East State Street will see two new additions later this year.
The spot where pizza restaurant Abrio’s Vera Cucina once was located will soon be occupied by Qdoba, a Mexican food chain, and a Kay Jewelers store.
The building at 859 E. State St. has not been used since Abrio’s closed and will become the home of a Qdoba location in the fall, John Claflin, a franchise business consultant for the chain, said.
Claflin said the location of a Qdoba on East State Street will be perfect because of its proximity to Ohio University and the Athens Community Center.
“There aren’t many fast casual dining choices in a town that’s heavily populated with college students,” Claflin said in an email. “Needless to say, we’re pretty excited to bring our craveable menu to the community.”
According to the chain’s website, Qdoba has three Ohio locations, all in the Columbus area: one in Polaris, one in the Grandview Heights neighborhood and one on the campus of Ohio State University.
Kay Jewelers will move in next to Qdoba in the winter. Signet Jewelers, the parent company of Kay Jewelers, operates approximately 3,600 stores under the name brands of Kay Jewelers, Zales, Jared The Galleria Of Jewelry, H.Samuel, Ernest Jones, Peoples and Piercing Pagoda.
“(We) are very excited that we will have the opportunity to serve the Athens community,” Frank Cirillo, public relations director for Signet Jewelers, said in an email.
In 2013, Jack Harris, who was responsible for the operation of Abrio’s was granted a motion to shut down the building on East State Street due to insufficient business, according to a previous Post report.
The court chose Harris as the operator after the restaurant’s former managing company, Lady Hawke LLC, failed to pay a cognovit note for $305,138 of debt to the OU Credit Union, according to the same report. A cognovit note dictates that the borrower waives their right to have an appeal or hearing if they fail to pay the creditor the agreed-upon amount.
