COSTCO Comes To Midtown Atlanta…Well Almost at TOWN Brookhaven!
In today’s economy, I don’t know WHO would NOT be looking to save a dollar or two. Ok, I suppose there are a couple out there somewhere.
It is no secret that buying in volume saves you money. And grocery shopping is no execption. The warehouse grocery is not a new concept by any means, but when you suddenly don’t have to drive 8-10 miles to get to one, but can get there in 4 miles…well that’s worth writing about.
When I say COSTCO Comes To Midtown Atlanta it got pretty darn close. On October 28th, COSTCO opened its first store inside the Perimeter of Atlanta. (Ok, wait, yes the store at Cumberland Mall is physically inside I-285, but barely…but it’s a good 8 miles from Midtown!)
TOWN Brookhaven is a multi-use community that had great plans that kinda skidded to a halt with the economy. But some of the plans are now moving forward, and the first “big guy” to open was COSTCO. And what a delight this store is. Located at 500 Brookhaven Avenue, you can access the store from either Peachtree Road, or you can enter from Hermance Drive, adjacent to Oglethore University. She’s a whopper of a store at 146,000 square feet! The largest store in the Atlanta area prior to this was 123,000 sq ft on Peachtree Dunwoody Road in Sandy Springs.
The day that I made a quick visit, the line at the Membership Counter was longer than the checkout lines! But their checkout system moves you out quickly! Like the other COSTCO stores in the Atlanta area, this location will have speciality departments featuring fresh meat, produce and deli, bakery, one-hour photo, pharmacy, tire center, hearing aid center and a food court.
If you have ever shopped in a warehouse grocery, you know NOTHING comes in small packages! It’s always quanity AND quality. So for us us condo dwellers that might have limited storage space, or freezer space, this presents a problem. Where do you put all this stuff so it doesn’t spoil before you can use it. Well, how about “friendship shopping” or “neighbor networking.” Talk with your friends that live in your building or around you and compare what your likes are. Maybe YOU can’t consume a package of 20 freshly baked crossiants, but you could use 10, and your friend could use 10. Such a deal!
TOWN Brookhaven is starting to come to life, altho she’s got a ways to go! I noticed a new Moe’s is under construction and a couple other businesses are starting to open in the VAST amount of retail space available here.
The other big arrivals will be a Publix Supermarket and LA Fitness that are scheduled to open in 2011. This picture would be that building, and I’m going to guess that we will have covered parking on the lower level, and the LA Fitness will occupy the lower space, and Publix the upper space. I’ll bring you an update as things develop.
Yes, TOWN Brookhaven is not in Midtown Atlanta, but then, not all the services we need are in Midtown Atlanta. It’s great to know that something like COSTCO is now closer and more convenient to Midtown Atlanta!
If you are NOT familiar with shopping at COSTCO, you might want to check it out on a Saturday. They have sampling stations all over the food section and you get to taste some great products. As a side note, some of these people have been nicknamed “Costco grazers” since you can probably make a meal out of sampling.
I’m justsayin’!
Who’s Watching You? Social Media At Work!
We’ve all heard about the guy who had his guitar smashed by American Airlines, and put it out on Twitter.
Or how Comcast Cable has changed how they do business as a result of comments put out about them.
So, it shows that companies ARE embracing social media, AND are starting to pay attention to what is being said about them.
Case in point. I posted a blog about the new Discover Card commercials that feature “Peggy” who is not really Peggy. (You can read the post, Creative Commercials – Discover Card here)
Well, much to MY surprise, when I checked my Twitter mentions, there was a message from Discover Card! Yep! FROM DISCOVER CARD…thanking me for my post about their commercial. WOW!
So, do you know Who’s Watching You?
Mass Transit in Georgia. Will We Ever Get It?
When I say “will we ever get it?” I’m referring to both if it will ever happen, AND WILL it ever happen? I’ve been putting off this blog for sometime, and will try to keep it short….but since many of our Atlanta commutes are not…..
I feel like in so many ways, Atlanta has already been left standing on the train platform, and the train is long gone. How’s this? I think much of the problem of mass transit in the Metro Atlanta area comes from a lack of direction. Unlike cities like Charlotte or Houston (both I just recently visited and will mention in a moment) have most, if not ALL of the city limits within ONE county. Atlanta has a 15, yes, FIFTEEN COUNTY metro area! What does that mean? Yeah, 15 ideas on what should or should not happen, or what we do or don’t want to participate in! Needless to say, with that kind of organizati0n, what can you expect.
A history of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA as we all know it now) is far to long to include in this post, but you can certainly read about it here. Needless to say, the problems began way before there was ever such a thing as Alpharetta or Mall of Georgia…those places were country..and then some. Fears around the state that funding would be simply for Atlanta kinda shows the lack of planning vision the entire state had at the time. Can you imagine a high speed train to Athens, Augusta, Macon or even Savannah? I guess that was outer space talk back then. The above mentioned article further goes on to talk about how it went from numerous counties down to just Fulton and DeKalb agreeing to pay for MARTA. And oddly enough, while this discussion was taking place back in the 1050’s and 60’s, it was 1973 before the state legislature established the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee. The first part of the North-South Line opened in 1981, the last (and probably final ever piece) opened in December 2000.
So, let’s fast forward to today. It’s still a mess. I’m not even going to say I understand all the politics involved…because of course that’s probably the primary reason we’ve never got mass transit, and probably never will. Costs have now become so expensive to build, who knows if we will ever see anymore of this type of construction.
And our lack of planning for it has lead to costly losses when it comes to future funding. In January, 2010 an article appeared in the AJC, North Carolina Invests, wins rail money; Georgia Doesn’t where North Carolina won $545 million in transportation funding as part of President Obama’s high speed rail stimulus. Georgia got a whooping $750,000. Yes, you read that right.
Ok, so what do Houston and Charlotte have to do with this? A recent return visit to Houston ( I had not been there since 1996) just blew me away. Driving down freeways to and from the burbs with HOV lanes (mind you only 1) either between the freeways, or in many cases, elevated above the freeways! What a concept!! I mention only one lane, as they funnel traffic into the city center in the morning and out again in the afternoon. Another problem Atlanta has had is it’s multiple business centers (Cumberland/Galleria, Perimeter, Buckhead, Alpharetta, Gwinnett, etc) that have people living in Cobb and working in Gwinnett and living in Fayette County (yeah…get there in a minute) and working Buckhead. So you’ve got Atlanta commuters looking like a fire ant pile that has been stirred up…going every which direction. Additionally Houston has a light rail system running from Downtown, out through their Midtown, then onto the Medical Center.
Onto Charlotte where they have a light rail system that too helps bring people into Uptown Charlotte.
But, here in Atlanta, we continue to fight the concept. Just last month, an article appeared in the AJC that the Peachtree City Mayor is leading a charge for Fayette County to succeed from the 10 county Atlanta region over the possibility of being forced to pay for transit like MARTA. The Atlanta region is scheduled to vote on a sales tax referendum for transportation in 2012. And it took the legislature 4 years to come up with this referendum
Come on Atlanta and Georgia! We NEED transit. We need a regional transit system and we need it….ah, yesterday.
Mass Transit in Georgia. Will We Ever Get It?
Here’s a video about MARTA and it’s 30 years in the making….
MARTA Moments (30th Anniversary) from MARTA on Vimeo.
Gordon Biersch Midtown Scores Great Review
It was no surprise to me when a review of my favorite Midtown Atlanta watering hole/restaurant, Gordon Biersch showed up on a Google Alert today. Of course it was favorable…..Gordon Biersch Midtown IS a great restaurant!
One of several posts I have written about Gordon Biersch appeared in September, 2009 on my other blog, Midtown,My Town, Atlanta and MORE My good friend, Elizabeth from Huntsville, AL was in Atlanta and we had a delightful evening of food and conversation!
If you are in Midtown Atlanta, and looking for exactly what you want in a restaurant — a great dining experience, good food, great beer, and excellent service….look no further!
Here is a link to the Atlanta Food Critic’s review
