North Atlanta Today: Rustic Trades Prepares an Alpharetta Move

A Thanksgiving table that barely fit inside Clay Adams’ first home started a furniture business that now builds for North Atlanta dining rooms, restaurants and the Atlanta Braves. Nearly two decades later, Rustic Trades is preparing to leave its Canton workshop for a new home in the Alpharetta area.

This North Atlanta Today edition covers reporting published through 12:04 p.m. EST on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. Weather information reflects National Weather Service forecasts available by that cutoff.

Rustic Trades prepares its next workshop

Adams built his first dining table in 2007 after he and his wife, Maggie, struggled to find one large enough for their holiday guests at a price they could accept. He bought a saw, took over the garage and soon realized that enthusiasm was not the same as experience.

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Adams recalled telling the staff at a Woodcraft store. They connected him with a furniture maker who became a mentor. Adams learned how wood moves, started a blog about his projects and eventually received an order from a Coca-Cola executive who wanted a table that looked as though it had survived an English shipwreck.

Rustic Trades was established in 2010. Its commercial branch, Refined Industrial, has since supplied furniture and millwork for the Truist Club and Delta Club at the Braves’ ballpark, Rumi’s Kitchen, Coalition and Mujo. The company once employed about 24 people and operated in Colorado as well as Georgia, Adams said. After the pandemic disrupted that expansion, it consolidated in Georgia and now has a team of about six experienced craftspeople.

“More revenue doesn’t mean more happiness,” Adams said during the North Atlanta Star’s Nov. 11 visit.

He plans to move the business in December from 109 Railroad Street in Canton to the Alpharetta area near Highway 9 and Hamby Road. The new location is expected to pair a larger showroom with a smaller, more efficient workshop. Until then, the Canton crew is finishing holiday commissions, including two tables headed to Thanksgiving gatherings.

Read the full Rustic Trades workshop story, with photos from the visit.

Two Cities Pizza chooses Canton Street

Two Cities Pizza plans to open its second Georgia restaurant at 1105 Canton Street in downtown Roswell, bringing the New York thin-crust and Chicago deep-dish menu it already serves in Suwanee.

Roswell’s Alcoholic Beverage License Board unanimously approved full alcohol service and Sunday sales on Nov. 5. That decision clears an operating requirement but does not authorize the restaurant to open. Construction, inspections and other business requirements remain, and no opening date has been announced.

Hiring has begun for a bar and front-of-house manager. The recruitment notice calls for training at the Suwanee restaurant before a move to Roswell in January 2027, pointing to preparations that will continue into the new year. The roughly 4,000-square-foot building was previously home to Flóga Restaurant.

Read the full North Atlanta Star report on Two Cities Pizza’s Roswell plans.

Alpharetta prices, viewed from farther away

An international cost comparison puts Alpharetta’s rents below London and New York while estimating that its restaurant prices exceed those in Berlin, Barcelona and Tokyo.

Numbeo’s Nov. 11 figures put New York rents 165% above Alpharetta’s and London rents 68% higher. Tokyo’s restaurant index came in 53% lower, while Dubai paired rents 46% above Alpharetta’s with grocery prices 34% below. Berlin, Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro were lower across restaurants, rents and groceries.

The comparison is perspective, not a relocation budget. Alpharetta’s estimate was based on 148 price entries from 15 contributors over the preceding year, and the categories do not guarantee equivalent homes, meals or neighborhoods. Earnings, transportation, health care and exchange-rate shifts also fall outside the three-column comparison.

See the complete seven-city comparison and its limitations.

The weekend ahead

Saturday brings two especially useful regional choices. The fifth Johns Creek Literary Fair opens at 3 p.m. at Johns Creek United Methodist Church, with a four-author panel followed by Ariel Lawhon and Patti Callahan Henry. General admission is free. In Woodstock, a 1.5-mile extension of the Noonday Creek Trail opens south from the trailhead near Reformation Brewery, passes beneath Highway 92 and reaches Noonday Creek Park in Cobb County.

Other weekend options include free introductory classes at Pvolve’s new Alpharetta studio, the Cumming Steam, Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Exposition, “Cyrano de Bergerac” at Oglethorpe University and the opening of Skate City Springs. Schedules and capacity can change, so reservations and organizer pages should be checked before leaving.

Browse the North Atlanta Star’s complete 16-community guide for Nov. 13–15.

Wind today, then the season’s coldest weekend

The National Weather Service forecast available at the 12:04 p.m. cutoff called for a sunny Thursday in Roswell, with a high near 61 and northwest gusts as high as 25 mph. Friday is expected to be sunny but colder, with a high near 52.

The coldest air of the season so far is expected to settle across North Georgia over the weekend. The Weather Service’s Thursday morning discussion said a first hard freeze was becoming increasingly likely by Saturday night into Sunday morning, with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 20s across much of North Georgia. Roswell’s point forecast called for a low near 30 Saturday night.

No frost or freeze warning was posted in the Atlanta forecast discussion available by the cutoff, but residents should protect sensitive plants, pets and exposed plumbing before Saturday night. The forecast is not a live-conditions report; check the National Weather Service Atlanta forecast discussion for later updates.