ATLANTA—Atlanta's retail market is strong—and some sectors are growing especially rapidly. We caught up with Will Lovell, a partner with Hartman Simmons, to get his thoughts on the retail categories expanding in the city in part one of this exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: What are kinds of retailers are expanding in Atlanta?

Lovell: An influx of chef-driven or specialty restaurant concepts are still entering and expanding in the market. Regional concepts like Urban Cookhouse, based in Birmingham, Alabama, and Tupelo Honey Café, based in Asheville, North Carolina, are opening their first locations in the city, and are competing with Atlanta chefs for intown locations.  

Anything related to health is growing as well. This spans from grocery stores that offer tons of fresh meat and produce like Sprouts, Earth Fare and Whole Foods, to boutique fitness concepts like Blast Fitness, Infinity Yoga, Pure Barre, West Coast Workouts, Flywheel and Witzlib Fitness.

Sporting goods stores are actively seeking new locations, and retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods are finding innovative ways to expand. The company launched four separate concepts—Golf Galaxy, Field & Stream, True Runner and Chelsea Collective — which are growing throughout the U.S. and taking smaller stand-alone space where a traditional 50,000-square-foot Dick's Sporting Goods wouldn't fit.

GlobeSt.com: How are restaurants impacting retail real estate in Atlanta?

Lovell: Local chef-driven and regional concepts are anchoring strip centers and driving new development. A great example of this is the North Buckhead corridor, stretching from Roswell Road at Powers Ferry Road up to the new Sandy Springs Gateway project, where multiple restaurants are fueling projects. Superica, a Mexican concept from Atlanta chef Ford Fry, bartaco, a Mexican street food concept by the creators of Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant, and Tupelo Honey, a café featuring Southern flavors from Executive Chef Brian Sonoskus are just a few concepts adding new locations along this corridor.