Business & Retail Briefs

This month, Mason Murer Fine Art will move to a new space and transform into Mason Fine Art and Events. The new location will open Nov. 14 at 1386 Mayson St., a mile from the current location on Armour Drive in Buckhead. The new 21,000-square-foot facility’s opening exhibition will feature Linda Mitchell, Abbey Ryan, Keiko Gonzalez, Larry Walker, Otto Lange, Terri Dilling, Pam Moxley, Heather Hilton, Carl Holzman, Joe Remillard, Karen O’Neil, Jan Lukens, Allison Shockley, Erik Gonzales, Christine Hayman, Robert Marchessault, and an outsider art exhibition, Religion and Spirituality in Southern Vernacular Art. Check out masonmurer.com/moving for updates.

Women in Film & Television Atlanta (WIFTA) will celebrate its 40th anniversary with an event on Nov. 8 starting at 6:30 p.m. at The Wimbish House on Peachtree Street in Midtown. There will be hors d'oeuvres, drinks, music and remarks by special guests from Georgia's film and television community. “We are excited to reminisce about the influence WIFTA has had on Atlanta's TV/film community over the last 40 years and are extremely proud of strides the industry made as it relates to women in general,” stated WIFTA Vice President of Communications Tanisha Coffey. “But we also know there is so much more we can accomplish. The journey continues. We're looking forward to spearheading another 40 years of progress.” For tickets and information, visit WIFTA.org.

Kamileon’s Kloset, an Atlanta-based nonprofit whose mission is to transform lives by promoting the economic independence of men and women seeking employment, will host its annual Sip ‘N Shop for Charity event on Nov. 7 from 4 to 9 p.m. and Nov. from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event features designer samples and overstock merchandise from top retailers. New clothes, shoes and cosmetics from brands such as Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Anne Klein, Calvin Klein, Sean John and Bobbi Brown, to name a few, are available at up to 80 percent below retail value. The event will be held at Kamileon’s Closet, 3110 Sports Ave. in Smyrna. For more information, visit thekloset.org.

Simon and Noble Investment Group have announced a joint venture to bring the AC Hotels by Marriott brand to Phipps Plaza in Buckhead. Located at the intersection of Peachtree and Wieuca roads and adjacent to Nordstrom at Phipps Plaza, the AC by Marriott Buckhead will be the brand's first hotel in Atlanta. It is scheduled to open in January 2016. The hotel will feature 166 rooms and suites, a lounge, 2,500 feet of flexible meeting space, a library, indoor pool and more.

Kroger has opened its 2,000th Fuel Center in Decatur at 2385 Wesley Chapel Road. The new Fuel Center will offer a total of 18 fueling pumps, including 9 diesel fuel pumps. It will be open daily from 6 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Georgia Commerce Bank has named Cassie Smith as senior vice president of finance and Chuck Shaw as senior vice president of compliance and risk management. Locally, the Atlanta-based bank has locations in Brookhaven and Buckhead.

Tongue & Groove nightclub turns 20 this month. The 8,600-square-foot nightclub, lounge and event venue located in the Lindbergh area of Atlanta at 2420 Piedmont Road will celebrate with a huge birthday event on Nov. 20. For more details visit tandgonline.com.

Columbia Property Trust announced that it has completed the sale of a fivebuilding, 1 million-square-foot, Class-A office campus in Atlanta for $290 million. Fully leased to AT&T Services, the property is located at 1025, 1055, 1057 and 1277 Lenox Park Boulevard, and 2180 Lake Boulevard in the Lenox Park office complex in Buckhead.

Krog Street Market’s first retail tenant, The Collective, is now open. The Collective is housed in “The Cottage,” a 1920s historic home that Paces Properties has relocated, renovated and renewed. Now located at the corner of Lake Avenue and Waddell Street, The Collective anchors the Krog Street Market parking lot on Lake Avenue. The gift shop will offer home and garden décor, jewelry and art – all curated by local vendors. Owner Greg Ansley said locally-crafted goods from vendors Southeast Succulents, Those Barrett Twins, Porterhouse Interiors and Nancy Zahn Antiques are also featured. “We could not be happier to be back in Inman Park,” said Ansley. “As the first retail tenant to open at Krog Street Market, we are eager to see our old friends and welcome new customers to our cottage location.”

By Clare S. Richie

With the winter holidays approaching, it’s time for the King of Pops’ staff to fold up their trademark rainbow umbrellas and put on elf booties. This winter marks the third year for Nick and Steven Carse’s Christmas tree delivery side venture, Tree Elves.

Costumed elves deliver Frazier Fir trees in three different sizes – small (45’), medium (6-7’), and large (8-9’) along with an assortment of holiday-flavored pops like eggnog, white chocolate peppermint and fruitcake. The trees come from the Cheeks Brothers Tree Farm near Boone, NC to your Intown home, apartment or business.

This year, the trees will be fresh cut instead of potted, a change made in response to customer demand for larger trees that required pots weighing in excess of 300 pounds.

“Once the elves collect your tree, they’ll bring them to our farm. There we’ll grind the trees up for compost to enrich the soil we use to grow fruit for our pops,” explained Nick Carse. And, for each Christmas tree sold, the ecoconscious brothers will plant a Georgia native tree (such as eastern red cedar) at their farm.

Last May, Nick and Steven Carse purchased a 68-acre property that included a commercial nursery located about 15 minutes west of Six Flags Over Georgia in Douglas County.

“Our nursery, Turtle Brook Nursery, is already growing and selling Georgia natives under the guidance of Peter Calabrese and Cooper Starr, formerly with Trees Atlanta,” Nick shared.

Unfortunately, Georgia’s climate isn’t conducive for growing Christmas trees. Luckily, many of the ingredients of your favorite pops do thrive here. So, the brothers are in the process of cultivating a farm on the property to grow berries, melons and herbs for their frozen treats. Last month, they planted 10,000 strawberry plants. They will also experiment with raising figs, pomegranate and kiwi.

The Carse brothers keep finding green ways to operate and expand. They compost King of Pops fruit waste from their Inman Park kitchen on the farm and long-term envision community gardens and children’s programs.

This holiday season – if you want the convenience of a Christmas tree delivery and pick up, environmentally friendly reuse of your tree, and crave holiday pops – Nick and Steven Carse hope you’ll choose Tree Elves.

For more, visit treeelves.net.