On August 2, Jeffrey Kalinsky unlocked the door of a 3,000-square-foot boutique at 3070 Bolling Way NE. His first Jeffrey store opened in Buckhead in 1990. The brand went on to a store in New York's Meatpacking District and another in Palo Alto. In 2005 Nordstrom bought a controlling interest, and in May 2020 the retailer closed all three stores as the pandemic cut luxury foot traffic. "The closing was out of my control," Kalinsky told Buckhead.com. Six years later he is operating independently, with no corporate parent, and he chose the location before he chose anything else.
That decision explains Buckhead Village's 2026 better than any list of openings could. Much of the district's momentum this year comes from Atlanta names coming back and from people who already knew the place. The other part of the story is a slow change in what the district's square footage is used for.
A Store Chosen Through a Friend
When Buckhead.com asked Kalinsky why he picked Buckhead Village, he named a person first. His friend Don Purcell had opened a jewelry store in the district. Purcell had also served as general manager of the Jeffrey stores in Atlanta and New York for 25 years. Kalinsky also cited the places he already went. "I've always frequented Le Colonial and Le Bilboquet, and the St. Regis is right there. It just seemed like the perfect location for a business like mine," he said.
So the man who ran Kalinsky's sales floor for a quarter century now has his own shop on the same street. The new Jeffrey is set up for repeat customers. Of its 3,000 square feet, 1,000 go to a styling lounge, and the store offers dedicated valet and free on-site alterations. It carries independent labels such as Bergfabel, Sophie D'Hoore, Wommelsdorff, Christen, Dosa and Dusan alongside The Row, Celine, Phoebe Philo, Bottega Veneta, Gucci and Tom Ford.
Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown, which owns and manages Buckhead Village District, described the opening as the brand coming "full circle back to the Atlanta neighborhood where it first debuted."
An Italian Bar With a Family Story
Y Bar e Ristorante opened in late July at 3065 Peachtree Road. Rough Draft Atlanta reported it on July 26. It comes from Y Hospitality, the group behind Yeppa & Co., Storico Fresco and Forza Storico, and it took over the former Storico Vino and Pachengo spaces.
The concept is personal to the owners. The design draws on 1960s cafes and bars in Rimini, the Adriatic town where partner Stephen Peterson grew up. Inside there's a U-shaped bar, vintage fixtures and old family photographs. The menu includes Peterson family recipes such as Aunt Becky's artichoke dip and cacio e burro. Some wines come from the group's own vineyard, Enio Ottaviani Winery.
Y Bar also faces outward in a way the earlier tenants did not. It has a covered patio with bistro tables and a terraced seating area along the pedestrian alleyway behind the building, modeled on the piazzas of Santarcangelo di Romagna near Rimini. Rough Draft lists late-night hours. The bar is 21 and over starting at 9 p.m., and the kitchen closes at 10.
The Buttery Is Coming Back Too
The clearest homecoming hasn't opened yet. On September 17, Rough Draft reported that James Beard Award-winning chef Linton Hopkins and Hopkins & Company will open Linton's Bar and Grill next spring. The Buttery, the group's bakery-cafe, will return with it. The Buttery closed in 2024 after four years in the Morningside-Lenox Park area.
Both will be at Buckhead Center, 2970 Peachtree Road, in the space Brio Tuscan Grille used to occupy. The Buttery will have its own entrance, and the two will share a patio overlooking Peachtree. Hopkins describes Linton's as a casual neighborhood place. It will serve sandwiches and salads at weekday lunch, martinis, calamari and tuna tartare on the patio after work, and steak by reservation. The Buttery will open in the morning with coffee, pastries, breads and croissant sandwiches. Buckhead Center is a separate office complex from Jamestown's retail blocks, but Rough Draft counts it as part of the broader Buckhead Village district.
The Leases Around Them
The homecomings happened during a busy leasing period, and the order of the leases shows what the district is aiming for. Buckhead.com laid out the sequence in August.
- Fall 2025: Roche Bobois took the district's largest ground-floor bay, 4,700 square feet on Peachtree Road.
- January 2026: Maeve, Anthropologie's in-house label, opened only its second standalone U.S. boutique. Great Many, a hair-growth studio, opened 1,800 square feet in its first location outside its New York flagship.
- Early 2026: Hill House Home opened in 2,200 square feet.
- May 2026: ME+EM took 2,170 square feet, and LoveShackFancy opened its 29th store in 2,100 square feet designed to look like a historic French townhouse.
- July 31: Jones Road Beauty, Bobbi Brown's brand, opened 1,800 square feet, two days before Jeffrey.
- Since August: Unsubscribed is now open at 3056 Bolling Way, Suite B215.
Most of these spaces fall between 1,800 and 2,200 square feet. Roche Bobois's 4,700-square-foot bay is the exception. Small footprints let many single-brand shops sit side by side on a short walk. Buckhead.com's August piece ended by noting that whether the run lasts "will be measured in renewals rather than ribbon-cuttings."
From Desks to Storefronts and Treadmills
The other change this year is less visible from the sidewalk. In June, Jamestown announced Equinox Buckhead, a 44,000-square-foot club opening in 2027, with its ground-floor entrance next to COS. Its arrival came with a departure. 11Alive reported that the No. 18 coworking space in Buckhead Village District told its tenants on July 27 that it would close on August 17. Nearly 40 businesses had to relocate, and operations were moving to Lenox Avenue.
Equinox's 44,000 square feet is close to ten times the size of Roche Bobois's bay, the biggest storefront in the district. A club that size gives people a reason to come back several times a week, which a single shopping trip does not. That pattern supports the small shops around it.
The buildings are changing as well. In July, Jamestown announced a 227-panel solar array on top of the Spanx headquarters building to help power corporate and common-area operations. Cherry Street Energy will install, operate and maintain it. Construction was scheduled to begin in late September.
Still Ahead
| Name | Where | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Roller Rabbit | 3065 Peachtree Rd NE, Suite B214 | District site still lists it as joining "this year" |
| TOM FORD Beauty | Buckhead Village, address not yet published | Announced; the brand's only listed Atlanta boutique is at Phipps Plaza |
| Linton's Bar and Grill and The Buttery | 2970 Peachtree Road, Buckhead Center | Late spring 2027 |
| Equinox Buckhead | Next to COS | 2027 |
Roller Rabbit's 1,850 square feet will be its first store in Georgia.
On the October Calendar
The district's events this month are hosted by its own tenants:
- Sip & Spin at Brush Sushi: Thursdays, October 8 and October 15, 6 to 10:30 p.m., with wine pairings, food and a live DJ.
- Sewing workshop at Todd Patrick: Sunday, October 11, 3 to 6 p.m.
- Book signing with Flamingo Estate's Richard Christiansen at Bella Cucina: Sunday, October 18, 1 to 4 p.m.
- Camp Twin Lakes Partners Card: October 23 through November 1. Cardholders save 20 percent at hundreds of retailers and restaurants, and each card purchase helps send children with serious illnesses, disabilities and life challenges to Camp Twin Lakes.
The Partners Card window is the cheapest time of the fall to try the new Bolling Way shops, and the money supports a cause.
Changes like Equinox replacing a coworking floor, or a chef bringing his bakery back, tend to change how a few blocks are used day to day. Those shifts matter when you weigh a home within walking distance. If you'd like to talk through what this year's changes in Buckhead Village could mean for a home nearby, David Kaufman is glad to have that conversation. Get in Touch.
