Blog Topic: Business, Man

In the Loop: Daily Groceries Is (Probably) Moving Into the 100 Prince Development

By Blake Aued | September 6, 2016 5:12pm

Photo Credit: Smith Planning Group

It's not completely set in stone yet, but the Daily Groceries Co-op has signed a tentative deal to move into a much larger retail space in the new 100 Prince development slated for the St. Joseph Catholic Church property.

Daily announced to its owner-members today that it's signed a nonbinding letter of intent with developer Homes Urban of Greenville, SC to move into a 14,000 square-foot retail space in 2018.

"This is the first step of a really, really long process for the co-op," Delene Porter, chairwoman of Daily's board of directors, told Flagpole.

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Grub Notes: Hankook Taqueria to Open Downtown and More Restaurant News

By Hillary Brown | August 31, 2016 9:52am

Photo Credit: Photo via Hankook Taqueria's Facebook page.

Atlanta's Hankook Taqueria—which has a location near Cross Creek on Atlanta's west side, a partnership with the Yumbii food truck and two sister restaurants (both called Takorea, one in midtown Atlanta and one in Buckhead)—will take over the former Etienne Brasserie space at Jackson and Broad in downtown Athens, opening in November. Owner Tomas Lee has a fairly serious pedigree, and his Korean-Mexican fusion has done well in Atlanta.

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Grub Notes: Atlantans Are Whining About Their Lack of Tropicalia

By Blake Aued | August 27, 2016 2:09pm

A few weeks ago I went to a cookout in Atlanta, and a friend of a friend who works at a package store told me that they sell out of their weekly allotment of Tropicalia within hours, even though they limit purchases to one six-pack per customer.

He wasn't lying. The AJC recently ran an article about the city's shortage of Athens-based Creature Comforts' flagship IPA. Just another reason to be glad you live in Athens.

The article also includes some interesting insights into the limitations on production that small craft breweries face. As international beer conglomerates buy up crafts, they're able to negotiate better deals with hop growers.

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In the Loop: The Townie Argument Against the Student Argument for Big Business in Athens

By Blake Aued | August 26, 2016 3:56pm

A relic of the past, according to student journalist Cassie Daigle.

A UGA student recently wrote a Red & Black column in praise of corporate chains, and people are pissed. I haven’t seen Townie Facebook this lit since the Prince Avenue Wendy’s burned down.

Ordinarily, I’d let such less-than-well-thought-out commentary in the local student paper pass. And let it be known that I come here not to bury Cassie Daigle, but to praise her. She’s discovered the power of the hate click at a young age, and has a bright career ahead of her writing on the internet. But Flagpole wouldn’t be the “colorbearer of Athens” if we didn’t offer some sort of retort to this argument.

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Grub Notes: Ex-Terrapin CEO Buys Asheville Brewery

By Blake Aued | August 19, 2016 11:21am

Just weeks after selling the Athens brewery he founded to an international conglomerate and leaving the company, ex-Terrapin CEO John Cochran has bought an Asheville, NC brewery, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Cochran is taking over Altamont Brewing and changing its name to UpCountry Brewing. The purchase also includes a restaurant Altamont owns called Nona Mia, which will now be UpCountry Eatery.

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In the Loop: How Athens Landed Voxpro

By Blake Aued | August 15, 2016 10:55am

Photo Credit: Athens-Clarke County

Amy Lopp at the Athens-Clarke County Economic Development Department wrote an article for the department's website last week detailing how Irish customer-service contractor Voxpro decided to open a call center in Athens that will employ 500 people.

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In the Loop: Irish Company Bringing 500 Jobs to Athens

By Blake Aued | August 3, 2016 11:30am

Voxpro founders Linda and Dan Kiely.

Voxpro, an Irish company described as “an innovative customer experience and tech support provider” will create more than 500 jobs in Athens, Gov. Nathan Deal announced today.

“Voxpro provides a range of business services, such as multilingual customer experience and technical support solutions, trust and safety monitoring, social media management and product insight. The company works with clients from innovative tech startups to global giants, helping them scale internationally and deliver a high quality customer experience with every interaction,” according to a news release. Clients include Google, Airbnb and Nest. The company employs 1,700 people in Ireland and California and “delivers customer support experiences” in 32 countries.

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Grub Notes: MillerCoors Buys Majority Stake in Terrapin

By Blake Aued | July 20, 2016 4:46pm

Are Terrapin commercials coming soon to a Super Bowl near you?

Beer giant MillerCoors is buying a majority stake in the Athens brewery, the companies announced today. Terms were not disclosed.

Terrapin will become a unit of MillerCoors’ craft and import beer division, Tenth and Blake, the owner of brands like Blue Moon, Leinenkugel, St. Archer and Pilsner Urquell.

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In the Loop: GDOT Assesses Oconee Farmland at Commercial Rate

By Lee Becker | July 15, 2016 11:25am

Doug Dickens, president of Dickens Farms Inc., told the Georgia Department of Transportation that it should assess his 102 acres on Mars Hill Road not as agricultural land, as it is zoned, but as the site of the large residential and commercial development he said he plans for the property.

The state ultimately accepted his argument, giving him a partial median cut that was not part of the original design and paying him $32,000 for 0.312 acres of permanent easement and 0.501 of construction easement.

That was 2.7 times the $11,800 recommended compensation for the acreage.

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In the Loop: Oconee: No Agreement on Mars Hill Median Cut

By Lee Becker | July 12, 2016 1:48pm

Photo Credit: Lee Becker

Oconee County Commissioner Jim Luke.

Oconee County officials now say that the county does not have a written agreement to build a full median cut on Mars Hill Road to provide access to property owned by Dickens Farms Inc.

The officials also say that, prior to its meeting on Tuesday night, the Board of Commissioners had never voted to support that full median cut or to ask the Georgia Department of Transportation to modify its design for the road to include the full median cut.

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