Have you walked past the old Flying Biscuit corner lately and wondered what's actually going into all that plywood and new drywall? If you live near McLendon Avenue, you've probably clocked the construction vans parked in front of at least two storefronts for months now, with no clear signage to tell you what's coming.
Here's what's actually happening: the entire 1600 block of McLendon, on the south side of the street across from Candler Park Market and Gigi's Italian Kitchen & Restaurant, is turning over almost all at once. Three storefronts that anchored this stretch for decades have emptied out over the past two years, and what's replacing them says something specific about where this neighborhood is headed, not just cosmetically, but in terms of what a Tuesday afternoon on this street is going to feel like.
One Landlord, Three Storefronts, One Wave of Turnover
This isn't three unrelated small businesses happening to fold at the same time. The stretch from La Fonda Latina to the old Flying Biscuit corner has one set of owners, Mike Nelson and Clay Harper, who according to Candler Park's neighborhood organization have a long track record of hand-picking tenants for this block. That matters because it explains why the turnover is happening in a wave instead of trickling in one lease at a time.
The Flying Biscuit's original location, the one that opened at the corner of McLendon and Clifton back in 1993, closed and relocated to the former Lazy Betty space at Mell and DeKalb Avenues. Franchise owner Joseph Hsiao, who has run the restaurant since 2010, kept the menu the same but needed a new home. Kelly's Closet, the longtime bridal shop, moved out too. So did Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party, the kids' gift shop, which relocated to Grant Park. Three tenants, one landlord group, one stretch of sidewalk, all changing hands close together.
Who's Moving In
The replacements aren't speculative pop-ups. They're either already open or backed by operators with a track record elsewhere in Atlanta:
- Lostintheletters, an Atlanta writing studio and nonprofit, opened a bookstore and creative space last year in part of the original Flying Biscuit footprint.
- Lucille's, described on its own site as a luxury gift store, has already opened next door. Expect home décor, candles, jewelry, and books up front, with a curated selection of intimacy products in a moodier back room, a mix Haute Living called one of the city's more talked-about retail openings this summer.
- The Little Tart Bakeshop is taking the former Kelly's Closet space for its fourth Atlanta location, joining existing spots in Grant Park, Summerhill, and Krog Street Market.
- Midi, Little Tart's sister concept next door in the old Dr. Bombay's space, is a sandwich and wine bar drawing on founder Sarah O'Brien's trips to Paris. The concept was originally floated as an ice cream shop called Big Softie before the team landed on Midi's current format of sandwiches, small bites, and a wine and cocktail list alongside soft serve.
A Liquor License Filed This Week
Here's the detail that tells you this is close, not aspirational. Candler Park's neighborhood organization posted its August zoning agenda showing Little Tart Bakeshop filing for a liquor license covering malt beverages, wine, and distilled spirits at 1643 McLendon Ave NE, on the agenda for the CPNO zoning committee's Zoom meeting this Wednesday, August 5. A liquor license application isn't a rendering or a lease signing. It's a business getting its permits in order because it expects to be pouring drinks soon, which lines up with reporting from earlier this year that both Little Tart and Midi are targeting a fall opening.
The Strip Used to Be a Pit Stop
Look at what left versus what's arriving and a pattern shows up. The old tenant mix was built for errands you run on your way somewhere else: grab biscuits and coffee before work, pick up a bridesmaid dress, buy a birthday gift for a kid's tea party. Quick in, quick out.
What's replacing it is built for lingering. A bookstore where you browse. A boutique with a back room designed to slow you down. A wine bar modeled on Parisian cafes, the kind of place where the point is to sit for an hour, not grab something to go. Even the neighborhood's other big amenity has been trending the same direction. The nine-hole golf course inside Candler Park itself has been renovated to include a restored, naturalized creek, another signal that the neighborhood is investing in places people spend time, not just pass through.
The Fall Calendar
All of this is converging with the Candler Park Neighborhood Organization's three biggest events of the year, all packed into just over two weeks:
| Event | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Fall Ball | Friday, September 18 | 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. |
| Tour of Homes | Saturday, September 26 | 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. |
| Fall Fest | Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4 | 11:00 a.m. onward both days |
Fall Fest alone draws roughly 20,000 people a day into the park and onto the surrounding streets, according to CPNO's own event site. It's free to attend, and every dollar raised through vendor fees and alcohol sales goes back into the park's infrastructure, per the neighborhood organization.
Why the Timing Lines Up With Fall Fest
Nobody at CPNO or the retail strip has said out loud that the openings are timed to catch festival foot traffic, and it would be reading too much into a construction schedule to claim that as fact. But the incentive is obvious enough that it's worth naming. A wine bar or a boutique that opens in late September or early October gets its first real test run in front of the single largest crowd this street sees all year, walking distance from the park entrance at 1500 McLendon Ave NE. If you're a new business owner picking an opening week, landing it just ahead of Fall Fest weekend is close to the best possible outcome you could ask for.
What It Means for Your Next Walk Down McLendon
If you live in Candler Park, the practical upshot is this: over the next two months, the block you've been walking or driving past with mild curiosity is going to finish its transformation, and it's going to finish right as the neighborhood's biggest weekend of the year fills the sidewalks in front of it. Lucille's is already open if you want to see the finished version of one storefront. Little Tart and Midi are close enough that a liquor license is moving through committee this week. Fall Ball, Tour of Homes, and Fall Fest give you three separate reasons to be on that stretch of McLendon between now and early October, and each time you'll likely see a little more of the block finished.
If you're weighing whether now's the time to put down roots closer to this corner of the neighborhood, our team at Golley Realty tracks these shifts on the ground because they're part of what makes a block worth living near. Take a look at our Candler Park neighborhood page for more on the area, and when you're ready to talk specifics, talk to a Decatur Neighborhood Expert.
