N. McDonough Garage to Become "Relics & Rarities"
Decatur Metro | December 11, 2008
OK, now this sounds really interesting.
Proprietor Warren sends along a link announcing his coming ice cream and classic cars hangout in the A Plus Auto garage on North McDonough.
It’s scheduled to open next March. The short description and the logo above have certainly peaked my interest…
It’s an old garage converted to a wonderful Ice Cream Parlor, that desires to be a museum…. Simply put, it’s Relics and Rarities. A unique place full of the weird and wonderful, from delicious ice cream to history to classic cars, and so much more.
I’ve wondered what would become of this property for quite a while. It didn’t seem like a body shop would be able to survive downtown much longer with all this pesky gentrification. Learning that the building will not be torn down, but instead will be embraced by a local business for its unique character brings a smile to my face.
Plus, I’m itching to see what happens when you mix ice cream and classic cars!
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It will be interesting to see how they’ll be able top get rid of the auto shop smell that totally permeates the place after several decades of service work, not to mention the environmental issues.
BTW, it’s not a body shop, but a regular repair garage.
With a tag line that includes “from delicious ice cream to history to classic cars…” I think it’s interesting that the logo features a very recent Aston Martin (Vanquish?), rather than anything “classic.”
Perhaps that’s the “Rarity,” rather than the Relic!
Well, I’m excited!
This sounds like my dad’s heaven- give him a coupon and this will also be his favorite place on earth!
Please tell me this isn’t yet another Jake’s.
Hmmmmm… If were are talking about rarities… how about a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum with ice cream. Now that would be interesting!
I bet some high school kids will be putting on the pounds soon!
I hope ice cream doesn’t dissolve car paint.
“Ice cream and classic cars”? “Hangout”? It “desires to be a museum? Soooooo………. what is it? Is it an ice cream shop? Will other stuff be for sale? While I love local businesses, I have to admit that this sounds like a schizophrenic business plan. Unfortunately, those never work out.
Well, call me crazy, but put a small ice cream shop…underneath FLEET FEET next to that child-covered park on Nelson Ferry, sell an affordable ice cream sized for kids, and you’ve got a thriving business. Don’t think that many folks walk past that part of McDonough, and doubt teenagers at DHS will make it work.
Beware falling trees and limbs.
Gosh … y’all make it sound like they’re going to need a Wordsmith’s-style, Birdi’s-style, Calavino’s-style bailout already!
Watch…Grasshopper
I’m always happy to see new businesses moving into empty or rundown spaces, and genuinely wish them well…. But, it does sound a bit obscure!
Greene’s Fine Food sounds an equally limited concept for a company relying purely on local sales, but I’m sure they’ll supplement their business nicely with mail order (or supplement the mail order with the local sales?), but I’m thinking mail order ice cream isn’t going to be pretty picture!!!
Admittedly a wacky concept, but if it brings good ice cream back to Decatur, I’m all for it! We’ve been making do with DQ. Now, I love a good soft serve dipcone as much as the next gal, but sometimes you need a real scoop.
And don’t forget that before being the foodie draw it is today, Watershed was a retail wine and gift shop with a small wine bar / cafe component. Admittedly not wacky, but a good indicator that you can start out as one thing and morph based on what connects with people.
Scott,
True about Watershed. But you can hardly say that a retail wine and gift shop where you can sip wine and nosh on something is an obscure concept. You have to get booties in the door before you know what to morph into. And y’all don’t get me wrong. I support our local businesses as much as I can. And I’ll probably stop by when it opens out of curiosity. But if I were an investor looking at the business plan (based on the extremely limited info we have now), I’d probably pass.
Agreed the Watershed concept was never obscure, MC. That’s why I said “Admittedly not wacky.” But you can draw some lessons as it relates to flexibility and adaptation.
When the Greene’s project was initially announced, didn’t they say that in addition to the goodie shop up front, there would be law offices in back? Did I hallucinate that?
I think its an architectural firm Lump. But yes, half of the building is definitely being used as offices for the owners’ other endeavors.
Well there ya go. A nut shop/architectural firm is no crazier than an ice cream shop/rare care museum. Let your freak flag fly.
I love that building. I am glad to see it is being developed into something other than the garage. I think with the redo of the high school stadium and the proposed plans for the housing development and the Trinity triangle project, the downtown area south of the courthouse will be undergoing the most change in the next few years.
I figured the building would be perfect for a Fellini’s had one not been so close already.
The ice cream shop sounds like it could be a good meeting place for local car clubs or enthusiasts. Could this be the first step towards Decatur having an annual vintage car show? There is a lot of parking nearby that could be used. Do the “Next Stop – Decatur” folks know about this? This kind of shop could be filled with old vintage Decatur stuff and with a lack of museum or place other than the library to show stuff like that off, what better place than an ice cream shop. The possibilities are endless if you put some thought into it.
I think it sounds like fun. I’ll check it out.
Maybe it will bring more traffic to Books Again, one of the best shops around.