Tuesday, December 16, 2014

IKEA is coming to Tennessee! Wait....Memphis?!?!





It's been confirmed. IKEA will be opening a store in Memphis. You read that right, MEMPHIS. While our "It City" has been on a seemingly unstoppable roll - this news no doubt has a lot of Nashvillians scratching their heads and wondering "Why not us?".

Rumors started to heat up yesterday amid a mysterious press conference to be held the following morning by Memphis mayor AC Wharton. The news broke late last night that it was indeed IKEA reps that would be standing on the podium next to Wharton to make the announcement that Memphis will be the first Tennessee city to land the Swedish furniture giant.

The press conference began at 11am this morning, and the few tidbits that I've gathered are that the store will be located in the Cordova area just south of I-40 behind a Costco. They plan to open in Fall of 2016.

While this news may seem to further diminish Nashville's chances of landing an IKEA store, Ryan Poe, a writer for the Memphis Business Journal, had this to tweet leading up to the presser:



And then this tweet came during the press conference:


So while this isn't anything concrete (more particleboard-ish...like most of IKEA's furniture) - it does give Nashvillians a bit of hope. And hey, even if we don't hear about an IKEA in Nashville before the Fall of 2016 - at least Memphis is 45 mins quicker than Atlanta...and we've still got better BBQ.

UPDATE:
Nashville Business Journal senior reporter Adam Sichko had a brief discussion with IKEA spokesperson Joseph Roth who was in Memphis today and was able to dive a little deeper into the how and why of IKEA's decision to open in Memphis. Great read here.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Business is Booming

What a year 2014 has been for Charlotte Avenue. So many positive things have happened this year–yet on the horizon–2015 is shaping up to outdo its predecessor.

A lot has happened since I last logged in (on Charlotte and in my personal life!), so here's a glimpse into what you may have missed, and what's coming "down the pike"...

OAK Nashville opened on Black Friday - check em out!

The Beer Pale has been open for business now for a little over a month and they've already made Thrillist's top 8 new bars in Nashville! thebeerpale.com

Victory Tattoo has been open for almost two months now, they are located across from Richland Park.

Primrose School Midtown is now open and taking applications

Nashville Fit Lab, a nutrition, strength and conditioning fitness facility just recently opened in the space near Calypso.

Blooma Family Yoga Studio had their grand opening last month. They are next door to The Beer Pale.

Delinquent Debutantes, at 3723 Charlotte Avenue has been a open for a few months. I had to look this one up...it is a burlesque dance studio...didn't know that kinda thing existed, but if you're into it, you now have a place to go on Charlotte!

As for what's upcoming, here's a list of things that we should see in 2015:

• Flip Burger is getting closer to opening their doors. Latest forecast looks like late January.

• At Home - a home furnishings store is currently gutting the Strike N Spare with plans to open in the spring(?). Sad to see S&S go, but there are rumors that they want to relocate on the west side somewhere.

• A Panda Express is said to be moving in at the corner of Charlotte/Hillwood (I believe there used to be a Shell station here)

• Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant will be relocating a few blocks west - they pulled a permit to renovate the abandoned Hieu Giang Pho Vietnamese restaurant (not Kien Giang, which is up the hill in the K&S World Market shopping center) that is just past the White Bridge intersection on the south side of Charlotte. They look to open the new cantina in early 2015. No word on what's happening to the old building.

• Nashville West developers are looking to add two or possibly three new restaurants to the western portion of it's shopping center with a 70,000 SF hotel. One of the restaurants will be Outback Steakhouse, the other two were not named, but it was said that these establishments already exist in the Nashville market. A Pollo Tropical is also said to be opening a location here.

• Construction fences are up for the following:
  Hill Center Sylvan Heights (Charlotte & 40th)
  West 46 Apartments (Charlotte & 46th)
  OneC1ty Blox - not sure on when this is supposed to open, but there are two confirmed tenants: Avo, which is a raw, plant based restaurant and Nashville Sports Leagues will be moving their offices here as well.

That's all for now! Happy Holidays everyone.