Starbucks and Blaze Pizza Reportedly Taking Over “Evans Fine Foods” Space in Emory Commons Plaza
Decatur Metro | January 5, 2017 | 11:38 am
From Tomorrow’s News Today…
Blaze Pizza and Starbucks Coffee are reportedly going to share the former Evans Fine Foods (and recently vacated Royal Cleaners) at the Publix-anchored shopping center. Located at the corner of North Decatur and Clairmont Roads, Emory Commons is a good location for any brand looking to capture both Decatur and Emory area traffic, but parking can be an issue.
For those not familiar with Blaze Pizza, like me, here’s what TNT has to say…
The Emory Commons Blaze Pizza will be the first in Georgia for the Pasadena, California based quick-serve pizza restaurant started by Rick & Elise Wetzel of Wetzel’s Pretzels. The chain has been targeting Atlanta for expansion for some time, and enters the metro area at a curious time….Despite existing and oncoming competition, Blaze does enter the market with some serious cred. Blaze surpassed $100 million in system-wide sales in 2015, having grown sales a whopping 205% year over year. In addition, NBA star LeBron James joined the company as an equity investor in 2012, and ditched a lucrative endorsement deal with McDonald’s in 2015 to become more involved in marketing for Blaze.
Starbucks: We’re Everywhere, Whether You Want Us There or Not
A shame that this might affect Chocolate Café across the street in the Bicycle South shopping center. Seems like Starbucks likes to locate where existing independent coffee shops have already established themselves instead of going where there’s gaps (like the bottom of my driveway).
For those who don’t know already, Chocolate Cafe’s staff are incredibly efficient and there’s always parking space in front of the shop during the morning commuter hours. So the Starbucks drive through-to-be is unlikely to be any faster than parking at Chocolate and running in for a takeout coffee/latte/whatever. Also, Chocolate has a quiz question of the day with a 20 cent discount for correct answers!
I would bet that the real draw for Starbucks is in the busy corner and the drive-thru feature that is grandfathered in with that property (and nearly impossible to come by any other way).
I don’t recall there being an existing drive-thru on the Evans building. Is there one?
Either way, isn’t that property in Dekalb County rather than Decatur? They seem to give out drive-thrus willy-nilly. Only Decatur (downtown) has the prohibition, so far as I know.
Oh, DeKalb puts developers through the wringer for new drive-throughs. A special land use permit (SLUP) is required and it has to go through the re-zoning public hearings process. Having been involved (on behalf of the DHNA) in all the projects underway in the Scott Blvd/N. Decatur Rd/Church St area, I can attest that all of the nearby developers had to justify their drive-throughs and tweak their plans to better accommodate them in order to get the needed support from the community and commissioners. For a couple of plans, drive-throughs were nixed. Most recently, S.J. Collins (365 Whole Foods anchored mixed use development) ended up eliminating the proposed quick concept restaurant w/ catering window drive-through ahead of the final hearing. And it was the drive-through component that a handful of neighbors used to thwart the proposed Dunkin Donuts on Scott Blvd. (It’s not just in our immediate vicinity– throughout DeKalb, neighborhood associations, Community Council and Planning Commission members, and the commissioners and staff are holding developers to higher standards.)
[Interested folks might want to dig through the DCTV archives where you can find re-zoning hearings/ agendas. It’s worth sampling a few cases to get a feel for what goes on during DeKalb’s process. (Drive-through SLUPS are most often listed with a larger project, but can also be submitted as a stand-alone like the Suburban Plaza Starbucks was.) http://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/dctv/video-demand ]
Interesting. Any idea of the percentage of approvals vs. denials for developers who go through the SLUP process? Trying to loop back to RNH’s original comment that they’re near impossible to get. Thx.
Neither the original Evans (was almost in the middle of the Publix parking lot) nor the closed-last-year Evans had drive-thrus. There is a drive-thru for the bank that opened near the Clairmont Rd end of the strip. Did it have a hassle to get that approved?
Does anyone know if Royal relocated? I don’t do a lot of dry cleaning but they didn’t break buttons & the lovely woman who worked there always remembered me (even though I get dry cleaning done about 4x/year). I’m riding around right now with a load of shirts in my trunk that need to be cleaned.
Every time a small business becomes successful, a corporation tries to destroy them.
Yes, Starbucks has been targeting that intersection for years with the sole aim of putting Chololate Cafe out of business. I bet you wouldn’t be surprised if Starbucks was pulling some strings behind the scenes to help force Evans out of business in hopes of opening a location there.
Actually, I’m pretty sure that I read in an article in the Wall Street Journal or somewhere similar indicating that Starbucks looks at existing coffee shop locations when it looks for places to put new shops. However, I agree that it’s unlikely that they influenced Evans Fine Foods, a place beloved by my aged parents, to close. When interviewed, the owners reported that business was fine, despite my assumption that all their customers had died. The owners just wanted to retire.
You realize that all big business once started as a small business, right?
Everyone hates profit-driven enterprise until they’re looking at their retirement portfolio.
Further, in this scenario, if anyone would destroy Chocolate Cafe, it is the consumer that chooses Starbucks over Chocolate Cafe. If that happens, then clearly Starbucks is just giving the consumers what they want. I believe the prices are very similar, so it’s not an issue of undercutting.
If by “destroy” you mean compete with them, then yes. Whether the local business survives ultimately depends on whether customers choose to go there. Sbux gets a lot of mockery for its ubiquity but it’s only so successful because it delivers what customers want.
Every time a small business becomes successful, a corporation tries to destroy them.
Ain’t that the truth!
Seems like Dancing Goats and Java Monkey are doing OK. Likewise Intown Ace.
So far I haven’t put a foot inside the Suburban Walmart. Love Intown Ace!
I put a foot in it and it wasn’t worth it. I had about 5 items I needed and only 1 was available in all that huge pile of stuff. I always get what I need in Intown Ace. And the Walmart underground parking was scary–no mirror for entrance/exit and kind of deserted/risky feeling.
I am pretty confident that Starbucks would have not problem with both shops flourishing side by side.
THANK the GODS!
I’ve been dying for a Double Ristretto Venti Half-Soy Nonfat Decaf Organic Chocolate Brownie Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino Extra Hot With Foam Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended, One Sweet’N Low and One Nutrasweet!
(NB – google is amazing)
Speaking of small business, did the Market in Avondale close?
Visited Blaze in “Disney Springs” over the holidays. Line was about 50+ folks (in a fun back and forth queue outside) and we made it through the line in less than 10 minutes. No offense to Maddios (obviously Toco Hill closed) or others of its ilk, but Blaze is way, way better — thin and crispy crust, super fresh and varied ingredients and flavorful sauces…and they do a good job on the environmental front as well. So excited (well, except for the parking….).
Good to hear. I hope they deliver….
Ugh. That intersection is impossible to get out of if you’re headed back to downtown Decatur. Chocolatte does have a slight edge in that aspect.
And the parking lot is already a bit tight in terms of navigation. The drive through ATM traffic can bolux things up so I’ll bet a Starbucks drive through would be another obstacle. I would have preferred that the Starbucks go inside the Publix like at the Big Kroger. Don’t know if Publix ever hosts a Starbucks store.
One of my favorite stand-up routines of all time: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/3rtdos/comedy-central-presents-the-end-of-the-universe