Michaels Moving to The Avenue

For more than a year, East Cobb shoppers have wondered what might go into the vast, empty space vacated by Borders when the book retailer went out of business.

East Cobb Patch also solicited reader preferences, but for many months more no official word was forthcoming.

But on Monday, The Avenue East Cobb made official what had been rumored to be the case for months: a nearby Michaels store was relocating, bringing its specialty arts and crafts inventory to a space where once books were sold.

A spokeswoman for The Avenue said Monday that Michaels will re-open in the fall, but that a specific date has not been determined.

Michaels has been located the East Cobb Crossing Shopping Center just a block away on Roswell Road, at the northeast intersection of Johnson Ferry Road, in a retail center with Sears as its anchor.

In the former Borders space, Michaels "will offer a bigger, brighter classroom space, a dedicated framing kiosk, and an exciting, fresh product mix of floral, jewelry-making and scrapbooking supplies for hobbyists and home decorators," according to a release issued by The Avenue management.

Michaels has more than 1,000 stores nationwide, including 10 in metro Atlanta.