New look, new tenants for Congressional Plaza

Congressional Plaza on Rockville Pike is getting a summer mini-makeover. The bustling center is renovating its towers, upgrading landscaping and signage, and expanding the outdoor courtyard between Chopt and Starbucks. The extra seating will provide more space for socializing and also help to accommodate overflow from the center’s growing list of fast-casual restaurants, including the upcoming Modern Market (click here for more on that in our June 9th issue). Also heading to Congressional this fall is Saks Off 5th, the discount branch of Saks Fifth Avenue that’s building out the former Tiara space between Performance Bike and Oxygen Salon. For more on Saks Off Fifth, click here for our Nov. 5th issue.

This weekend: Gifts and fab finds at Park Potomac

URBNmarket, a pop-up showcase for vintage and handmade goods, returns to Park Potomac this Friday and Saturday (July 15th and 16th) for its second show of the summer. URBNmarket’s founders, Julie Greenstein and Debbie Sonnenreich, are hoping to make Park Potomac their permanent home after trying out a couple of different locations in downtown Bethesda. This weekend’s show will feature 40 D.C.-area merchants offering furniture, clothing, home accessories, jewelry and unique finds like these hand-sewn bags from Boîte. Show hours are 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; click here for more info.

Changes in store for As Kindred Spirits

As Kindred Spirits exited Westfield Montgomery Mall last week after less than a year in business near the Godiva store. But fans of the eclectic gift shop can take heart: Owner Wendy Rukmini Walker says she’ll return to the mall this fall with a much larger store — most likely in the Nordstrom wing, where her customers tend to congregate. “That space we had was really too small for us and was always intended to be temporary,” says Walker, who also operates a large store at Congressional Plaza and a small one at Reagan National Airport. “The new store will have more of everything,” she says. “More gifts, more clothes, more unique jewelry, more of who we are.” To see what As Kindred Spirits has to offer, click here.

Nike Store to open next month

The Nike Store has set an August 18th opening date for its new location at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, where it’s taking over the former City Sports store that closed last fall. That should soften the blow for Sports Authority fans who are mourning the retailer’s final days at Montrose Crossing. Also on the way to Pike & Rose is a new REI store, scheduled to open next year, which will replace the company’s current location on Rockville Pike. For more on that, click here for our Oct. 22 edition.

Circo and Cherokee out, Cat & Jack in

This month Target launches a new kids’ clothing line, Cat & Jack, as it says goodbye to the Circo and Cherokee lines that have defined its children’s department for years. Those snoozy brands “hadn’t evolved much from the look of the Olsen twins on Full House,” reports Bloomberg.com, and they didn’t align with the company’s current goal of reviving the “chic” part of its cheap-chic image. The Cat & Jack brand aims for sophisticated designs, unusual color combinations, gender-neutral T-shirts and slogans that stress collaboration instead of competition. For more on how Target is targeting kids (and their parents), you can find the Bloomberg article here.

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For a guide to previous issues, click here.