There are no revolving doors at Pinecrest, but it sure feels that way sometimes.
That’s because Pinecrest, which opened in 2018 in Orange Village as a hybrid retail and residential district, has seen its share of comings and goings lately.
“In any development of this scale, remerchandising is anticipated and planned for,” says Jessi Fausett, director of marketing for Fairmount Properties, which manages Pinecrest. “Most of the time the next store or restaurant is a better fit than the last.”
On the “going” end of the spectrum are Next Door, an eatery owned by the Kitchen Restaurant Group (operated by Elon Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk); City Works, an upscale taproom and American eatery; and Oak & Embers Tavern.
Chris McCauley, a co-owner of the remaining Oak & Embers locations in Hudson and Chesterland, attributed his restaurant’s closure to timing.
“We opened in December of 2019 and the pandemic hit within three months,” McCauley says. “That’s kind of true of the entirety of Pinecrest. The place was designed to gather. For the two years we were there, we weren’t allowed to gather. That really hurt their business model, which I think will come back once people get back to the regular life that we had prior to COVID.”
But the brighter news is what has recently arrived or is on the way. New openings include Free People Movement, Casper Sleep Shop, Océanne, Fount, Clay Luxury Kids and the Last Page, an eclectic American restaurant that Cleveland Magazine readers named “Best New Restaurant” in May. Stores that are opening soon include:
Sozo, a Cleveland-based lifestyle company that plans to take its first steps into brick-and-mortar in September. “Our pieces are all handcrafted and made locally in-store as part of our mission to restore American-made craftsmanship and showcase the makers that make this happen,” says Sozo chief operating officer Christine Rizk. “While buying online is made easy, the experience of retail cannot be fully replicated online.”
Kitchen Social, a Columbus-based eatery with two locations, plans to make its first expansion out of the state capital this summer, according to Fausett.
Lao Sze Chuan, an award-winning Chinese eatery, will take over the lot previously occupied by City Works when Long Yu’s Shinto Restaurant Group finishes converting the former restaurant and taproom into a “truly elevated culinary experience” prior to the end of 2023.
