National retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters and restaurants like FOX Sports Grill and Bonehead's have also closed at the project. Mark Toro previously claimed that "eighty percent of the retailers report sales are up by double digits." Personally, I highly doubt this figure, but far be it for me to question Mr. Toro's facts. Toro, after all, is the same man who denied to me that FOX Sports Grill and City Sports were closing, but then they did.
I used to go to Atlantic Station every few months, now I go only when forced to join friends and go to a movie or get dragged to IKEA.
I think Guess represents the exact demographic that Atlantic Station currently attracts and it's rather amazing, but also telling, that even they chose to close their store. Sadly, the Dillard's and Publix stores have both been on life support for years, and there is no doubt in my mind that behind the scenes they are given incentives to keep their doors open.
Los Angeles-based Love Culture was in talks to take over the Z Gallerie space but that deal never happened. The cheap chic retailer eventually opened at Perimeter Mall.
Sources tell me that a sporting goods retailer is taking over the Guess space. Obviously City Sports would not be re-opening but that also begs the question, who would want to open given their failure? Given the retaltively small size of the space, Dick's Sporting Goods and Sports Authority are out of the question, which led me to believe that Birmingham-based Hibbett Sports may be the one interested. A call to their corporate office was met with surprise and denial which leads me to believe it may be a different retailer.
Hibbett Sports was started in Birmingham in 1945 and today is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ : HIBB) with two locations in Athens near the University of Georgia. The sporting goods retailer tends to be located in small to midlevel markets like Rome and Alpharetta, and a location in Atlantic Station would represent a shift in their thinking and would surely come with a higher rent.
For the record, neither DEKA nor Road Runner Sports are likely candidates either.
Who do you think will open in place of Guess? Has your opinion changed of Atlantic Station in the past year or so? Better or worse? Why? What on word comes to mind when you think of Atlantic Station?
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