We are very excited to announce that Jim's Place East will be relocating to EAST MEMPHIS in the Fall! Our family has been so blessed for many years to have the support of the Memphis community! And we hope to continue to provide great food and service for many more years to come! Thanks to all of you who have supported our family through the years and through the opening of Jim's Place Grille almost 4 years ago! We could not have done it without your support! We hope and pray that the Lord will continue to bless us in the upcoming relocation of Jim's Place East at the intersection of Poplar and Perkins!! Here is an article that was in the Memphis Daily News today about the new restaurant!!
Memphis Daily News
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/
Jim’s Place East Finds New Home on Poplar
RICHARD J. ALLEY
Special to The Daily News
Jim’s Place East – a Memphis tradition since its founding nearly 90 years ago – is opening a location at Poplar Avenue and Perkins Road, having signed a 10-year lease for the 5,900-square-foot space that recently housed Harold’s women’s boutique.
The restaurant, a popular site for events such as wedding receptions, parties, business meetings and intimate dinners, has operated at 5560 Shelby Oaks Drive since 1976.
The move is a relocation from Shelby Oaks, yet the current location will remain open until the doors open this fall at 518 Perkins Road Extended.
“We want people with special memories to know that we’ll continue to operate the current location and that people should come back and visit,” said Sam Taras, son of co-owner, Dimitri Taras.
Jim’s Place is owned by brothers Costa Taras and Dimitri Taras, and brother-in-law Angelo Liollio. The Taras family founded the restaurant in 1921 and operates Jim’s Place East on two acres at the Shelby Oaks location, and Jim’s Place Grille at 3660 South Houston Levee Road in Collierville.
Costa and Dimitri are listed on the new lease along with Costa’s son, Bill Taras. Costa and Bill will be running the new location.
The Tarases plan to sell the Shelby Oaks location and hope to open the new restaurant by Nov. 1, offering lunch and dinner as well as space for banquets just as they have in the past.
“You can’t beat Poplar and Perkins,” Dimitri Taras said. “We just found that where we are now, the traffic has really gone down, the whole area has kind of gone down.”
Donna Woolfolk of Graber Investments, leasing agent for the restaurant’s new home, said Jim’s Place East will occupy all of one bay and part of another in the center.
“They’re taking where Harold’s was and then they’re taking a small portion of where Broom Corn was in the back area to extend the kitchen somewhat,” she said. “They had decided they needed a little extra room for the kitchen.”
Graber Investments, which manages and leases the property, also inked Family Physicians Group to a 6,100-square-foot lease in the center, which got hit especially hard by the recession as BA Framer, Broom Corn Fabrics and Harold’s all vacated the strip.
Woolfolk said the commercial real estate market “has slowed down, but considering the economy I think we’ve done real well. Do we have empty spaces that I need to get leased? Yes, but it could be a lot worse conditions.”
Jim’s Place East’s move to Poplar and Perkins is a “tremendous upgrade in location” and the restaurant “will undoubtedly experience a huge increase in sales,” said Scott Barton, CBRE Memphis senior vice president for retail services.
“It will also allow them to be noticed by a new and younger generation of upscale diner who likely would not have considered dining at the current location,” Barton said. “Poplar and Perkins is still arguably the best commercial corner in the city of Memphis, so for most retailers anytime there is an opportunity within their price range to obtain a location there, it is worthy of serious consideration.”
The risk of a move or expansion in this economy is mitigated by years in business and expertise, of which the Taras family has plenty.
“If it’s someone that’s been open for six months, it’s risky, but Jim’s Place is just such a fixture,” said Patrick Reilly, vice president of the Memphis Restaurant Association and owner of Majestic Grille. “Most businesses would love to own a brand that strong. … The brand will carry it wherever it goes. They’ll be just fine; they’re good guys and they do a good job.”
Other tenants in the center were thrilled with the news.
“We’re delighted to have neighbors,” said Buzzy Hussey, owner of Babcock Gifts located just next door to the south at 4626 Poplar. “It’s a fun business where we are and I think having a place to eat next door is going to be fun, too.”
Jimmy Whidden opened his coffee bar, Poplar Perk’n at 4610 Poplar, in an old Fox Photo lab in the shopping center’s parking lot, in November and looks forward to any increased traffic and business the restaurant will bring.
“It’s the center of the city and it’s fantastic that they’re going in there,” Whidden said. “The hub of the city is Poplar and Perkins.”
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