BUFORD
Brand Bank opens two new branches
The Brand Banking Company has expanded its branch network, opening new offices in Buford and Duluth. The branches hosted grand openings featuring prize giveaways.
"We're excited to be expanding our presence into these two growing markets, offering both new and existing customers more service and convenience," says CEO Bartow Morgan, Jr. "We've been growing with Gwinnett for more than a century now and these two new branches certainly represent key locations for us."
Abby Petty will serve as the branch manager of the Buford office, located at 2255 Buford Highway (across from Buford City Hall) in Buford Village, a premier mixed-use development featuring professional, retail and commercial offices and residential.
The Duluth office will anchor the Sugarloaf Corporate building, located at 6224 Sugarloaf Parkway (at I-85 and Sugarloaf Parkway). Established in downtown Lawrenceville in 1905, The Brand Banking Company's main office is still located on the historic courthouse square. The bank's branch network now includes seven locations, in Buford, Duluth, Flowery Branch, Grayson, Lawrenceville and Snellville.
Mall of Georgia promotes premium parking
For those shoppers who want prime parking real estate, Mall of Georgia is promoting its Upfront Plus! premium parking spaces this month.
Shoppers who spend $40 at any mall retailer will receive a voucher for free UpFront Plus! parking. The vouchers are valid Monday through Thursday until Nov. 21.
UpFront Plus! is a self-parking program that offers customers the option of using parking spaces located directly outside the main mall entrances. Customers must pay a fee of $3 each time they use the spaces. The promotion is also in place at Lenox Square Mall in Buckhead.
Mall of Georgia also recently added two new stores, Chico's and Justice. Chico's is a women's fashion boutique while Justice specializes in "tween" fashions. Chico's will occupy a 4,503-square-feet space and Justice will take up 3,986 square feet of store space.
"We are excited to welcome these latest additions to Mall of Georgia just in time for the busy holiday season," says Melissa Cahill, director of mall marketing. "Chico's and Justice will further round out the shopping experience and especially gratify our adult and tween female shoppers."
DULUTH
McCar Homes opens model home at The Lakes at Sugarloaf
McCar Homes recently celebrated the grand opening of the model home in its newest community, The Lakes at Sugarloaf. In phase one, 36 new homes will be built in the gated community located off Sugarloaf Parkway and Old Peachtree Road.
"The Lakes at Sugarloaf is a very desirable McCar Homes community," says Karen Stewart, new home specialist. "The area is ideal, with the Sugarloaf Country Club and Discover Mills so close and the homes here are very elegant."
The single family homes begin in the $360,000s and offer 2,867 to 3,614 square feet of living space.
For more information, call 678-321-2536 or visit www.mccarhomes.com.
GRAYSON
Richardson Housing Group Opens Hollowstone
Richardson Housing Group is celebrating the opening of its newest and largest ever neighborhood - Hollowstone in Grayson, and invited buyers to preview the model home last month
Hollowstone is a swim-tennis community, planned for 220 homes, with prices starting from the $230,000s. Large level lots, private backyards and covered front porches await buyers. Brick or stone exteriors feature accents of shake and/or board and batten, and carriage-style garage doors.
"Our Hollowstone community has already caught the attention of families for its swim-tennis complex, tot lot playground, Grayson schools and sidewalk-lined, cul-de-sac streets," says Allen Richardson, president of Richardson Housing Group.
The first completed homes in Hollowstone are currently move-in ready and the community's furnished model home is now open. The neighborhood is located off Hope Hollow Lane.
LAWRENCEVILLE
Plumbing Distributors Incorporated acquires Dickerson Supply Company
Plumbing Distributors Incorporated (PDI) has acquired Dickerson Supply Company, a family-owned plumbing supply house with locations at 1121 Huff Road in Atlanta and 4700 Atlanta Highway in Alpharetta.
The acquisition gives PDI a presence in Downtown Atlanta, providing a branch location as well as a Premier Kohler Showroom. The Atlanta location will also provide access to commercial business and the area's high-end remodeling market.
Established in 1973, PDI is a family-owned distributor of residential and commercial plumbing and lighting products based in Lawrenceville. PDI will now have eight locations throughout North Georgia. Five locations have showrooms featuring the most current fixtures and accessories.
Firehouse Subs opens first Lawrenceville franchise
Firehouse Subs, one of the nation's fastest-growing sandwich chains, recently opened open its first restaurant in Lawrenceville. The restaurant is located at 3375 Sugarloaf Parkway.
"We appreciate the community's support of our growth in Gwinnett County, and look forward to serving the community of Lawrenceville the best and hottest subs in town," says Adam Arefian, owner of the Lawrenceville franchise.
This is Arefian's second Firehouse Subs location, with his first located at 1830 Scenic Highway in Snellville. He says he also plans to open several more Firehouse Subs locations in the coming years.
The Lawrenceville restaurant seats approximately 50 and is decorated with firefighting gear and equipment, including pieces donated by Station Number 9 in Gwinnett County. Like all Firehouse Subs restaurants, the new location features a hand-painted mural. This particular scene is a collage of various local fire scenes and includes the newest ladder truck serving the Gwinnett County Fire Department.
Each Firehouse Subs location has a fire station theme from the menu to the decor. Firehouse Subs is known for serving hot subs on a toasted sub roll. Keeping with the firehouse theme, subs like the Hook & Ladder and New York Steamer are both named after fire trucks.
Discovers Mills leases three new stores
Discover Mills, owned by Simon Property Group, has announced lease agreements with The Disney Store Outlet, Steve & Barry's and Belis USA at the Lawrenceville mall.
The Disney Store Outlet store at Discover Mills is set to open in early November with 5,236 square feet. Steve & Barry's, a store specializing in collegiate licensed apparel, plans to open this holiday season with 23,000 square feet of retail space.
Belis USA opened a 9,621 square-feet store on Oct. 19 near Medieval Times. The retailer specializes in fashion-conscious clothes for women.
NORCROSS
Downtown groundbreaking for Buchanan Station
Developers EpiCity and McClure Communities last month broke ground on their first home at Buchanan Station, a joint development of 18 craftsman-style homes in Historic Norcross. The development is located on the block bound by Hunter, Kelley, Thrasher, and West Peachtree streets in downtown Norcross.
"This will be a beautiful development and a wonderful addition to this historical area of Norcross," says Mayor Lillian Webb. "There is a tremendous balance of housing and commercial property in this neighborhood and represents the best of all desired construction."
Relay Express opens Norcross branch
Relay Express, a courier company based in Ohio, recently opened a branch on Corporate Drive in Norcross. The franchise will be owned Terrence McDade, 34, of Lawrenceville.
Founded in 1986, Relay Express is a franchised courier business that provides full-service, on-demand and same-day delivery of packages for business-to-business customers in regional metropolitan markets and beyond. The company says it provides "excuse-free delivery by uniformed drivers in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible and is recognized for its professionalism and outstanding customer service."
McDade says he has hired three people and has three vans on the road, covering the entire 28 county Atlanta metro region. While his business is still in its infancy, McDade is already thinking about further expansion throughout the state and possibly beyond.
"Our long term goal is to open five satellite offices here in Georgia and be the most recognizable courier company in the state," he says
EMS named to Technology Fast 50
Norcross-based EMS Technologies, Inc. has been named to Deloitte's Georgia Technology Fast 50. The annual rankings are based on each company's percentage revenue growth over five years.
EMS placed 42nd among technology companies in Georgia. To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 2002 and $5 million in 2006, must be headquartered in Georgia, and must own proprietary technology or proprietary intellectual property that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues or research and development.
"Sustaining high revenue growth over five years is an exceptional accomplishment," says Guy Budinscak, office managing partner of Deloitte's Atlanta/
Birmingham practice. "We commend EMS Technologies for making the commitment to technology and delivering on the promise of market longevity. We are proud to honor EMS as one of Deloitte's Technology Fast 50."
EMS is a wireless and satellite communications manufacturer with approximately 1,000 employees.
CheckFree announces new reconciliation service
CheckFree Corporation last month announced a new service for financial services organizations and corporations called CheckFree Reconciliation and Exception Management Hosted Service.
With the new service, CheckFree will host the reconciliation system, data and hardware, eliminating the need for firms to manage internal systems maintenance and support.
"CheckFree's new Hosted Service will allow our organizations to focus their internal resources on more business critical assignments and move the burdensome process of maintaining an in-house reconciliation and exception management system to a hosted environment," says Mark Cappell, senior vice president and managing director of reconciliation and exception management.
As part of the service, CheckFree says its consultants will work with organizations to enhance reconciliation processes to achieve higher match rates, optimize transaction speeds and regularly fine-tune the systems.
Rock-Tenn adds two million shares to buyback
Norcross-based Packaging products maker Rock-Tenn Co. announced that it more than quadrupled the number of shares authorized under its stock repurchase program, bringing the total to nearly 2.5 million.
Since June 30, Rock-Tenn has bought about 1.6 million shares at an average price of $27.12. That represents about 3.9 percent of shares outstanding on that date, the company said. The company is buying shares in the program in open market or private transactions using cash generated from operations and borrowings from its revolving credit facility.
SNELLVILLE
Park Place Community Association formed
The Park Place Community Association has been formed on the recommendation of a study earlier this year by the Evermore Community Improvement District.
The association will be comprised of homeowners, business owners, clergy and those interested in working as a team toward revitalizing and enhancing the Park Place Community. The PPCA's primary service boundaries include the Stone Mountain portion of Gwinnett County east to Stone Drive and north to Brownlee Road and south to DeShong Road.
The association held its first public meeting on Oct. 4 at the Mountain Park Aquatic Center. For more information, contact PPCA President Frances Smith, at 770-403-7025 or e-mail franal@usa.com.
SUWANEE
Suwanee wins award for mixed-use planning
The city of Suwanee has received a 2007 Georgia Planning Association Award for innovative and effective planning. The award was presented at the GPA fall conference in Savannah in September.
Suwanee was recognized for undertaking a self-assessment of approved mixed-use developments that rated the developments' overall quality as well as their consistency in implementing goals of the city's 2020 Comprehensive Plan.
Ross+Associates and Muldawer Associates Architects and Town Planners "graded" each of the nine separate mixed-use projects that were approved between 2000 and 2006 on behalf of the city. The projects represent a total of more than 500 acres containing about 2,700 residential units, roughly 1.1 million square feet of commercial/office space, and about 160 acres of recreation/open space.
The resulting 2006 report identified attributes and illuminated areas that could have been improved. The report confirmed that many of the goals of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan are being implemented successfully.
"It's really unusual for a government to undertake a self-evaluation of decisions made by elected officials and implemented by staff," says City Planner Josh Campbell, who attended the GPA fall conference. "If nothing else, this project is a reminder that adoption of a plan is not the end of the process at all. We felt it important to take this step in order to continually improve implementation of our Comprehensive Plan."
