Sunday, February 12, 2012

Random Small Biz Samples

The old Borders' bookstore at Perimeter Point was the recent home of the Rhea Lana's Consignment sale.  This could be a step in the direction I blogged earlier about Dunwoody using one of these open spaces as a permanent community marketplace.

The closed Blockbusters' next to Azima salon has a new tenant:  Wellstreet Urgent Care.  This chain will be visiting the DHA board meeting tonight to seek endorsement of a variance.  Stay tuned.  (News story on this chain's expansion into metro Atlanta.)

RIP Oscar's Villa Capri.  Technically in Sandy Springs but had a huge Dunwoody following.  I loved Oscar's because he took care of us like family.  When my 2nd child was born, all I wanted when I was finally allowed to eat was veal scallopini from Oscar's.  My husband called, explained the situation, and it was hot and ready to go by the time he got all the way over there.  Nothing tastes better than a meal you have on the brain right after you give birth.  Men - you gotta trust me on this one.

Congrats to Alon's,  d'Vine, and E 48th Street Market for their placement in Gayot.com's Top 10 Wine Bars in Atlanta.  (Article in Patch.)  Gayot.com reviews restaurants and travel services all over the USA.  Placement in these listings is bound to bring more visitors - and their spending money - into town.

Marlow's Tavern is an Atlanta-based chain looking to move into part of Calico Corners' in the Village.  Again, they're visiting the DHA tonight so we'll learn what they're planning to do shortly.  Unlike Wellstreet above, Dunwoody is not listed in their locations yet so this may not be a done deal.

Finally, the Dunwoody Bakery is evolving into a Coffee Shoppe.  Nicely done, folks.  Ever since Starbucks pulled out of Orchard Park there has been a gap needing to be filled - a place to kick back with a cup 'o joe and a sweet.  Along with the gluten-free baked goods they've filled two niches in one shot.  The free WiFi is a great hook.  Almost necessary in this day and age.  And they're still hiring.

Note to city hall - the majority of the businesses in town that are making news or getting settled are based in or around Atlanta and some were born right here in Dunwoody.  In your rush to bring in large corporations to hire the "well educated" work force as stated in Pike's economic report, don't forget the home-grown industries.  They're more likely to stay put in Dunwoody - and their owners can will vote!

Friday, February 10, 2012

The last hope for getting to the bottom of DCSS



"I believe that these are things the school system can take care of themselves as long as someone is watching to make sure that they are making the appropriate progress." 
--DeKalb Co. DA Robert James


"We've gotta get out of this place...."

"... if it's the last thing we ever do...."

Thank you John for showing up w/ your camera.  I'm glad I had a full work day yesterday.

What bothers me the most is at the beginning when the representatives state that there were no maps presented by "the school board", and that there was no communication.  There was at least one map, presented by Nancy and 2 of her colleagues.  Some people call the delegates' statements "lying".



I can accept that politics is dirty.  I can accept that people are going to get pissed and in each others' faces in official settings. I've done it myself and our own elected and appointed officials have squared off with me a time or two.  But at the end of the day we're all human beings who care about the same things even if we have different approaches.  My parents didn't raise me to behave as badly as the people here.    Thank you, DeKalb Delegation, for giving Dunwoody (Chamblee? Doraville? Anyone?  Bueller?) even more ammunition to support dividing the school districts.  If this is how DeKalb behaves when it comes to planning education, then for the sake of our resident families, our communities have to find a way to separate ourselves from this hopeless government by any legal and ethical means necessary.




If my gentle readers would kindly excuse me, I'm going to go throw up now.  Have a good weekend.