Business
Changes to The Forum and Surrounding Area Are Coming
The changes coming to The Forum at Peachtree Parkway are perhaps the biggest thing happening in Peachtree Corners in a long time. So, it was probably no surprise that about 250-plus residents and stakeholders turned out for an information session on May 18 hosted by United Peachtree Corners Civic Association (UPCCA).
Tim Perry, managing partner of North American Properties (NAP) Atlanta location, presented the plans the developer has for the property.
For those who didn’t know his background, Perry explained that he’s a neighbor, living just five miles from Peachtree Corners. “[The Forum] has been on my morning commute for years. I’ve driven by it, sort of coveted it a little bit and thought… it has deteriorated so much over the past few years,” he told the audience.
Opportunity for improvement
Perry explained that he saw The Forum as a great opportunity to bring about a success similar to what NAP has done in other areas. He cited a property called Birkdale in the Charlotte, N.C. area, near Lake Norman, that’s like The Forum and The Avenue in East Cobb. It’s not as large but was developed with a similar strategy. Of course, NAP’s most successful local development, Avalon, is the measure for what mixed-use buildouts should be.
“We focus on places, not spaces. I’m sure all of you recognize this from Avalon. It’s not about the physical buildings,” Perry said. “It needs to be expressed with the brands, but it’s about the space between the buildings.”
While he lamented that a great property like The Forum had gone downhill, Perry was optimistic that it hadn’t hit rock bottom. “There’s a certain point [where these properties] can’t necessarily be revived. When you start getting into the [resale stores]… that tenant profile, it chases the rest of [the higher end tenants] out,” Perry said. “You really have to be able to change that perception and right that ship. And what that means is you have to be able to drive sales. This is all about driving sales.
“[The property] has been a victim of this really bad institutional ownership that… doesn’t necessarily invest on the operating expense side the way that you have to to keep these [types of investments] running,” he added.
Before looking at purchasing the property, Perry said NAP contacted the previous owner about investing in the location and helping to bring it back to its former luster, or even go one better and elevate its profile. In the mindset that a rising tide raises all ships, he reasoned that a corridor of luxury development would be good for everyone — not just The Forum.
“I started calling the owner,” he said. “[I’d say] ‘Hey, come on, let us be an investor. Let’s put some money in and stick with you and your partner in this.’”
Perry presented some plans. “We want to define downtown Peachtree Corners as this amazing community amenity that, again raises all tides,” Perry said. “And like a house, people don’t move to buy houses just for the bedrooms. They buy a house for the great kitchens where they spend time cooking, and dining rooms where they hang out for board games, and living rooms where they socialize with family and friends. And what great downtowns are, they are great social places where people convene and play boardgames in the plaza and spend time at concerts and have great meal options where people kind of get together.”
Plus, an outdoor seating area with small retail buildings (renderings courtesy of NAP)
Setting the record straight
In the end, the partnership didn’t materialize, and NAP purchased The Forum in March. “We will increase the operating expenses… at The Forum by about $2 million a year over what the previous owner invested on an annual basis,” Perry said.
The immediate fixes will include investments in music, lights, uniforms and opportunities to get to know the tenants. Things like replacing chewed-up speaker wires in flower beds, upgrading lights and fixing small things that aren’t noticeable when they’re done right — but can give an air of shabbiness when done wrong — cost $35,000, Perry said.
Before the land use meeting, Perry did his homework. Living so close to Peachtree Corners, he can access local posts on NextDoor. He wanted to see what people were saying.
“We always start with community engagement. One of the first calls we made here was, ‘What’s the community interaction here?’” he said.
Perry debunked some of the misinformation that’s been spreading.
“A hedge fund raised the rent,” said one post.
“We didn’t buy from the hedge fund. It was a core trust. The Forum has been going downhill for years. Even before COVID, it put in a liquor store. It’s not an optimistic picture,” Perry said. “There was a pretty dire picture with Williams Sonoma leaving, and even the tenants that were there were seeking something to buy into.”
“The city should buy the property and change it to an Avalon or have more family open field stuff,” wrote another poster.
“We’ll do the Avalon if the city wants to pay for it,” said Perry. He added that the city leaders have already shown tremendous enthusiasm for creating a vibrant downtown. He mentioned the subsidies to the Town Center, the foresight in building the pedestrian bridge over Peachtree Parkway and the planning for a walkable city center.
“The Forum is suffering because the prior owner was charging too much,” a NextDoor post said.
“Just for a very quick side note, it’s not about rent, y’all. It’s about sales. About 35% of [business] expenses are payroll, another 35% are cost of goods sold and 10% are [general and administrative costs], 10% are rent and 10% are profit. When their top line sales start suffering, the first thing that goes away is profit. Then comes the quality of the product and the quality of customers. So, it is all about sales,” Perry said.
He encouraged everyone to communicate with NAP and The Forum through social media channels if that’s how they feel most comfortable. “We do monitor our Instagram feeds, our Facebook feeds and all that other kind of stuff,” he said. “But we’re here to listen, and really do read these. So please let us know.”
Five-year plan
After setting up the premises, Perry showed what can be expected at The Forum in the next five years. He shared a conceptual plan for nine major improvements or additions to the property. City Councilman Eric Christ posted a comprehensive diagram outlining those items on a NextDoor post. Here’s his take (map pictured above):
1. NAP plans to convert the empty Kinnucan’s location into a Food Hall with multiple food stalls (think a mini–Ponce City Market). Diners could sit indoors or at a patio outside the Food Hall or in the new North Court.
2. The North Court will be built on the central parking spaces and feature an outdoor seating area with small retail buildings (2,000 square feet each) at both ends. While cars will continue to circulate on both sides of the North Court, the roadway will be raised to be even with the sidewalk height to facilitate pedestrian access to/from the North Court.
3. A Center Court will also be built on the central parking spaces and feature a gathering area bounded by two tiny retail buildings (450 square feet each).
4. At the Belk end is the South Court with the lawn, a gathering area with a performance stage and a concierge building with public restrooms and valet parking service.
5. There’s another small retail building (2,400 square feet). Note that constructing items 2-5 removes about 200 parking spaces from The Forum’s main street.
6. To replace lost parking spaces, NAP will build a parking deck. The parking deck will be built on the existing parking lot next to Belk. It will have 300 spaces on three floors and be about 35 feet high. Per Perry, the existing Belk building is approximately 28-30 feet high. For comparison, this is about half the size of the Town Center parking deck which has 617 spaces. You will be able to access the deck via car by coming in the main entrance and under the clock tower, but also by going behind the Belk building by Ted’s Montana Grill or by going behind the retail stores by the Aiomi restaurant end. Pedestrians would get from the deck to the main street by using the cut-through at Grace 1720. Removing 200 street parking spaces but adding a 300-space parking deck would net 100 more spaces for shoppers and diners.
7. The entrance boulevard will be redesigned with sidewalks.
8. A boutique hotel would be built above current parking spaces in the upper parking lot next to Peachtree Parkway. The room count has not been finalized, but the target range is 125 to 175 rooms. New dedicated parking for hotel guests would also be built. Note that items 1-8 are all permitted under the current zoning and while there are requirements for building heights, construction materials, etc., these proposed items do not require City Council approval.
9. The final component is a proposed residential complex built above current parking spaces on the Peachtree Parkway side of The Forum. There will be 300 apartments, a mix of one- and two-bedroom, no three-bedroom, units The complex would also include new dedicated parking spaces for residents. The target market would be young professionals and empty nesters. Perry stated that at Avalon, there is one school-age child in all of the apartments at that site. Residing in a C-2 zoning district is not permitted, so item 9 would require a rezoning application, a hearing before the Planning Commission and a vote by the City Council before it could be constructed.
Regarding timing, items 1-7 will be underway in the next two years while items 8 (the hotel) and item 9 (the residential, if approved by council) are four to five years away.
Questions and answers
At the end of his presentation, Perry suggested rebranding the site with a new name. “The Forum is still going to be called ‘The Forum,’ but let’s float this out for the public forum.”
He reasoned that since The Forum will be cementing the downtown of Peachtree Corners, why not change the name to “The Forum at Peachtree Corners”? That question got no real reaction. It appeared the attendees were eager to have their concerns addressed.
“You mentioned housing units. Are those rented?” a man in the audience asked.
“They’re all rented. We don’t do homes. The restaurants really need some of the turnover, so, you have a whole new set of diners, one set of patrons every year,” said Perry. “And it’s kind of a big part of why these downtowns work.”
He added that the success of the city center creates concentric outgrowth with townhomes and single family detached homes further out. But the buildings aren’t so far away that someone who rented on the property and then decided they wanted to own nearby property couldn’t take advantage of the amenities.
“Have you done any traffic impact studies relative to all this development?” asked another person in the audience.
“The increase in traffic impact studies are part of the zoning submission; that’s on the way,” said Perry. He added that there is already a traffic circle proposed at one of the entrances.
Another person asked about the number of rooms in the proposed hotel and how that will impact parking at The Forum.
“Almost all the residential development has to self-park. …We took out 300 or 200 spaces of diagonal and stuff in the middle and replaced it with 300 that’s purely for commercial parking, so it’s actually increasing the amount of parking at The Forum,” Perry said. He added that the hotel will be boutique-style which typically has 125 or 150 rooms.
As the evening progressed, questions about parking, traffic, property values, public safety and a timeline of work were asked. In general, the reactions were favorable, and everyone appeared to leave with a feeling that the development was the right thing for the area.
Lines of communication stay open
UPCCA President Matt Lombardi said he was surprised that the queries weren’t more aggressive, and that the audience seemed accept Perry’s responses to the tougher questions.
“I haven’t received a single phone call or text or email with concerns or additional questions,” he said. “Just from what I observed at the event, Tim Perry was very transparent and seemed to want to listen to any concerns.”
But a few days later, City Councilman Eric Christ gave his synopsis of the townhall meeting on Nextdoor. It appeared that the detractors chose to save their remarks for social media:
“I would hope that our city would actually use all data available to make apartments sustainable, equitable and affordable. If the city is already adding so many apartments, it should ensure developers are doing so thoughtfully. Otherwise, all we’re doing is adding traffic without infrastructure.”
“As a handicap individual, this WAS the only shopping center I used as it was so easy to park and walk directly into the store. [I] went to Avalon once and never returned due to difficulty for handicap people.”
As Perry and Christ explained, none of the zoning changes have been enacted. The purpose of the townhall was to get community input. To have one’s voice heard, both men encourage those with questions or concerns to reach out instead of suffering in silence or just grumbling to neighbors.
“Over the next 90 to 120 days, we’re going to be going through city processes,” said Perry. “We have a very, very engaged social media, so I’ll be happy to answer questions on NextDoor, since I live so close. Follow our Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. We try to be really, really good at communicating, especially when there are things that are inconvenient.”
Residents are encouraged to contact NAP at naproperties.com, or connect through instagram.com/forumpeachpkwy, facebook.com/forumpeachpkwy or twitter.com/forumpeachpkwy. ■
Local small business owner has found a way to keep mosquitos at bay with natural remedies
Geoff Krstovic, a former firefighter, transitioned into the mosquito control business after a divorce, driven by the desire for flexible work.
“Nobody ever thinks they’re going to be into bugs and chemistry when they grow up,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘I want to be a firefighter. I want to be an astronaut.’ Nobody thinks that they want to go out there whacking bugs or says, ‘I want to be in pest control.’”
But as he progressed in his new career, Krstovic took an interest in how to get rid of pests without using harsh, man-made chemicals.
“The more certifications, the more promotions and everything that I got, [and] the more entomology classes I started taking, … I really started to realize what we were putting out into the environment,” he said.
“I spend 90% of my time outside, and I see so much wildlife. So, when I would see a deer eating a leaf or a rabbit run out of bushes that I just treated, it really made me start to think about the effects of what we were doing to them.”
Not to mention pollinators like bees and butterflies.
“When I [would finish a treatment], I’d look back at the yard and everything that I’d seen flying around was just gone,” he said.
As a parent and a pet owner, he knew there had to be a better way to get rid of pests but still safeguard ourselves and the animals around us.
With a growing concern for the environmental impact, he developed a natural mosquito treatment system. The company he was working for wasn’t interested in his new product, so he started his own business.
Road to pest control
Krstovic graduated from Georgia State with a major in English. He joked that many of his contemporaries in the field have similar backgrounds.
“There’s an ongoing joke in the pest community where it’s like … what do you go to college [for] to be a pest [control] owner? Well, you major in liberal arts, English or writers’ composition,” he said.
“A lot of the other owners I met had the same degrees. A big part of it is that creativity aspect, and in pest control, you’re allowed to think outside the box, and you’re allowed to adjust and adapt to what you’re seeing and use different methods.”
That desire to do things differently led him to find a way to help keep people safe from West Nile, Zika virus and Eastern equine encephalitis while they enjoyed time outdoors.
With a lot of research and a little help from relatives with backgrounds in chemistry and engineering, he came up with a formulation based on using essential oils.
The dangers of mosquitos
“After you meet your first client that tells you about their experience just walking to a mailbox and they get West Nile, it changes your perspective 100%,” Krstovic said, “because you’re not just out there killing bugs, you’re out there protecting people and their families.”
Mosquitos are often called the most dangerous animal on earth, with the diseases they spread killing over a million people annually according to statistics from the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control.
While the more serious mosquito diseases don’t pose the greatest risk to most communities, there are common ailments that can show up in people and pets, including bites that get infected and heartworm in dogs.
Reaching out to the community
Though people were a little skeptical about Krstovic’s natural pest control methods at first, Erin Rhatigan decided to give it a try.
“Geoff cold-called our house in 2021 and revealed that he actually grew up in the house next door,” she said. “He really wanted to return to his roots and offer his services.”
Rhatigan has three young children, and with her home being situated on the Chattahoochee River, the outdoor areas are beautiful, but also plagued by a lot of mosquitos.
“We’re very focused on spending time outside, and our kids are very, very active, so they’re outside a lot,” she said.
But Rhatigan and her kids are also very sensitive to mosquito bites, and the spraying services she tried year after year weren’t satisfactory.
“I had gone through every franchise. I had used the large companies every season. I was switching because it seemed like it would be effective at the beginning, and then it would lose effectiveness,” she said.
She was also concerned about the toxicity of the chemicals being used.
“I felt like using toxic chemicals on our property was not only bad for our family, but because we are on the river, we’re kind of a steward to the environment as well, … so when he mentioned that the product that he uses to control the mosquitoes was eco-friendly, I was happy to try it,” she shared.
Local solution gets a local investor
The treatment was so effective that Rhatigan isn’t just a customer, she and her husband decided to invest in the business.
“It was better than anything I had used for the previous 10 years,” she said. “The amazing thing is that when he sprays the property, you have this effervescence of the essential oils in the air.”
She recommended Geo Mosquito to everyone who’d listen to her, and eventually Krstovic took over maintaining the facilities at Rhatigan’s community pool.
“[What he was doing] kind of piqued my husband’s and my interest because we were looking for a small business to invest in locally,” she said. “I’m now home with the kids, but I have a long career in sales, and my husband is in sales as well.”
Within a year, the couple became active investors.
“We love the origin story of this relationship because it’s reflective of how friendly and supportive the local business community is in Peachtree Corners,” she said.
Caring about the work
Krstovic attributes his success to caring about the work, attention to detail and understanding client needs. He doesn’t just spray the yard and leave; he has a system of mapping out problem areas and educating clients about prevention.
“We’re looking at anything that could hold a water source and eliminating that, asking our clients what time of the day they’re getting eaten up, what part of their body and what part of their yard,” he said.
“That helps us figure out the species of mosquito that’s attacking them, so we know where to target, because different species have different nesting sites.”
Growing the business
Geo Mosquito has begun working with Vox-pop-uli to upgrade their logo, website and promotional materials.
“Geoff is a typical entrepreneur — protective of what he’s doing,” Rhatigan said. “So going through the steps of changing the logo, coming up with a new tagline, starting to do some marketing, is both exciting and a little scary.”
But the team at Vox-pop-uli has been a tremendous resource — helping them go at their own pace.
“This first year of investment was about seeing what the market interest is and expanding brand awareness,” said Rhatigan. “Vox-pop-uli offers so many services, it’s daunting for an emerging company to manage so many different contractors: creative, graphic design, printing, mailing. But they have a great, responsive organization that has been very helpful.”
Next steps
With a proprietary formulation for the mosquito abatement, Geo Mosquito wants to bottle the solution and sell it nationally.
Additionally, in 2025, the company plans to expand into ecofriendly pest control services for inside the home. They are also interested in working with local municipalities, churches and schools to expand their mosquito control services.
The Local Thread: This business profile series is proudly supported by Vox-pop-uli, championing local stories and the communities we serve.
This article is also available in the print and digital edition of the Jan/Feb issue of Southwest Gwinnett magazine.
Photos courtesy of Geo Mosquito.
As we look back at 2024, there were a number of acquisitions, new businesses opening, major renovations and milestones celebrated. I’ll attempt to highlight some of them, knowing that I can’t possibly cover them all. There were some new events this year too.
This past year was a big one for Guardian Sports, a Peachtree Corners company that designs and manufactures helmet covers. The NFL now requires Guardian Caps be worn during NFL during practice, and players may choose to wear them during games. The caps disperse energy during hits with the goal of reducing head injuries.
Insight Sourcing of Peachtree Corners was acquired by Accenture, a leading global professional services company. Insight Sourcing helps clients optimize costs when sourcing and negotiating contracts for materials, services related to capital expenditures and energy procurement management. Accenture is a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 743,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.
Axon, the global leader in connected public safety technologies, acquired Fusus, a leader in real-time crime center technology located in Peachtree Corners. Fusus excels in aggregating live video, data and sensor feeds from virtually any source, enhancing situational awareness and investigative capabilities for public safety, education and commercial customers.
Milestone celebrations
Authentic Hardwood Flooring on Amwiler Road celebrated 25 years in business in 2024. Michael Keroack has been steadily growing the operation for roughly eight years in Peachtree Corners with the help of Buddy Wofford, general sales manager, and Michael Blocker, director of operations.
Also celebrating a milestone in 2024 was Diversified Resource Group (DRG). For nearly 25 years, Darrell Creedon has been running DRG in Peachtree Corners, outfitting workspaces for companies and governments, and more recently, hotels and convention centers. Mr. Creedon, who resides in Peachtree Corners, started the furniture business with a college friend in 1999 in a home basement.
City events
The City of Peachtree Corners organized the 2nd Annual Curiosity Lab Criterium in April. This year’s event featured a running race, kids races, food trucks, vendors and other activities for the family. There was also a fun run in Technology Park. Werfen, a global diagnostics company, and the City of Peachtree Corners, partnered on a 5K Walk/Run in Technology Park in November. The event benefitted the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In May, the city organized a food truck event at Curiosity Lab, which drew about 210 people working in and around Technology Park.
The PCBA organized the first Taste of Peachtree Corners in June. It was a great time of networking and community fellowship among business owners and other involved citizens. Approximately 100 people experienced an evening of delicious bites and drinks, sampling foods from local businesses.
New to the city
Blue River Development moved its corporate office from Forsyth County to Peachtree Corners to expand its operations. The company is a leader in real estate development and investment.
A new pediatric dentistry, Agape Pediatric Dentistry, opened at 5185 Peachtree Parkway #325 at The Forum. Two law firms opened on Wetherburn Way: Brooks Injury Law Offices and Tadeo & Silva immigration law firm.
A former steel pipe fabrication site at 6420 Corley Road that was converted to a logistics center is now fully leased. The 27-acre property, which sold for $10.5 million in 2018 was sold for $77.4 million three years later, after it was cleaned up and redeveloped into the Peachtree Corners Logistics Center.
The Central Business District
Also in May, the city adopted a 6-month moratorium on projects in the Central Business District. Due to the increasing number of applications and evolving market trends, the moratorium came into effect on May 3 and ended on November 3. The moratorium gave the city six months to pause rezoning applications, special use permits and variances applications for residential or mixed-use development.
In August, members of the Peachtree Corners City Council took part in a ribbon cutting at The Forum. We celebrated the opening of the new plaza and activity areas. Jamestown is modernizing the 20-year-old Forum shopping center and transforming it into a true mixed-use destination through the addition of a 125-room boutique hotel, approximately 381 multifamily units, new experiential retail and dining offerings, structured parking and an expanded public area.
Construction began in May 2023, and the first of two new greenspace additions were constructed. Phases II and III will see the multifamily and boutique hotel constructed, both slated to start in 2025. Also this year, it was announced that Jamestown, a global real estate investment and management firm, acquired the Cincinnati-based North American Properties, which owned The Forum.
Members of the Peachtree Corners Redevelopment Authority and Downtown Development Authority engaged in a focus group discussion in August at City Hall. The discussion was led by representatives from Kimley-Horn, engineering, planning and design consultants. There was discussion about under-utilized spaces, needed amenities and potential uses for vacant properties. City officials also met with members of the commercial real estate community in September to specifically discuss Technology Park.
International visitors, co-working and new townhome project
An 18-member delegation of Finnish business people visited Curiosity Lab in Peachtree Corners in September. The visit marks the second time a Finnish delegation has visited Peachtree Corners. Seven innovative Finnish companies traveled to the Atlanta area in search of U.S. partners to promote transatlantic trade between Finland and the United States. Japanese delegates involved in sectors such as automotive, technology, energy and corporate development also visited Peachtree Corners in December as part of a regional tour.
Construction of a co-working space, Roam, is well underway at the Town Center and will open in summer 2025. The 35,000-square-foot building is located at 3847 Medlock Bridge Road and will feature a rooftop event space, coffeeshop and cafe, in addition to workspaces.
An office building at 3585 Engineering Drive was demolished earlier this month to make way for a townhome community. The new 75-unit townhome project is under construction by D.R. Horton, which received rezoning approval from the city last February. The 102,000 SF office building sat vacant for many years.
Collaboration, renovation and more
Curiosity Lab announced a collaboration with Gama Sonic, a global leader in upscale, bright and durable solar lighting for homes, businesses and outdoor spaces. The company’s deployment of solar lighting in the City of Peachtree Corners marks its first deployment implementing customized, intelligent lighting programming timers that enhance safety for residents and visitors.
Brady Anderson Bennett recently opened a State Farm office at 3000 Northwoods Parkway. The 27-year-old has been working with State Farm since he was 18 years old.
Renovation is underway at 7050 Jimmy Carter Blvd. for the creation of a Planet Fitness. The gym is under development by Alder Partners/the Flynn Group. This location marks the 32nd location in metro Atlanta. It is expected to open in January.
There is also a relatively new Southern-inspired eatery you may want to try. Dahlia’s Restaurant & Porch, located inside the Hilton Atlanta Northeast hotel, opened this year. Dahlia’s offers Southern-style plates that leverage regionally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients.
Happy Holidays!
Mayor Mike Mason
Leroy Hite, founder of Cutting Edge Firewood — a luxury brand specializing in wood for fireplaces, grills, pizza ovens and firepits — shared his journey from starting a company to gaining national recognition during the PCBA Business After Hours Speaker Series in December.
Hite highlighted the industry’s disorganization and his innovative approach to firewood, including using ovens to dry the wood and improving on delivery methods. And he emphasized the importance of customer experience, branding and counter-cultural thinking.
Despite initial challenges and financial constraints at the beginning, his company grew significantly (even during the early days of COVID-19), achieving a 400% increase in sales.
Entrepreneurial spirit
The disorganization and lack of focus within the firewood industry is what initially prompted Hite to question its methods.
He thought he’d found the answer when he started a firewood company with friends while in college, winning a Kroger account for the entire Southeast. But the limited experience of Hite and his co-owners became evident quickly.
“We discovered how backwards the industry was for three college students to get that account with a username and password,” he said. “On the day of the bid, whoever put in the lowest number won the account.”
With the contract in hand, the guys were able to get loans and bought hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment that they didn’t know how to use.
“It would break every single day, so I had to teach myself how to fix it,” he said. “We hired 30 to 35 people off of Craigslist; I don’t advise you to do that.”
In the end, the guys realized they were in way over their heads. They couldn’t keep up with Kroger’s demand. But the experience gave Hite insight into a better way to deliver firewood.
“At the time, industry-wide, you would put the firewood in the back of a pickup truck, get a wheelbarrow, put it where they wanted it,” he said. “… to do a second delivery, you have to drive back and get more wood. So maybe you can do two deliveries a day.”
Hite devised a plan to have the wood palletized and use a mini skid steer, which allows you to get it closer to where it should be. What had taken 16 to 18 hours for two deliveries would now allow seven or eight deliveries in the same time frame.
After the first firewood business shut down, Hite worked with Chick-fil-A and then Enterprise Rent-A-Car for several years.
“It was great experience,” he said, though he couldn’t get firewood out of his mind.
Taking another chance
Hite considered getting back into the firewood business as a side gig, but eventually decided to leave his corporate job and pursue the business full time.
“A fire is like a beautiful sunset,” he said. “No one on earth dislikes it. A fire can be the center of a wedding party and can also add great taste to food — whether it’s steak, pizza or barbecue.”
When he started Cutting Edge, Hite wanted to fix the poor quality of wood and lack of branding and customer service.
He had an opportunity to purchase an existing business, but lacked the funding. So, he took a leap of faith.
“I had an outdated website. I had a truck, and I had a customer list. I realized I was going to be a supplier and that I needed to reinvent how to deliver firewood,” he said. “I [tried] to get a second loan on my house, [but] no banks would talk to me at the time.”
Hite convinced his wife, pregnant with their third daughter, to sell the house.
“We moved into a rental home, and I completely redid the branding. I reinvented how to do deliveries. I invented a rack that could be moved with a hand truck. And I found a hand truck that will go up and down stairs and one that will go across rough terrain,” he said. “So, the delivery went from two hours to about 15 minutes per delivery. And it was also a lot safer.”
Though COVID caused many businesses to go under, his thrived. It seemed that people stuck at home got a taste for food cooked over “fancy wood,” as he put it.
Goals and standards
Cutting Edge Firewood has two goals, Hite said: To provide unparalleled customer service and deliveries. And to provide the best firewood available. Period.
According to company literature, the Cutting Edge team “works with the best suppliers to ensure they consistently meet our high standards. All of our firewood undergoes the most rigorous drying process in the industry: each piece is conditioned for 48 hours in 250-degree heat. And our trained specialists hand-select each piece of firewood … ensuring that you only receive the very best — photoshoot-ready firewood that lights easily and burns brightly.”
Future plans
Although Hite didn’t go into detail, he sold Cutting Edge Firewood in August 2024, having built a strong brand and customer base in Atlanta and throughout the country.
“[Entrepreneurship] definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s both demanding, disheartening and rewarding all at the same time,” he said. “I love it. I went in with a not-too-thin skin, but I definitely exited with very thick skin.”
Now that he’s been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Hite indicated that he wants to venture out again. He reflected on the challenges and rewards of running the business, including the importance of customer experience and branding.
“The brand is very, very well-known in Atlanta. We were named a couple of times in Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the fastest growing companies,” he said. “It’s rewarding. I’ve had Coca-Cola executives say that [they] know the branding and the customer service … [and] I’m pretty sure that Cutting Edge Firewood is being used in the White House.”
Hinting of a desire to move on to new ventures, possibly focusing on disrupting existing markets rather than creating new ones, Hite again emphasized the importance of counter-cultural thinking, pushing through discomfort and being driven by a passion for customer experience and innovation.
For more information about Cutting Edge Firewood, visit cuttingedgefirewood.com.
City Updates: Brian Johnson on The Forum Parking Changes, Simpsonwood Park and New Community Events
Pest Control Without Harsh Chemicals
Health and Wellness at The Forum
Latest Updates and Improvements at Jones Bridge Park
City of Peachtree Corners Launches New Community Calendar
City of Peachtree Corners Installs Bioswales on Bankers Industrial
Local Caribbean Restaurants Give Island Flavor Here at Home
City of Peachtree Corners Launches New Community Calendar
Local Caribbean Restaurants Give Island Flavor Here at Home
City of Peachtree Corners Installs Bioswales on Bankers Industrial
Latest Updates and Improvements at Jones Bridge Park
City Updates: Brian Johnson on The Forum Parking Changes, Simpsonwood Park and New Community Events
Pest Control Without Harsh Chemicals
Health and Wellness at The Forum
Recreational Soccer Club Celebrates 50 Years of Play
Light up the Corners [Video]
Capitalist Sage: Business Leadership in Your Community [Podcast]
Cliff Bramble: A Culinary Adventure through Italy
Top 10 Brunch Places in Gwinnett County
A Hunger for Hospitality
THE CORNERS EPISODE 3 – BLAXICAN PART 1
Top 10 Indoor Things To Do This Winter
The ED Hour: What it takes to Remove Barriers from Education
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Parks & Recreation1 week agoLatest Updates and Improvements at Jones Bridge Park
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City of Peachtree Corners3 days ago
City of Peachtree Corners Launches New Community Calendar
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City of Peachtree Corners7 days ago
City of Peachtree Corners Installs Bioswales on Bankers Industrial
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Food & Drink4 days ago
Local Caribbean Restaurants Give Island Flavor Here at Home
