Courtesy of Shops Around Lenox
Home furnishings retailer begins process for relocation to Shops Around Lenox.
Crate & Barrel is moving forward with plans to relocate its Buckhead store.
The home furnishings retailer is moving to the recently re-developed Shops Around Lenox shopping center from its current Lenox Square Mall location. In April, Crate & Barrel’s architectural firm published a 25-page outline with all the project specs.
Crate & Barrel filed a building permit with City of Atlanta for an interior build-out at its new location, Tuesday.
The estimated cost of construction for the project is $1,750,000.00, according to the permit.
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This should be a beautiful store! I know a lot of people think they’re crazy for giving up signage on the Peachtree frontage of Lenox, but I think they’ll be fine. If I had to guess, I’d say they don’t rely on drive-by customers for the bulk of their business. Anyone who’s wondering where they went can look it up on their smartphone.
Also, I still can’t wait to find out where Restoration Hardware will reopen. I’m starting to think the Westside might be an attractive option for them, given that Anthropologie and Room and Board already took the national retailer leap.
I get the appeal of Buckhead over Peachtree St. in Midtown, I don’t like it, but I get it, its a numbers game. But you cannot begin to tell me there is a single retail fundamental that is better on the Westside than it is in Midtown, I don’t understand it.
Maybe a guest blogger could explain why the Westside (I refuse to say West Midtown) is getting more retail love than the Midtown Mile. It can’t be explained by demographics. Perhaps it’s just the synergy that already exists around Westside Urban Market.
As I often mention in these types of articles, the tenant is usually not the one spending the money so the headline can be misleading. Crate & Barrel was recruited (begged) to come to Shoppes Around Lenox with a compensation package which likely included this entire build out cost of $1.75M as well as any buy out on their Lenox Mall lease. Just a point of clarification on that one aspect of this.
It is very big news for the new owners and it will be interesting to see what Lenox Mall does with that marquee space.
JonC – I would guess the rents are much lower as the primary reason. I’m sure there are many other considerations.
With all the concessions and termination rights CB2 was given, I doubt rates or deal structure are prohibiting people from opening in Midtown.
Affordable rent is the reason retail is moving to the Westside!
Affordable rents… and the knowledge that Atlantans will drive a couple of miles to shop without giving it a second thought. We might all desire a pedestrian focused Midtown Mile but sadly the vast majority of Atlantans (yes, even Midtowners) live automobile centric lives.
As an aside, Westside is going to drown in the traffic all this new development is generating. Maybe some day all the different pieces over there will get strung together to make a nice pedestrian environment but at least for now, they’ve got all the driving desire of the rest of the city but without the transit or pedestrian infrastructure to give anyone an option.
i am such a fan of the westside. parking is easy and i like the upscale shops and unique restaurants. i would like to see restoration hardware in vahi. while i love independent stores i think a major chain would bring a lot of business to the area. i wish something would finally go into the space of the former ritz camera. there is so much trash on the sidewalk in front of it.
Crate’s lease was up, and the layout of the Lenox property wasn’t conducive to furniture sales. Having the stock room in the basement with no human elevator, a few flight of stairs, and a tiny lift did not make shlepping furniture up to the main floor an easy task.