Guthrie’s Chicken to build in Luella Crossing retail development

Stock photo of Guthrie's Chicken fast food restaurant
Photo of Guthrie’s Chicken in Fort Wright, Kentucky
Guthrie’s Chicken has twenty nine locations across six states. (company photo)

This article was originally published in June 2019. Date references have been added in parenthesis where appropriate to help with context.

Guthrie’s Chicken is expected to build its first Henry County franchise within a new retail development in the Luella area. Land disturbance activities are underway now for Luella Crossing at the southeast corner of SR 155 and Bill Gardner Parkway.

Guthrie’s Chicken serves a limited menu of fried chicken in either baskets, sandwiches, or buckets and side items. Said to have inspired chains like Zaxby’s and Raising Cane’s, the company created the original chicken finger box. Established in 1965 in Alabama, there are twenty nine stores spread across six states.

Guthrie’s has experienced mixed success doing business in Georgia. Stores in Dunwoody, Norcross, and Athens all closed years ago while a Chattanooga area franchiser operates two Georgia locations (Ringgold and Trenton). A new store and third in-state location opened this spring (2019) in Albany in southwest Georgia.

Site plan for Luella Crossing retail development
Luella Crossing has space for five main tenants. (Dart Retail photo)

Guthrie’s is a small part of a larger development

Luella Crossing is a new 7.46 acre development owned by Locust Grove Retail Partners, LLC of Marietta, GA. According to marketing materials published by Dart Retail, Circle K service station and O’Reilly Auto Parts are also planned to build. Two one acre outparcels and space within the service station remain available for other tenants.

Last summer (2018), two and one-half acres were rezoned from C-2 (general commercial) to C-3 (highway commercial) for the purposes of an enclosed self-storage facility designed like a three-story office building. The self-storage business will be located along Bill Gardner Parkway between pad two (pictured above) and the abandoned Norfolk Southern rail spur.

An additional ten acres to the south is also zoned for commercial development. The property is owned by Highway 155 Holdings, LLC of Stockbridge, GA. No information about potential construction on that parcel is available at this time.

Note: the header photo of Guthrie’s Chicken is a generic photo of an existing location in Fort Wright, KY and may not be representative of the planned build in Luella.

About Clayton 1694 Articles
Clayton Carte is the founder and owner of The Henry Reporter. He founded the site in 2017 to highlight transportation projects. Over time, he began covering other topics like new development so residents can best know what’s happening in our community.

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