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Businesses prospering at the Landing
Vicki Moody, owner of jBunae, opened her store one year ago. Tuesday she celebrated the anniversary by expanding her store at the Landing.
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Find out more. 07/05/2007
by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Over the course of the past year, there have been several changes at the Landing. New businesses have come in, but it has been the Landing’s current tenants who have been responsible for many of those changes.
Doug Ganson, owner of Sundrez, recently acquired the Ice Cream Churn in the Landing, did a little remodeling and renamed it Dipper Dan’s.
Vicki Moody, who owns jBunae, has had a great first year. In fact, Moody has done so well she moved her store a couple doors down to a much larger space.
Brothers Loros and Benny Yousefzadeh just opened Bourbon Bayou on the first floor. They already own Benny’s Steak & Seafood and Bourbon Express in the food court. Their other brother George owns Vito’s Italian Restaurant.
“We’re continuing to not just fill the empty spaces, but we have the right tenants in place that have been able to add to what we have,†said Rachel Kaltenbach, director of public relations for the Landing.
Ganson has already made a name for himself with Dipper Dan’s. Since reopening the ice cream shop on June 1 that now serves Edy’s Ice Cream, Ganson has sold 298 barrels of ice cream in 30 days.
“Doug was put on Edy’s map and sold more than Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport’s Edy’s Ice Cream location for the month of June,†said Kaltenbach.
Ganson was asked to take over the ice cream shop and both he and the Landing are pleased with the positive response so far. Not only is ice cream on the menu, but Ganson also added nachos and cheese, popcorn, fountain sodas and fresh waffle cones and bowls to the menu.
“We redecorated it and made it a fun place to stop by and have some ice cream,†he said. â€It is important to have a well-rounded ice cream shop.â€
Ganson also changed the ice cream shop’s hours. The shop used to close at 9 p.m. on weekends. It now closes at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
“We have been tracking our sales by the hour and we are doing 30 percent of our business after 9 p.m.,†he said. “We have increased sales by only adding those two hours.â€
Kaltenbach added the evening hours have been the busiest.
“There was a whole market being missed in the past that we are reaching now,†she said.
Ganson said his changes in store hours and the menu additions produced the results he was looking for.
“We’ve improved the product and customer service and we broadened our range of menu items,†said Ganson. “We have seen instant, positive results.â€
Moody celebrated her one year anniversary by expanding her store.
“After three or four months I realized our space was too small, but I waited a year to move,†she said. “This is our anniversary week.â€
Kaltenbach said Moody increased her space by 500 square feet.
Now that Moody has the space, she has also added many new items. When she opened a year ago, the store carried mostly women’s clothing, men’s clothing and jewelry. Moody added a make-up counter, a baby gift section, shoes, Zen lotions and bath products and candles. Like the other store, there are men’s and women’s clothing on each side of the store. In the rear of the store is her “name brand bargains†including Tommy Hilfiger, Liz Claiborne, Juicy Couture and Burberry — but Moody never knows what she will get next.
Moody closed her store which sells high-end merchandise at wholesale prices last week and opened her new, larger location on Monday.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect a year ago. I knew we were doing well,†she said. “It was kind of a step of faith.â€
In just six months Loros and Benny opened two new restaurants at the Landing. Bourbon Express in the food court and Bourbon Bayou on the first floor, said Kaltenbach.
“A good opportunity came up and we had the Bourbon Bayou on (County Road) 210 and we decided to close that and move it to the Landing,†said Benny. “The Landing has been so good to us, we decided to open this restaurant here.â€
Vito’s Italian Restaurant was the first restaurant they owned with their other brother George. They opened Vito’s eight years ago. Loros and Benny then opened Benny’s Steak & Seafood five years ago.
“We are all just taking the opportunities that are coming across,†said Benny about he and his fellow Landing tenants. “Growing is good for all of us and it gives us more venues at the Landing.
“In the past 2 to 3 years the Landing has exploded and it is getting better and better.â€
Kaltenbach said the Yousefzadeh brother’s Bourbon Bayou is a great addition.
“They are doing such a great job for the Landing,†she said.
Overall, she added that in the past five years since Toney Sleiman bought the Landing, there have been many positive changes.
“Downtown demographics has changed as well and that has helped us, too,†she said.
Kaltenbach said many of their current tenants know what it takes to do well at the Landing and it is showing because they are acquiring more space or opening new businesses.
“They are here every day and some have opened two or three businesses,†she said. “It speaks very highly of the Landing, but particularly the business owners.â€
