Chicken Lady starts construction and three more business updates from the week
Interior construction on the new Best Buy store in Columbus is now under way, with the electronics retailer moving to the former hhgregg store space at 6499 Whittlesey Blvd.
A city building permit dated Feb. 12 shows Best Buy Stores LP is spending $1.3 million initially to get the inside of the 35,200-square-foot standalone structure ready for opening in a few months.
The Richfield, Minn.-based company is relocating from its longtime 2925 Manchester Expressway location adjacent to Peachtree Mall. The retailer has been at that site more than 15 years and now has the property — which also is home to the beloved “Kadie the Cow” replica — up for sale.
“The new store will be much easier for shoppers to access and will be near other popular retailers in a more vibrant retail area,” Best Buy public relations specialist Katie Huggins said of the new location. “It’s early in the process, so we don’t have an exact opening date right now. But we expect the new store will open in early summer.”
Best Buy has done business at the Manchester Expressway property since Sept. 19, 2003. That’s the day it opened the 45,000-square-foot store on property formerly home to Kinnett Dairies and then Parmalat USA, which bought out Kinnett in 1998, ultimately closing it and auctioning off the equipment.
Here comes The Chicken Lady and Pure taqueria
There are a couple of slices of restaurant news in Columbus, one of the homestyle-cooking variety and the other a bit more spicy.
A city building permit dated Feb. 6 shows that Liberty convenience store owner Sanjay Choudhury has started on the 1,000-square-foot addition to the property that will be home to The Chicken Lady, a spinoff brand of Minnie’s Uptown Restaurant. Construction at the 6597 Whittlesey Blvd. location, in the Columbus Park Crossing area of the city, is costing $300,000, with Dangie Construction the contractor.
The spring opening of The Chicken Lady eatery will bring a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. Minnie’s, of course, is famous for its fried chicken, sweet potato soufflé and sloppy joe mac ’n’ cheese. The eatery has already been offering to-go items to include lunch boxes.
Meanwhile, a little farther north near the intersection of Veterans Parkway and Cooper Creek Road, an Atlanta-based Mexican restaurant called “Pure taqueria” is planning a location. Construction has yet to start, but it is expected to be serving margaritas, tacos and other specialty Mexican fare later this year.
The chain, which has six Atlanta-area locations, was founded by Chris and Michele Sedgwick. The original taqueria opened at the site of an abandoned 1920s-era Pure gas station. The chain also has gotten into franchising.
“Hip, loud, sophisticated and fun, Pure taqueria has been serving up inspired cuisine and margaritas that pack a wallop since its 2005 opening in Atlanta, Georgia,” the company’s website says.
“Definitely a solid win for Columbus,” said someone posting this week on the website city-data.com. “They have the best frozen margaritas. I lived by the one in Brookhaven and it’s fantastic.”
Chamber veteran Kim Tharp takes helm in Harris County
The Harris County Chamber of Commerce now has a permanent leader, with Kimberly Tharp recently named president and chief executive officer by the organization’s board.
Tharp had served as interim president and CEO since Nov. 1. The Harris County native and resident succeeds Colin Martin. Her experience includes working as executive assistant to the president and CEO of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce from 2002 until 2015. She then became office administrator at the Harris Chamber.
Harris Chamber Board Chairman, in a statement, said Tharp “stood out” in the search process because of her longtime experience with the area chambers. They also were “impressed” by her steady hand during the interim period, as well as her “passion and vision” for the county and its commercial potential.
“I love Harris County,” Tharp said in a statement. “I have a tremendous passion for our chamber, its members and its mission. My primary focus every day is to continue the success of the chamber to make Harris County and our region a better place to live, work and play.”
Harris County, which shares a border with Muscogee County and Columbus, has a population of more than 33,000. Its county seat is Hamilton and it is part of the Columbus metropolitan statistical area. It is considered a northern residential suburb of Columbus. Its communities include Pine Mountain, West Point, Shiloh and Waverly Hall. Unincorporated areas include Cataula, Midland, Ellerslie and Fortson.
The county’s largest employer is Callaway Gardens, a tourism attraction in Pine Mountain, according to the chamber’s website, with Koch Industries also operating a chicken processing plant in Pine Mountain Valley.