Seafood restaurant still planned for Dalton Mall, mall owners say opening date hasn’t been determined

Published 1:49 pm Tuesday, January 11, 2022

A seafood restaurant is still coming to the Dalton Mall, but its opening has been pushed back because of labor shortages and supply chain issues, according to John Mulherin, vice president of government relations for the Hull Property Group, the Augusta-based owner of the mall.

“I don’t know exactly where things stand,” he said. “I know they are progressing. I can’t say when it will open, but I know the work is continuing.”

Hull Property Group and The Juicy Seafood announced in November 2020 the restaurant chain would open a restaurant in the former Ryan’s building some time in 2021.

Ryan’s closed in 2016 after its parent company, Buffets LLC, filed for bankruptcy.

The Juicy Seafood is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. Its website (thejuicyseafoodusa.com) lists 2144 E. Walnut Ave., the site of the former Ryan’s, as one of its locations. The website indicates the company has locations in nine states, with the closest to Dalton in Cleveland, Tennessee. The closest in Georgia is in Sandy Springs.

The restaurant’s specialty is a Cajun seafood boil that is brought to the table in a plastic bag with different seasonings. It also has a number of other seafood dishes on its menu.

“They have run into some construction issues, manpower issues,” Mulherin said. “I don’t immediately know the details. I expect there may be some supply chain issues, too. The lead time now on building materials is ridiculous. We do a lot of construction ourselves. And getting air-conditioning systems and things like that takes a long time. Hopefully, that is going to sort itself out soon, but right now it’s something we are all dealing with.”

The Juicy Seafood representatives did not immediately return an email message.

Dalton resident Odell Perry said he has been looking forward to the restaurant opening.

“It’s something different,” he said. “We’ve got enough fast-food places here.”

Dalton Mayor David Pennington said he understands why the project isn’t moving more swiftly.

“Labor is an issue for every employer,” he said. “Restaurants that are already up and running are having trouble finding and keeping enough people. Everyone focuses on the unemployment rate, but what we really need to be focusing on is the labor participation rate, which is at a record low.”

The labor participation rate is the percentage of people 16 and older who have a job or are actively looking for work. The U.S. labor force participation rate was 62.9% in December, down from 63.4% in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The U.S. labor participation rate reached a high of 67.3% in January 2000.

The unemployment rate is the percentage of those in the labor force who do not have jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.9% in November, the latest month for which data are available.

Pennington said the city is still working on plans for an aquatics center on property near Dalton Mall. It’s an estimated $20 million investment that will have a 50-meter, competition-sized swimming pool as well as a 25-yard by 25-yard multipurpose pool that can be used for physical therapy.

Last year, Hull Property Group donated to the city the lease on 8.38 acres of undeveloped land near the AMC movie theaters where the city plans to build the aquatics center. The remainder of that lease is 57 years.

Pennington said the city is in the design phase for the aquatics center and is also looking to acquire title to the land, not just a lease.