Mamanoes brown bags it’s things and vanishes

Grocery store up and leaves its shinny new Midtown store.

Grocery store up and leaves its shiny new Midtown space.

Residents hoping for a more walkable Midtown rejoiced at the news of a grocery store opening on the corner of 10th and Peachtree Streets.

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Birmingham-based Mamanoes, an “old-school but upscale bodega,” opened its Midtown location in September. But, just as quickly as the grocery store opened, it shuttered.

What Now Atlanta spoke to several construction workers Friday who were busy reverting the space back to the way it was before being leased to Mamanoes. None of the workers knew exactly what happened to the grocery store, other than it closing.

“Mamanoes just up and left,” one of the workers said.

We phoned Mamanoes’ original location in downtown Birmingham Friday. Employees at the grocery store were unaware that Mamanoes’ Atlanta store had shuttered.

Antonio Boyd, owner of Mamanoes, was not immediately available for comment.

Developing…

Photo courtesy of Urban Daddy.

 

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

Caleb J. Spivak

21 Responses

  1. I had no idea this was even open. I walked by it at Music Midtown and it still was coming soon. So it only lasted 2-3 weeks???

  2. Dewberry should do the city a favor and sell that block to someone (preferably multiple someone’s) who will actually do something with it.

    Not surprising though – occupy a shack, do pretty much no marketing, throw a few condiments on the shelves, and call yourself a grocer….not a gret business model.

  3. Seriously, Midtown is an epic fail right now. Not enough people living or working there, not enough jobs, not enough restaurants. Seems like there are no real neighborhoods in Atlanta where you can park your car and just walk around. Depressing as hell to live in such a car-centric city where you feel imprisoned at your job and then imprisoned at home with nowhere else to go.

  4. I don’t think I’d go so far as saying “epic fail”, given that there are some bright spots – 3 new apartment buildings in the next 12 months (1 already opened/leased), a couple of new and excellent restaurants – Lure, Olmstead, & Article 14, etc. However, it’s somewhat comical to see these advancements juxtaposed next to their own issues – massive parking structures, poor build outs (in the case with Novare), the wastefulness and lack of a solution the Beltline provides, etc.

  5. Dewberry sucks and is no friend to Midtown. God bless this country and capitalism, but this situations sucks!

  6. Well, I live in Midtown, and was very supportive of this venture. Went in and bought a few items at least once a week. They were priced about 5-10% higher than the grocery store. NOt a big deal for someone like me willing to pay a little bit of a premium to support a local business, but they did not have enough traffic in there to support the costs of rent. The place never had a lot of good stuff, mostly sundries that you could get at CVS. The owner and I chatted a few times. He had grand notions of having week-end barbecues on the patio and music. I told him to mix in the regular stuff with fine wine, cheeses and other high end items, but he never made it. Dewberry is pathetic. They sit on so much property in town and do nothing with it. How can they keep paying the property taxes?

    Urbanist is right in his assessment. Midtown needs the densification provided by the three new rental properties. 12th and Midtown is going to be filled with Intermezzo and the like. What Peachtree corridor needs is a mix of national chains and local boutiques. But, parking is just untenable. The towers that have gone up have these ugly parking structures and none of them make parking and shopping easy, especially that monstrosity, ViewPoint.

  7. Dave, how is Midtown at Epic Fail? Seriously. High amounts of foot traffic on Peachtree, West Peachtree, Crescent, 14th, Piedmont Park, 10th, and 5th, and you say an epic fail? There are literally dozens and dozens of excellent restaurants, clubs, bars, across Midtown. I see people out and about all the time, and things just continue to pick up…

    And let’s be honest…if you get winded walking around Midtown..doesn’t that just make you lazy?

  8. I thought I was losing my mind! I drove by there a few weeks ago and saw they had opened (I drive by there once a week usually and never really noticed it). Then, last weekend, I walked by and it was gone. I thought perhaps I had imagined the whole thing and that it was “coming soon” or something. Too bad though, but then again, it is, as someone described it, a “shack,” and the building should just be leveled.

  9. I would love to see something like Boxcar Grocer in Castleberry Hill come to this part of Midtown… that’s more of what we need in a store like this. The concept was great, but the execution was horrible. Hopefully this doesnt discourage someone else for trying something like this (but better!) in a nearby midtown location

  10. I stopped in once, and agree with what’s been said here– nice people, but a terrible business model. They didn’t offer anything you couldn’t get at CVS or Publix, and that building, ugh. No one wants to eat or shop in a dive. The place really needs to be fully gutted and renovated. I think people WOULD shop/eat there (there’s parking behind it and plenty of walking traffic) if it was an enjoyable place to do either.

  11. Midtown is a joke. Anyone who says there are “tons of people” must not be able to count very high. There are no sustainable businesses that thrive – maybe a bar or two or a restaurant or two. When you have no idea how to do urban planning you get Atlanta.

    What is more sad is the populace seems to have lost their energy / desire and just given up. If Atlanta were a stock I would short it. If Charlotte and Tampa were stocks I would buy and hold…..

  12. I gave up. I was Atlanta and Midtown’s biggest booster. I wasted too much of my young adulthood holding out hope for the city I love. I have now been in NYC for 4 months and while its not without its problems, I haven’t been happier. Besides the occasional “oh crap” moment over expenses I’ve never looked back. The only regret I have is Atlanta didn’t develop its own urban core with some NYC like aspects and a southern twist. How great that would have been. There was really a shot there if you go back and look at the projects on the drawing board in 2007, unfortunately I think the recession put Atlanta down for the count.

  13. Midtown is getting a denser population but just not quick enough. Compare to a few years ago and things are a lot better. The main problem to me is still the lack of decent pedestrian facilites.

    No surprise this bodega didn’t work. That site nees a highrise.

  14. Frist thing you can not blam the city or the people who live in midtown it was up to the owners to reach out to the neighborhood with grand opening events,. fair priceing and more It was a good idea just not done well. I have been A restaurantour for over 20 years and you have to put the quick closing on the owner not the neighborhood. When you open any restaurant, bar, bodega etc. you have to do a lot of foot work and reach out to your new neighbors and let them get to know you and what your about, that’s a must. I hope some one will try it again it’s a good idea

  15. I too, gave this place a shot and was less than impressed. As others have said, the inventory wasn’t much different from a gas station Quik-E-Mart and the prices were inflated. I had a nice conversation with the owner and he sounded excited to make the whole thing work. I felt kinda bad for him so I bought some chips and salsa, ice cream and a drink for about $18. Too bad he never even made it past the beer/wine license stage.

  16. Well, they ARE from Birmingham. If you want to complain about Atlanta, go take a trip to Birmingham and you’ll see that we have it far better here.

    Not too mention that the expectations of people in Birmingham are much lower than they are here, and that’s probably what they weren’t expecting.

  17. I, too, checked this place out as soon as they open and walked away with the one thought–WTF? 6 months or less and somebody loses their ass. The lot was jacked, the building was jacked, the inventory was nothing special and expensive, and most of all the merchandising was non-existent and atrocious. I actually felt pissed off that such a muddled concept so poorly executed was occupying what could truly be a great corner with the right development. Good riddance.

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