According to Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne’s note in the March issue of the Decatur Focus, the film production company Pogo Pictures, is moving into the office space above Parker’s along Ponce de Leon Ave.

A check of their website shows they are moving from their current location on North Avenue in Atlanta and sport an impressive roster of current and former clients.  Clients include: Ford, Travelocity, Back of America, Chik-Fil-A, Abercrombie & Fitch, Heineken, U.S Virgin Islands, Goody’s, and many more.

The old gallery space above Parker’s is definitely one of the nicest, non-retail spaces in Decatur I’ve ever ventured into, so no big surprise it’s filled again!

In the January/February Decatur Focus, Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne reports in her “Focus on Downtown Development” section that city businesses had a reassuring holiday season.

Decatur retail businesses have reported better-than-expected sales for the holiday season. Of course sales aren’t where they were two years ago but most retailers report better sales than last year. We talked about the importance of shopping local and Decatur residents did their part. Retail sales exceeded last year’s figures and local business owners said many customers made a point of telling them they were shopping close to home. Many of the retailers we checked with said they bought less inventory and tried to stock some lower-priced items to respond to the economic downturn and were grateful for the support from Decatur shoppers.

If you haven’t flipped open your hard-copy yet, click over to the Focus PDF to read a few testimonials from area businesses.

Sometimes the Decatur Focus will make a “mistake”, just so I don’t feel so bad when I slip up and call a shrimp a crawfish or something.  I must say I appreciate this effort (said the narcissist).

But seriously, there is a date error for a very important event in this month’s Focus.  See this press release from Linda Harris…

The date of the public input session on the results of the recently completed Decatur Historic Resource Survey is incorrect in the October Decatur Focus. The correct date of the meeting is Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 7 p.m. at Decatur City Hall located at 509 N. McDonough Street in the City Commission Meeting Room.

The meeting will be a presentation of the survey results including the methodology used and a discussion on future plans for Decatur’s historic resources.

Additional questions regarding this correction or the Decatur Historic Resource Survey should be directed to Regina Brewer at regina.brewer@decaturga.com or (404) 371-8386.

If your a history and/or Decatur buff (or you just want to know why people were taking pictures of your house recently), I don’t think I’m over-selling by saying that this is a “can’t-miss” meeting where we’ll hear a summary of the city’s recent historic inventory.

Also, if you’re looking to brush up on your Decatur history prior to the meeting, read though the city’s South Decatur Historic Survey, completed in 1987.

In a letter published in September’s Decatur Focus, By Hand South’s owner, Brenda Leder, thanks the Decatur community for 20 great years…

“Thank you, Decatur, for helping me build By Hand South into a nationally recognized American Craft gallery. I cannot say how much I appreciate all that you have done. I have been thinking about retiring for a while.  Now is the time for me to relax and enjoy  weekends and holidays free from the responsibilities of retailing.

“The past 20 years of doing business in Decatur have afforded me the opportunity to meet wonderful people who have shared their lives with me, supported me, and through their loyalty to By Hand South have helped sustain American craftspeople. There is no better place in this metropolitan area to do business than here in Decatur.

“Thank You.” — Brenda Leder

If anyone is interested in continuing By Hand South’s legacy, Lyn mentions in her downtown development notes that Leder is “happy to consider the possibility”.

The latest Decatur Focus arrived in my mailbox yesterday, and in addition to warning me that the Fire Dept would be testing hydrants in June (Yay!  Brown water!), the June issue listed all the building projects in town that received Decatur Design Awards this past year.

That got me thinking about the diversity of our city’s commercial building stock.  Needless to say, it is unique.  While many of our residential areas, like much of metro-ATL, are relatively intact (with the very large exception of Beacon Hill), the commercial districts have been seriously altered over the years.

So, I wonder, is there any consensus on a favorite commercial building?  And I think we’ve gotta exclude the Old Courthouse from this discussion just to make it a bit more interesting.  Which is your fav and why? I can be old, new, borrowed, blue, whatever.

And no, even though the High House is currently used as office space, I don’t think it qualifies.

…according to an update from the city in the September Decatur Focus, which is now online.  Also, there are no longer plans to tear down the existing Dairy Queen and build it into the new plan.  Which means the existing building will remain (which I believe has actually been there since the 1960s).

Other things of note to development-obsessed me:

• Parker’s On Ponce has push back their opening to October, due to plumbing issues.
• Also many businesses on the Square are coordinating a valet parking service for patrons that will possibly start this fall.  I think I heard that valets will park cars in the courthouse deck…but I’m not entirely sure about that.

The July/August issue of the Decatur Focus is now online.

In it, we receive news that “retailers are reporting sales consistent with last year and many are showing modest gains over last year’s sales.  Landlords continue to report strong interest in retail and restaurant space and we’ve had several new businesses join the Decatur business community”.

All good news, though we occasionally still hear rumblings of restaurants or shops in danger of going under on this site.  Additionally, the old Century 21 at 335 W. Ponce, and the old Houseworks/T-Mobile locations remain without tenents.  (Which others am I missing?  And what happened to that “outdoor outfitters” that was teased a month or so back?)  But ultimately, our vacancy rates still seem ridiculously low.  Especially in such a crummy economy.

In the June issue of the Focus, Lyn lets the community know that there is “interest from a scooter store and locally owned outdoor outfitter” about opening shops in Decatur.

We’ve known about the city’s interest in bringing in a scooter store since they announced their interest in the city mag last year, but this is the first we’ve heard about an outdoor outfitter.  Not sure if Lyn is yet in a position to give any more details about these new shops yet, but we certainly welcome anything else she can pass along (store names, potential locations).  If it’s too early in the process, we understand.

Also, I finally got an answer about that “Coming Soon” sign in front of the old Federal building.  According to the same Focus article, the building will indeed be a “candy store and gift shop”.

So are we talking penny candy or really high-end chocolate here?

Click here read the latest Decatur Focus (PDF).

Highlights (from my own narrow-minded perspective)…

• The city has received a FEMA grant to purchase four properties on Westchester Drive that are below the base flood elevation and have “flooded several times”. Houses on the properties will be demolished and the land will be preserved as green space.
• Starting in 2008, residents will have to start paying for Dog Park tags for their dogs. The price is $20 for the first dog and $5 for each additional dog. Non residents now can also use the park if they are willing to pay a heck of a lot more: $60 for first dog, $15 for each additional dog. Maybe I’ll just drive up to Mason Mill Dog Park instead. Click here for a full list of Georgia dog parks. (page 4)
• The renovation of Boyce/Frost residence at 601 Third Ave in Oakhurst will be featured on Discovery Channel’s Green Homes TV, which will debut in 2008. Ah, how ironic…can you say “Oakhurst Historic District”? (page 5)
• Dancing Goats Coffee offers public “cuppings” ever Friday at 10a. According to the all-knowing Focus “Cupping is the evaluation technique used by coffee professionals and is similar to that of wine tasting.” (page
• Steinbeck’s Oyster Bar will host The Great Oakhurst Chili Cook Off in its parking lot from Nov 17th from 12p-6p. Also check out Steinbeck’s new Brunch menu, which features pumpkin pancakes! (page 10)

All right…five bullets classifies as “highlights”. Anymore and I’m rewriting the whole darn thing!