This story has been updated.

Ponko Chicken will be the new tenant in the Steel City Pops space in downtown Decatur.

Broker Steve Josovitz confirmed the news to Decaturish on Nov. 12.

The franchisee is Johnny Esposito, a native Atlantan who also owns a Ponko Chicken in Midtown. Ponko is an Asian Fusion chain specializing in fried chicken.

Esposito said, “We’re excited about Ponko Chicken. We think it’s going to be great for the community.”

Ponko also has locations in Chamblee, Buckhead and at Mercedes Benz Stadium.

Esposito said he hopes to open the Decatur store in early 2020.

Steel City Pops opened at 312 Church Street Decatur in 2017. The business included a kitchen to fuel the company’s expansion into the Atlanta market. In August, news broke that the space was up for lease and Steel City was pulling out of the Atlanta market. That move appears to be part of a larger contraction by the company. Steel City Pops on Nov. 1. announced 11 store closures. Most of the closures are in Texas and the list included the Decatur store.

“As sad as we are to close these locations, we know in order to keep a healthy, growing business we need to scale back the number of stores we’re operating,” the company said in its announcement.

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