As brick-and-mortar shopping and dining at actual restaurant tables increasingly becomes a thing again, Buckhead Village officials sound optimistic that the worst of the pandemic’s economic doldrums is squarely in the rearview.

Covering a half-dozen blocks with 300,000 square feet of retail, the razed, reborn, and now refreshed shopping and dining hub was bought by Ponce City Market developers Jamestown Properties two years ago. They shed “The Shops Buckhead Atlanta” name and adopted simply “Buckhead Village” last year.

Months into COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, Jamestown reps send word this week that Buckhead Village sales are way up over the same timeframe in pre-pandemic 2019.

Specifically, luxury retail sales have climbed 50 percent, and sales per square foot by 23 percent, at Buckhead Village between January and April this year versus 2019, officials said.

Jamestown’s efforts to reimagine the property have included new public spaces—an open-air Veranda porch for live music and coffee pop-ups, plus a pedestrians-only Center Plaza—in addition to updated storefronts, greenspaces, and branding.

Recent scenes at modified public spaces in what's now called Buckhead Village. Photos courtesy of Jamestown Properties

Leases have been signed with small businesses (a florist, hatmaker, and jewelry store among them) to help blend national and local concepts. And SPANX’s corporate headquarters recently recommitted to leasing 95,000 square across three floors—the bulk of Buckhead Village’s 135,000 square feet of offices, reps said this week.

On the retail and eatery front, Italian wine bar Storico Vino and NYC-based luxury menswear brand Todd Patrick opened in March. That was followed in June by Jerrimiah James, described as “a luxury showroom and concierge personal shopping service.”

Later this year, Buckhead Village officials expect four more offerings will open.

Those include fine jeweler Don Purcell, another outpost of French café and bakery Saint-Germain, the marketplace Village Supply by Hermarket, and the second intown location of Fetch Park, dog-park-bar concept that’s replacing a 1-acre parking lot.  

Details on upcoming and recurring events at the village can be found here. 

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