Stitch’n Quilt, located in the K-Mart shopping center on Mableton Parkway, opened its doors in 2009 and quickly made a name for itself with dedicated quilters from South Cobb to Kennesaw and beyond.“When serious quilters find a store they like, they become very loyal customers,” said Pat Yearwood, owner of Stitch’n Quilt.Born in Pennsylvania and transplanted to Georgia in 1972, Yearwood and her sister, Linda McGrann, spent their youth in the quiet town of Columbus where their father was serving in the military.During this time, Yearwood decided to take up a hobby and started quilting and …

Many residents of Mableton still remember a small restaurant on Veterans Memorial Highway known as Pearl’s Country Kitchen. Serving up old-fashioned Southern comfort food at its best, the restaurant would be filled to capacity most of the time.Brian Winbush, owner of Pearl’s, said, “We missed out on a lot of holidays during those years. If we weren’t working in the restaurant, we were making food or catering private parties for other people’s holiday celebrations.”A graduate of the Washington, D.C. Culinary School of the Arts, Winbush and his wife decided to move to the Mableton area after …

With information coming to light concerning the dangers of artificial additives and lack of nutrient rich foods these days, more and more people are considering a more natural approach to their health care.Patricia Bassey, certified nutritional consultant and owner of Better Health & Gourmet in Mableton said, “Knowledge is the key when it comes to natural health care. I will spend as much time as needed to answer questions and help customers decide which product is right for them. The body is a remarkable thing and when you supply it with what it needs, it has the great capacity to heal …

Rent-to-own stores are a familiar site in many cities across the U.S., with most operating under similar concepts. HomeSmart takes a different approach to doing business, however, and offers their customers more variety in rent-to-own options.Houston-based HomeSmart was founded in 2010 and now has eight stores operating throughout the South and Southwest. This separate division of Aaron’s Rents was spearheaded in an effort  to offer more flexibility and affordable purchasing options to customers across the country.Ken Harrmon, general manager of the Mableton store said, “Instead of just …

Gone are the days when hosting a party meant hours in the kitchen or searching for “something different” for the kids. Using mobile event businesses helps you be a guest at your affair instead of a member of the staff.Mobile snow cone vendor Daren Favarote, who hails from New Orleans but has lived in the Austell area for the past 15 years, is one of many mobile business entreprenuers available for hire.By day, Favarote is the manager of a local FedEx office in Smyrna. After hearing numerous requests from customers and acquaintances who came to Atlanta after Hurricane Katrina however, he …

The Red Cockerill Gallery is housed in a building erected in 1960 by the gallery owner’s father and was originally used as a real estate and home construction services office. It is a familiar landmark to longtime residents of the Austell community.Over the course of time, this building would come to be a local veterinarian's office and eventually the home and business location of gallery owners, Ann and Bill Cockerill.Mrs. Cockerill, came to love art at an early age due to a degenerative hip disease that kept her in a body cast or wheelchair for extended periods of time during her early …

The Book House, located at 480 Veterans Memorial Highway in Mableton, has been providing the Mableton community with quality new and used books ever since its opening in 1979 in the old Hair Castle building on Puckett Drive. Since then, the shop has gone through several owners and a change of location, but has remained a place where residents can come in to find exactly what they need or sit down and have a friendly chat. With two reading areas, free wi-fi and fresh coffee or tea, The Book House is definitely a peaceful haven. “I have several regulars that like to come in just to say hello or…

Mention the name McDonald’s, and usually what comes to mind first are thoughts of a convenient place where to stop in or drive through for a quick, affordable meal.At the McDonald’s in Mableton, however, owner Steve Taylor has created a community hot-spot where customers regularly stop in to catch up with other residents in the area. By providing a “community table” of sorts, locals can come in and take advantage of free wi-fi, catch up on the news made available on the restaurant’s wide screen TV or simply hang out and chat.McDonald’s and the Taylor family have history. In 1961, Steve’s …

Joe’s Mexicana Grill opened their doors for business on March 23 in the previous location of Moe’s Southwest Grill at 1025 East-West Connector in Austell. Based on a similar concept to Moe’s, Joe’s offers a quick-serve ordering line where customers choose their desired meat and toppings and have the option to dine-in or take away. That, however, is where the similarities end. This family-oriented restaurant makes a point of selling locally purchased quality meats and vegetables, taking great pride in their beef selection which is 100 percent organic sirloin. When owner-operator Enrique Garcia…

Tucked away in a small strip mall at 669 Veterans Memorial Highway is one of Mableton’s best kept local secrets, the Amazing Cakes bakery. This locally owned and operated bakery has been tempting grateful residents with such offerings as key lime flavored cupcakes, creamy red velvet cakes, rich chocolate brownies and crispy crunchy cookies since 2004.On a recent visit to the shop, I had the opportunity to speak with owner-operator Tanya Thompson about how she came to open this popular local bakery. Says Thompson, “My mother was taking a culinary class in baking while in New York and when she …

After working in the restaurant business for several years, four employees of the now defunct OB’s BBQ in Austell decided to try their hand at opening their own brand of barbecue restaurant. In November 2010, with the demise of OB’s BBQ, Ashley Payne, Ed and Justin Dombrowski and James Bartlett joined forces and opened a new restaurant in Austell. By chance, the previous location of Nana’s Fish & Wings on 5770 Harris Street was up for sale. They held their grand opening of  J-Bones BBQ and Grill  on March 14.“We’ve put our heart and souls into this business. We all spent a lot of hours …

With community revitalization as the agenda and through the tireless efforts of three dedicated individuals, the Mableton Business Exchange, or MBE for short, is slowly but surely bringing local business owners together for the common good. Ground work for the creation of MBE began early in 2010 when Deborah Flanagan, Jeff Gannaway of Clear Image Printing and Melissa Banks of MLB Business Solutions decided to take the economic downturn by the horns and turn in the direction of community caring and reciprocity between local residents and merchants.For six months, Flanagan, who is the current …

Established in 1991, Mexico Lindo, at 848 Veterans Memorial Hwy in Mableton, is one of the restaurants that's been around the longest in South Cobb. Throughout the years, this neighborhood eatery has gained a loyal following of residents as well as business clientele such as the Mableton Business Exchange, which holds its weekly luncheon at the restaurant each Monday.Owner Christian Echeverry, estimates that 75 percent of the restaurant’s customer base are regulars from the surrounding area. Echeverry explains, “We’re like a “Cheers” kind of place. When one of our regulars walks in the door …