door acknowledging the closing and green mesh around what had been a small patio in the front of the location at 4811 Lower Roswell Road, at the intersection of Johnson Ferry Road.
The chain’s website still lists the East Cobb location, but a button for online ordering goes to the Milton/Crabapple location.
The closure in East Cobb follows other 101 Bagel Cafe closures in recent months, including on Akers Mill Road.
That was the original 101 Bagel Cafe opening in 2018. Rob Miller was the franchisee there and in East Cobb, and he also operated a location in Duluth that also has since closed.
The Dunwoody location also has closed, while the Milton location opened last year.
When Miller opened in East Cobb in April 2022, he said the New York-style concept—featuring Catskills water for boiling and then baking bagels—would find a niche in a competitive market.
He was going up against East Cobb mainstays Bagelicious and Goldbergs Bagel, not far away in the Johnson Ferry corridor.
101 Bagel Cafe’s closing follows the Flying Biscuit, which shuttered in September at Parkaire Landing, and as the Lower Roswell-Johnson Ferry area is preparing for major traffic improvements that have caused concerns for some business owners in the area.
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As we noted previously, this Guthrie’s will be drive-through only due to the small size of the 3.17-acre property.
Cobb commissioners approved site plan changes in December 2023 that include right-in, right-out access only on Lower Roswell Road.
Guthrie’s knocked down the small building that formerly housed several small businesses for a new 1,500-foot structure with a drive-through canopy and 10 parking spaces.
An inflatable chicken greets motorists along Lower Roswell Road, but is partially hidden due to a low wall constructed near the intersection.
Guthrie’s is an Alabama-based chain that has one other Cobb location, in Mableton, and recently opened a restaurant in the Woodstock area.
It’s coming into a competitive East Cobb area for fast casual food, and chicken in particular. Guthrie’s menu features chicken fingers, and includes chicken sandwiches and buckets.
A Super Chix opened at Avenue East Cobb in September. In April, Howlin’ Willy’s, a hot-chicken concept from Willy’s Mexicana Grill, opened at Pine Straw Place near Trader’ Joes.
There’s also a long-standing Zaxby’s caddy-corner at the northeast intersection of Johnson Ferry and Lower Roswell.
Guthrie’s hours in East Cobb are 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily.
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!
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!
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!
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 third location of the Johnson Ferry Road-based Marietta Donuts will be opening soon, and will be the second in East Cobb.
A social media posting last week indicated that the new space is in the Sprayberry Collection shopping center (2520 East Piedmont Road, Suite 3) and that plans are to open before Christmas.
Sokcheat Heng opened the first Marietta Donuts next to a gas station (now Shell) at 1282 Johnson Ferry Road with his girlfriend and business partner, Sophal Chhim, in 2016.
In addition to a wide variety of doughnuts, the shop sells fritters and kolaches, a Polish-style pastry with sausage, as well as croissants, cinnamon rolls, eclairs, breakfast biscuits, bagels, coffees and teas.
In 2021, a second Marietta Donuts opened on Cobb Parkway in Kennesaw.
East Cobb News has left a message with Marietta Donuts seeking more information.
Sprayberry Collection is located on East Piedmont near Sandy Plains Road and Sprayberry High School. The small retail center used to house Cafe 33 and other small businesses but there are mostly empty storefronts now.
But it’s also located near the now-razed Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center that’s being redeveloped. The first phase of that project, EVOQ of East Cobb, is a 55-and-older apartment building that is under construction.
Townhomes and retail spaces also are planned for the redevelopment which has been named East Cobb Walk.
The Marietta Donuts space will take up 1,200 square feet that formerly was occupied by a hair salon at Sprayberry Collection.
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!
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!
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!
According to the restaurant’s social media accounts, the last day of business will be Sunday, Nov. 17.
No reason for the closing was stated in the announcement, which said that it was made with “mixed emotions” and thanked customers.
“Please come by one last time before we close to enjoy your favorite dishes, share stories with our staff and say goodbye. We look forward to seeing you.”
Kat Brown of Willie Jewell’s told East Cobb News that the restaurant space at Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center will be turned over to an operator who will be opening up a new barbecue concept soon.
The Florida-based Willie Jewell’s opened in an outparcel 2550 Sandy Plains Road in 2017, serving up slow-cooked smoked barbecue beef, pork, turkey and chicken dishes, including ribs, Southern side dishes and desserts, as well as salads and burgers.
The surrounding East Cobb area includes a number of barbecue restaurants, including Righteous Que, Williamson Bros., Sam’s BBQ-Q, Jim ‘N Nick’s and others.
Willie Jewell’s is a fast-casual spinoff of the venerable Bono’s Pit Bar-B-Q concept in Jacksonville, Fla,, and has 10 other locations, mostly in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
It’s named after a young woman who came to Bono’s and was a longtime cook there.
Local customers expressed surprise at the news of the East Cobb closing, with one saying on the restaurant’s Facebook page that “I’m going to miss being able to be in the ‘know’ and walk in, sit at the bar and order. I already miss several employees that I’ve met since y’all opened, it’s going to be sad to miss your place.”
Opening hours at Willie Jewell’s are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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!
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!
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!
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 small vacant space at the Merchant’s Exchange Shopping Center looks non-descript for the moment, with its windows blocked out to indicate renovations.
Behind the scenes, a new franchise of a small chain, the Fluffy Fluffy Dessert Cafe, is being prepared for a likely November opening.
The franchisee is truly local.
After a long career in the technology sector, Tri Phan recently began considering entrepreneurial opportunities. His daughters attend Walton High School, and he wants his new business to be community focused.
“I’ve been looking for a place in East Cobb,” he said, initially pursuing a coffee/tea establishment. “Even if this wasn’t a franchise, I’d want to operate it the same way.”
He settled on Fluffy Fluffy Cafe, a dessert cafe with a wide array of coffees and teas, plus a few savory items (menu here.)
The headliner, Phan says, is Japanese souffle pancakes.
Fluffy Fluffy grew out of an original concept in Toronto, and has expanded to nearly a dozen franchises in the United States, including two in metro Atlanta, Duluth and Tucker, which is having a Nov. 9 grand opening.
The East Cobb location will occupy nearly 2,000 square feet next to Jersey Mike’s when it opens. It will be among several new eateries at Merchant’s Exchange, including Katana Sushi and Hibachi and J’MZ and artisanal coffee and tea spot with juices, light breakfast items, bowls and bakery items.
“It was just time for a change, said Phan, who left his technology job as a product manager earlier this year when it was purchased by another company.
For now, as the location is being built out, Phan—who earned an MBA from the University of Michigan—is laying some marketing and promotional groundwork.
He hoping for a soft opening by the end of October with a grand opening in November, but hasn’t set any hard dates.
Phan said the opening hours for Fluffy Fluffy Cafe will be 10-8 Sunday-Thursday and 10-9 on Friday-Saturday.
Pause Studio sets grand opening
Pause Studio will have a flotation therapy chamber.
Pause Studio, which provides holistic wellness services, will hold its grand opening at Avenue East Cobb on Nov. 2 from 12-6 p.m. (475 Roswell Rd, Suite B-420).
Based in Los Angeles,, Pause will be opening its first franchise location outside of California, featuring wellness treatments, including floatation therapy, infrared saunas, LED light therapy, IV therapy, contrast therapy, cryotherapy, and naturopathic medicine.
“It’s been our passion to open a state-of-the-art wellness studio in our own backyard, helping us realize our vision of providing the community with modern, holistic lifestyle solutions that nurture both mind and body,” says franchise owner Lisa Benson, who is local. “Our mission is to lead Atlanta’s wellness space through unparalleled service, education, and by offering approachable and affordable solutions that empower everyone to live healthier, happier lives.”
A company release said the new Pause Studio is the first in Cobb County to receive health department approval for cold plunges and float tanks.
The grand opening includes food, drink mini-services from partners, a raffle, giveaways, studio tours and more. Initial Founding Discovery Packages at are being sold for 50 percent off, along with 20 percent off other packages and founding memberships.
Helping those in need
A number of businesses, religious institutions and other organizations have been collecting donations for Hurricane Helene victims in North Carolina.
Suburban Tap has been loading up several vehicles to transport to those needing assistance, as the restaurant notes on its Facebook page:
They’ve been asking for the donations on their social media channels for the last few days, and last week offered specials for refugees from Hurricane Milton in Florida.
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!
An Italian restaurant, Luga, and an adjoining patisserie, Giulia, will occupy the former Drift space at Avenue East Cobb.
A full-service Italian restaurant and an accompanying patisserie will be opening at Avenue East Cobb in 2025.
North American Properties announced Wednesday that Luga will occupy the former Drift Fish House and Oyster Bar space, serving up Italian cuisine that includes an expanded bar, an open kitchen, a private dining room and patio. The one-page menu includes “fresh antipasti, crisp salads, Roma-style pizzas, and house made pastas.”
The restaurant is a new concept by Ben and Seth Gjuka, brothers who opened Giulia, an Italian bakery, in Peachtree Corners in April. Their second location will operate adjacent to Luga and will serve pastries, croissants, sandwiches and a variety of coffee drinks.
NAP said that Luga and Guilia are expected to open next spring.
Next summer, Tenku Sushi Elevation will be opening in one of the new “jewel box” buildings that’s part of Avenue East Cobb’s recent redevelopment.
Tenku’s first restaurant, in Woodstock, offers a variety of Japanese dishes that include nigiri and sashimi, signature rolls, robata grills, omakase, and flame-seared marinated octopus.
The Avenue East Cobb location will have a rooftop bar.
Two retail stores are slated to come to Avenue East Cobb later this year.
Women’s clothing boutique Nic + Zoe is expected to open for the holidays near the Kendra Scott store.
Over the winter, luxury bedding company Boll & Branch will be opening next to the Barnes & Noble store.
A Super Chix fast-casual restaurant recently opened at Avenue, adding to a slate of new eateries that includes Round Trip Brewing Co.
Also opening at Avenue is eLo Vegan Lifestyle, the flagship store for natural body products. Slated to open soon is a Pause Studio location.
NAP said the new additions will make Avenue East Cobb 96 percent leased, compared to the 75 percent occupancy rate when it took over management of the retail center in 2021.
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!
