1/20/19  Misc Info FYI:

This is one of at least half a dozen+ blogs that I have about Kennesaw and all of them are pretty much out of service as I have been gone from K for just over 3 yrs, after 15 years living there.  

So with the passage of time I have posted less and less.  The site 'may' now and then have another post but it is pretty much off my radar scope these days.  So take a look, you might find something of interest, I see that several folks come back repeatedly and are probably disappointed to find nothing new here.  Thanks for looking in -

Bill Harris, Canton, Ga.    consumer2014@aol.com

9/8/17 NOTE:  
This is a secondary site and is not kept up to date. Go to: https://castlelakekennesaw.blogspot.com/ for the best and most up do date version.

Friday, September 8, 2017GRAND OPENING SET FOR OCTOBER 6th

Of course it is always possible that they open a day or so earlier so as to work out all the bugs THEN hold the 'Grand Opening' and ribbon cutting. 

Here are photos of what it looks like today and you might note that in the parking area there are 4 spaces set aside for charging electric cars.

BEER WINE AND SUNDAY SALES License application -
A hearing before the Mayor and Council of the City of Kennesaw shall be held on the 18 Day of September 2017 at 6:30 pm.  All interested persons take notice.  Place:  City Hall Kennesaw, Ga.

KENNESAW MARKETPLACE MALL Just opening are 2 additional restaurants. These are not new construction, just vacant store fronts that now have restaurant tenants. Both are located facing Cobb Pky across from the KFC and Wendy's which are on the other side of Cobb. As mentioned several times, the area is vastly overbuilt with restaurants and it will be uphill for these or some others to make it.

7/1/17

Those few who look in from time to time to see what progress is being made at the Marketplace Mall / Castle Lake Site have a few new photos to slightly update the work.

First some more interior shots of the WF build out:

The Overture on Barrett site:

And Last is:  Cielo Blue, at 1575 Crater Lake Dr, Kennesaw a Mexican Grill and Cantina, see details on this chain at: http://www.cielobluecantina.com/.

6/16/17

AMAZON BUYS WHOLE FOODS MARKETS

for $13.7 billion in cash.  

It remains to be seen whether the Kennesaw (and other locations) will retain the WF brand name or take on one of the several Amazon brand names already in play.

Amazon has been desperately trying to break into the grocery business for some time, but that’s proven a difficult nut for the online mega-company to crack. 

They’ve tried AmazonFresh, Amazon Prime Pantry, and a bunch of other initiatives to get customers to order groceries online, but it’s been slow going. In May, Amazon opened two grocery-pickup stores for the public to use.

See article at:  

https://consumerist.com/2017/06/16/amazon-buying-whole-foods-for-13-7-billion/#more-10281247

6/11/17

KENNESAW SENIOR 55+ HOUSING

Work continues on this project located at the West end of the Kennesaw Marketplace Mall.

One thing this development will have is a LOT of corridors, they stretch on forever.

The Build out of the Whole Foods is on track and work continues.  

Here is the interior as of Sunday June 11th.

 

6/11/17

KENNESAW MARKETPLACE MALL - Restaurant Overkill
Mystery is now solved as to what this stand alone building will be. I've said all along it would be a restaurant, that turns out to be correct as the Kennesaw building permit issued to Fuqua Development lists it as a restaurant, just has no info on what the chain is, but it will be a restaurant of some sort.  Coming to Kennesaw at the Marketplace Mall is: Cielo Blue, at 1575 Crater Lake Dr, Kennesaw a Mexican Grill and Cantina, see details on this chain at: http://www.cielobluecantina.com/. There are locations in Acworth (1) and Marietta (2)
This will be the 20th restaurant within 3 blocks of the intersection of Cobb and Barrett Parkways. The only real question is which will be the first one to go out of business. There are just to many restaurants in that area to realistically believe that they will all be here 6 months from now.

6/7/17

Still not sure what this is going to be. It is the last retail build out.  

The only active building elsewhere on the property is the 55+ senior housing.

6/3/17

The cement floor is finally finished and work continues on the interior walls of the proposed Whole Foods store.

The Leasing Office is opening for the Overture at Barrett Senior Housing, it is just a few doors down from the Whole Foods construction.

5/27/17

MOD PIZZA 1945 Cobb Pkwy NW, Building 250, Kennesaw, GA 30152, (470) 264-0050

Below:  Still wondering what this will be?

5/17/17

The Whole Foods shell progresses slowly:

Interior of Whole Foods shell

The 55+ Overture at Barrett continues to grow:

5/10/17
WHOLE FOODS TRIES TO AVOID SELLING ITSELF BY REPLACING MOST OF ITS BOARD

Consumerist May, 10, 2017

A month after shareholders told Whole Foods to shape up and see if someone was interested in buying the chain — Amazon and Kroger, apparently, for a while — the health foods store hasn’t put up the “for sale” sign yet. Instead, the company says it will completely revamp its board. 

Whole Foods announced today that it would undergo a board “refreshment” by appointing five new independent directors and new board leadership.

That means that more than half of the supermarket chain’s board of directors is being replaced, including the Chair and other leadership positions.

Whole Foods says the “robust refreshment process” is meant to help ensure that the board “has the best mix of skills and experience necessary to support Whole Foods Market’s leadership team in accelerating shareholder value creation.”

The change comes a month after activist investor Jana Partners and other companies bought a 9% stake in Whole Foods. Following the purchase, the company immediately began pressuring the chain to bring in fresh board members to turn around the retailer’s faltering sales.

With today’s changes, Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey says the chain is now well positioned to enter the next phase of its evolution.

“We believe that we have the right plan – and the right team – to execute on our initiatives at an aggressive pace, deliver results and enhance value for our shareholders,” Mackey said in a statement.

Though Jana Partners may be the impetus for these changes, the firm tells the Wall Street Journal that it turned down the chance to claim two board seats for itself.

Instead, the investor will “watch carefully” to see how Whole Foods’ board works to maximize shareholder value.

Whole Foods outlined those plans today, including an accelerated affinity program that combines the best elements of the company’s My 365 Rewards and pilot programs.

The chain says these programs have successfully driven increased trips and bigger orders from customers.

The company says it also plans to realize $300 million in additional cost savings by 2020. This, it says, will be achieved by standardizing in-store processes and optimizing its supply chain.

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5/7/17
Progress continues.  Last Sunday NO concrete had been poured for the floor, this Sunday (5/7/17) about 20% of the floor has been done in 3 areas.

 Above/Below new concrete on the floor

Below:  Blueprint shows final configuration of the store.

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5/5/17
One more building going up at the shopping center. To soon to say for sure, with all those windows it is probably another restaurant:

4/30/17

Not much change this week from last.  Both the Senior apartments and the Whole Foods continue to be built out slowly.  The WF may soon have the concrete floor put in, rebar for that is on hand and about half the interior floor has been packed down and almost ready to proceed.

4/25/17

WILL WHOLE FOODS KENNESAW END UP AS AN ALBERTSONS?

The AJC in their 4/25 issue is reporting that Albertsons is considering a buyout of Whole Foods.

Albertson's is the 2nd largest grocery company with 2,200 stores, mostly in the West and South-West, but also with a Florida division. (Kroger is the largest grocer)  

Since there is no current Albertson's presence in Georgia the proposed Whole Foods location in Kennesaw could end up as an Albertson's store.  

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4/23/17

This is what the 'Overture Barrett' will look like when it is finished.  The complex is 55+ and is on the West side of the Kennesaw Marketplace Mall.  Apartments will begin at approximately $1675 per month. 

A showroom will be open in early May 2017 at 1300 Ernest Barrett Parkway NW, Suite 260, Kennesaw Ga 30152 where there will mock ups of apartment interiors and exteriors.  They anticipate the first units will be available in early 2018. 

Overture Barrett (a 55+ Senior Development)
1490 Earnest Barrett Pkwy, Kennesaw, GA 30152  Phone 844-665-6291

Floorplans and prices are available at:
http://www.liveoverture.com/kennesaw/floor-plans

Sample prices are:
(Leases run 12-18 months)
2 bedroom 2 bath, 1,377 sq ft, $2,900 per month
1 bedroom 1 bath, 930 sq ft, $1,899 per month
1 bedroom 1 bath, 770 sq ft, $1,745 per month


Due to the way the building is configured there are some odd shapes for some units.

Here are some shots of the construction FYI:

 Lots of wide interior corridors!

 On the back side of the property are garages and storage units.

Construction on the interior of the Whole Foods store continues (slowly), mostly trenching, wiring and filling in the trenches.  AC will be next

------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4/19/17

Dropped by WF this afternoon (4/19)and you can see from the photo from today compared to ones further down which are from 4/8/17 that some work continues.  

The area involved has had the underground lines covered over and tamped down, so those trenches are now covered up and it seems similar work continues under further towards the far wall.

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4/13/17

As usual inquiries to Whole Foods just result in smoke and mirrors.  Here is their latest reply to my inquiry about their Kennesaw opening:

From: Rachael.Wilson@wholefoods.com
To: TheKennesawWatch@aol.com, SOmedia@wholefoods.com
Sent: 4/13/2017 3:38:55 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: RE: INQUIRY

Hi  - Thanks for your interest in our new store! I do not have an update for you at the moment, but will keep you posted when we do.

Thanks,
Rachael

KENNESAW WHOLE FOODS TO OPEN IN OCTOBER 2017

Whole Foods has opened a few stores, closed a few stores and put off indefinitely plans for many other stores due to serious financial issues.

The Kennesaw Marketplace Mall (Fuqua, Inc) had listed Whole Foods as an anchor tenant for at least 2 years.

It has been questionable recently if the WF difficulties were going to impact their move to Kennesaw.  Inquiries to their Southern Region resulted in generalized boilerplate replies but no definitive comments.

It has been reported that their Marietta location was to be closed and moved to the Kennesaw location. (Cobb Harry's, 70 Powers Ferry Rd SE, Marietta, GA 30067).

As of today the cat may be finally out of the bag, or at least it has a couple of paws out of the bag.  WF is now quietly announcing that it will open that location ‘in the Fall of 2017'.  Inquires on the site indicate that the opening will be in October 2017.

Considerable work is required on the interior.  For reasons still to be determined the shell of the building went up before the electrical and plumbing work was put in and this has resulted in considerable trenching being done to run lines.

Normal construction protocol is that this is done first, then the concrete flooring is put in and last the building shell is put in place.  With this location the cart is before the horse and inquiries do not reveal a reason for this, except to acknowledge that this is not standard procedure for such construction.  No comment was available on why this is being done backwards.

So perhaps in October there will be a Whole Foods up and running.