Southern-style pizza joint, Belgian waffle spot among four more stores coming to Avenue East Cobb
Feb. 10—A few weeks after Barnes & Noble announced its plans for a new store in the Avenue East Cobb, a developer said four new businesses will join the bookseller.
Atlanta-based North American Properties announced women's fashion retailer Evereve, skin care studio Faced the Facial Studio, southern-style pizza joint Peach State Pizza and Belgian waffle purveyor Press Waffle Co. will be coming to the open-air mall.
NAP said the move is part of its "ongoing efforts to redefine Avenue East Cobb as a hometown hangout."
The Evereve at the mall will be the store's third location in Georgia, with a grand opening scheduled for later this year, per NAP.
Faced the Facial's 2,100-square-foot studio, designed by Square Feet Studio, will be located next to Warby Parker, and Peach State Pizza will boast a 3,560-square-foot restaurant with a front porch swing and vintage Georgia décor.
Construction on Peach State Pizza is set to begin in the spring, with NAP aiming for a grand opening in the late summer.
Finally, east Cobb locals and husband-wife duo Keith and Niki Ginel will be the franchise owners of the Avenue East Cobb's location of Press Waffle Co., which was founded in 2016 and later took off after an appearance on the hit ABC show "Shark Tank."
Press Waffle Co. will occupy 1,200 square feet of the forthcoming jewel box near Sephora, NAP said.
The Journal previously reported that the Barnes & Noble will be a 15,000-square-foot store, using part of the former Bed Bath and Beyond space at the popular shopping center off Roswell Road.
The store will have a different feel to the bookstore chain's other locations — a "revamped model replicates the personal touch found in independent bookshops," in the words of North American Properties, the owner of the Avenue East Cobb.
Barnes & Noble's new approach also lets local stores stock a "hand-curated selection" of books tailored to its specific community. The store will feature "modern fixtures and furniture, an updated paint scheme, cozy book rooms, and an in-store café," NAP said, and sell gifts, vinyl records, toys, games and puzzles.
The east Cobb store is one of 30 that Barnes & Noble plans to open this year, using that new model. The company did not provide a specific opening date.
NAP is responsible for management and leasing at the Avenue East Cobb, and it started work on the mall's makeover last August.
Citing a need to "activate" the 23-year-old shopping center, bring in "experiential" retail and create a "socially magnetic" space, NAP is adding two new freestanding buildings. It is also demolishing the former Bravura bridal shop and adding a public plaza in its place.
Beside that — directly across from Michael's — will be a new concierge building with a valet lane. The mall's managers hope a revamped layout and new tenants will increase walkability and make the shopping center more of a destination.
Construction on the renovations is scheduled to wrap up this summer.
