Inman Perk Deserts "Failing" Building in Emory Village
May 1, 2008
So I noticed last night that Inman Perk had deserted its spot at the old Caribou location in Emory Village, next to Everybody’s, and was ready to chalk it up to students favoring the Starbucks down the plaza.
But a check of the coffee shop’s blog tells a different, story.
“Sadly, our torrid love affair with Emory Village has come to an early end. Last week we learned of a failing infrastructure problem in our building that is beyond our control . . . and unfortunately, this has required us to close down our doors at Emory. We know it was a short stint, but we’ll miss you! We’ve had a great time getting to know the Emory community . . . and we hope you’ll bridge the short gap and come visit us in Inman Park!”
Uh oh. Failing infrastructure? That’s not good.
That building is one of 4 ( I think) historic buildings in that strip (the other 3 are Everybody’s, Supercuts, and Evolve) that were to be preserved when the monster redevelopment of Emory Village occurred. I wonder how this new development changes things…because Druid Hills has some pretty darn strict historic preservation ordinances, but failing infrastructure is failing infrastructure.
Keep your eyes open.
My understanding is that a grease trap needed to be installed to meet new code and Inman Perk couldn’t bear the cost.
Hmm. Classifying an old grease trap as “failing infrastructure” seems to mask the real issue. To me, obvious from my post above, I read “failing infrastructure problem with the building” and thought the building was falling down. Guess the location wasn’t promising enough to spend the money on a grease trap. Caribou had the same problem with foot traffic.
Well, I’m at least glad to hear that the building is sound.
Thanks for the clarification Carole!
“failing infrastructure problem”. please be more ambiguous next time.
Sometimes I think it’s pretty funny how much people read into things to create whatever kind of story they like. I’m actually one of the owners of Inman Perk . . . and I have to tell you that we got blindsided by a 20,000 plus renovation plus over a month of close time to install a new grease trap in this location (which is actually why Caribou left). In Atlanta, especially in old locations as such . . . landlords tend to try to make their renters pay for building repairs so that they don’t have to front the cost. Basically, our landlord knew about the problem . . . did not disclose . . . the city came around to recheck the grease trap infastructure (which is quite a monster as it has been adapted to the location over the years) . . . and told us what had happened the previous time. Basically, we would of had to tear the building half apart to put the right kind of grease trap in . . . and the landlord broke the law by not disclosing the problem.
We actually really liked our Emory location (which was doing great) . . . but unfortunately, business can be dirty in Atlanta . . . especially when it involves old buildings and grease traps. I don’t think anyone can blame a small family business for not ruining itself trying to fix other people’s problems.
Honestly, I think that the opposite side of this story needs to come to light . . . because this is actually something that is really hurting Emory Village. This has happened on more than one occasion . . . and in all honesty, you have a predatory landlord that will continue to make it hard for new businesses to thrive . . . don’t you think it would be hard to do well when you had an unexpected 20,000 grand expense plus close time when you just opened your doors?
We still miss you Emory . . .
Thanks for the clarification Guy. Sorry for the assumption. In my experience with this blog, when explanations are unusually vague there’s something else going on. Obviously in this case, there was, but it doesn’t sound like it was your fault.
I didn’t realize there was a landlord over there trying to get tenants to foot his bills. That’s a tough break. A lot people that visit this site read the comments religiously, so anyone that read the story yesterday will see your side of things today.
My best to your company in less greasy future locations.
Yay for less grease trap problems!
No worries about anything . . . I’m a daily reader of your blog . . . and I just didn’t want people to think that we didn’t like or fit in Emory . . because we felt quite the opposite. We tend to gravitate towards the more Bohemian customer . . . and Emory is chalked full. I’ve been in and around Emory since 2000 . . . and I fell in love with the people and culture . . . that’s why I picked it for the first new store. We were really looking forward to becoming part of the community . . . maybe someday we’ll get another shot!
Hi Guy – Thanks for clarifying. But in defense of Decaturite’s original post, he got the info (or lack of info) from your own blog. If you feel like there was more information that should have been out there, perhaps that would have been an easy place to start.
Hi Paula, there was no more information necessary. Short and sweet! Extra stuff like this is just coffee chatter really . . . something for people to talk about. So have fun . . . I’ll just make the coffee.