Conflicting Stories About Emory Village Coffee House
September 5, 2008 | 4:20 pmIn a recent story, highlighting a trip to the new Method Coffee and Tea Lounge in Emory Village, Emory Wheel reporter, Ranjani Prabhakar, tells this story about its predecessors…
“It is interesting to see such a progressive shop emerge as a consequence of its predecessors. Caribou Coffee closed its doors only two years ago because the cozy space didn’t fit into an expansive corporate plan. The company’s new requirements called for drive-thru windows and massive square footage, neither of which came with the Emory Village setting.
Caribou’s successor, Inman Perk, only occupied the Village space for about a year. The small café was only filling the space as a temporary location before it too moved on to a bigger space in the nearby Toco Hills shopping center.
With luck, Method will not also become a victim of circumstance or move on to a bigger and so-called “better” location. The intimate space suits it.”
Wow…that sure is a different story than the one told to us by the owner of Inman Perk back in May, which involved $20,000 in needed renovation and a predatory landlord.
So 1) Where did the above story come from? and 2) who’s blowing smoke?
I have no real info on this. But I do know there has been a bad rep attached to the landlord (SM) who owns many of those buildings….much of which came out during the Druid Hills Association meetings re: redevelopment of the village. This guy has a legendary rep as a nightmare landlord who wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire!
I do have some insight into the story, and it is best advised for third parties not to try and get in between landlords and tenents. They each have their own positions. However, the DHCA leadership (which probably isn’t in touch with the community) has spared no stone to throw at the landlord. Rumors such as the above are often reinforced because they fit into the DHCA paradiem.
The facts are that the landlord that DHCA is so quick to trash could have been leasing to McDonalds and every other national chain that would like to be across from a University. Those national credit chains pay consistently higher rents then your typical Mom and Pop local business. He has chosen to rent to local businesses. You have to wonder if $20,000 or whatever large sum of repairs were needed, why would the tenent sign the lease or take occupancy? The story I heard was that Inman Perk wasn’t making it and needed an excuse. They came up with something about a greasetrap problem. Yet Inman Perk didn’t do any cooking and they share a greasetrap with Everybodys Pizza, which is also a landlord. Again, there are two sides to every story, but jumping into a landlord tenent issue is like trying to figure out who is “right” in a divorce.
Although, E, that seems to have been just what you’ve done.
Yes, judge for yorself. Who knows the truth?
As a longtime member of the Druid Hills community (30 plus years), I can say with some authority that the DHCA is not out of touch with much of the community it represents. Yes, there are two sides to every story. Be careful, however, when painting with such a broad brush. It diminishes your credibility.
Well, here is a small example. The board members of DHCA were the primary contributors to Don Broussard, but the neighborhood voted overwhelmingly to re-elect kathie Gannon to the Board of Commissioners. As a strange parodox, she is a former DHCA president.
It’s one thing for two parties to disagree on a similar point…but these two stories are insanely different. And I’m not trying to pass moral judgment on anyone and determine who is “right” and who is “wrong”. I’m just pointing out the large factual discrepancy.
Inman Perk’s owner said in the response to the previous post that Caribou left because of the greasetrap issue too, so that would be one way to confirm/deny that point with a third-party.
All I’m saying is…finding out some of the real facts here isn’t an impossible task.
“Facts”? – just go with your gut.
My “gut” is why I posted it…but in the poorly paid world that is this blog, I prefer not to blindly start yelling “j’accuse!” I guess that might be a bit more entertaining for some, but I’m not sure the mayor would link to my site anymore if I did that.
I’ll shoot the owner of Inman Perk a note and see if he has a response.
Why not shoot the landlord a note, too?
Because I still have the email address of the Inman Perk owner from the last time he commented and I have no idea where I would go looking for the landlord’s email…
Try a http://www.emoryvillage.org. I think his name is Stuart Meddin. Or just follow Jeff Rader. Sorry I couldn’t help it.