Cobb Place

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Cobb Place is a shopping center at 840 (originally numbered 800) Barrett Parkway in northern Cobb County, Georgia, just southeast of Kennesaw (a suburb of Atlanta). It opened in 1987, the year after the main shopping attraction at Town Center at Cobb mall, on the other side of Interstate 75.

The original anchor stores were (from left/south to right/north) Lechmere ("leech-meer"), Service Merchandise, and Uptons (all of which went out of business nationally), and entertainment outlets Q-Zar [1] and 8-screen AMC Theatres [2].

Lechmere's location later became the giant Phar-Mor drugstore, meant to be a direct competitor to supermarket-sized Drug Emporium (both of which are now also defunct). The same location later became Bed Bath & Beyond, which in 2003 moved to a newly-constructed anchor store right next to itself. That space was originally several smaller stores, torn down and reconstructed to accommodate another large retail chain. After agreeing to the space, that chain (specializing in baby clothing and furniture) merged with another more-established chain which already had an existing location across the street, and thus the new space was never finished. The former BB&B space was completely gutted, and became a Discount Shoe Warehouse (DSW).

In the summer of 2000, the AMC 8 Theatres moved to another land development nearby (on Cobb Place Lane), where it became the huge AMC 24 Theatres. A HobbyTown USA franchise (which had moved in from Austell about four years before) renovated it by removing major walls, pouring new non-sloped floors, and adding sufficient lighting; and moved down from their smaller store in the center in November of that year to become HobbyTown's largest and busiest store in the country.

Like the first BB&B, the former Service Merchandise façade was torn down and the inside gutted. This location is now American Signature Furniture. Smaller stores to its left were demolished to become Cost Plus World Market, and the same was done to its right for a new Basset Furniture, and a Thomasville Furniture store (which moved from Town Center Oaks). To the right of that, Ashley Furniture now occupies the revamped former Uptons. Some of the smaller retail spaces lost to the new anchors were restored at the south end of the shopping center, in the side part of the former Lechmere/Phar-Mor/BB&B which faces south.

A small United States Post Office branch (sharing Kennesaw ZIP code 30144, unique 30160 for its PO boxes) is also located at Cobb Place, along with several restaurants, a vacuum cleaner store, and others.

Other current tenants include:

Other former tenants include:

[edit] Roads

The center also owns a short road, Cobb Place Parkway, which runs essentially due north/south from Cobb Place Boulevard on the north to Barrett Parkway on the south, where is become county-owned Home Center Boulevard. Because of its private ownership, it has blue-background street signs instead of green, a recent occurrence within unincorporated Cobb County. It is also poorly-maintained, with ruts and potholes, including a particularly deep and dangerous one next to the Hampton Inn which is repeatedly left gaping for months, then is eventually filled with asphalt and left to open-up again. The road also has almost no lines anymore, with southbound drivers often drifting into the center lane (which is for left-turning and straight-through traffic northbound), or making turns from the wrong lane.

Cobb Place Boulevard is a half-circle road which runs from the first intersection southwest of I-75 to the first intersection northeast of Cobb Parkway (U.S. 41), behind the former Kmart. West of Barrett Lakes Boulevard and the end of the McCollum Field runway, the area is an office park, though its relation to the shopping center's management or ownership is unclear. The northeastern end is one of the most accident-prone intersections in the county.

Cobb Place Lane is a short spur leading to the AMC theatres, almost opposite Cobb Place Parkway, however it is unknown why developers left them offset and failed to make the two roads meet at the traffic light.

[edit] Other centers

Immediately to the east of Cobb Place is Barrett Pavilion, which opened in the mid-1990s and contains only anchor stores. From north to south, these are Target (renovated in 2006), Old Navy, Shoe Carnival, Ulta, a closed (likely moved) Payless Shoes, and a former Media Play which has been renovated and reopened as a liquour store. A Chick-fil-a and Chuck E. Cheese continue toward the south but are separate, as is a Chili's and a Golden Corral in front of it.

Continuing east, across Cobb Place Boulevard, is another shopping center which abuts I-75. From west to east, this has Linens 'n Things and a Broyhill Furniture (originally a Rhodes Furniture). From north to south, it then has a Best Buy, OfficeMax, Petsmart, and Sports Authority. There is also a separate T.G.I. Friday's and a Chevron gas station south of the parking lot.

North of this, also against I-75 and facing west to Cobb Place Lane is a Golfsmith, JoAnn Etc, and a large home décor consignment shop. Further north is the AMC theatres, while across from it is HomeGoods, hhgregg, and Ambush board shop (which was formerly at Cobb Place). Next to Ambush and moving back west on Cobb Place Boulevard is a Rafferty's, Joe's Crab Shack, Goody's, and The School Box. Back across the road and immediately north of Cobb Place is a new (2006) Hilton Garden Inn, and to its west a lot currently (as of June 2007) undergoing grading for an unknown building.