New stores for Pike & Rose, latest on Paladar and Toys R Us

Japanese retailer Uniqlo will join the lineup at Pike & Rose with an 8,000-square-foot store scheduled to open this fall across from H&M. Uniqlo, which already has stores in D.C. and Tysons Corner, carries casual, inexpensive clothes for men, women and kids. Prices are moderate, and the company specializes in fabrics that dry quickly, pack easily and repel odors. The Pike & Rose location will be the first in Maryland as the 2,000-store chain begins to penetrate the U.S. market. For a sneak peek at the merchandise, click here.

Feb. 3 is opening day for Scout & Molly’s, another retailer making its Maryland debut at Pike & Rose. Store owner Wendy Brack Fritz says the boutique will specialize in fashionable career clothes and casual wear for “trendy-type moms” who are shopping with their teens. “While the daughters are in Francesca’s, Gap and H&M, the moms can come and visit us,” she says. The store is stocking brands like Blanc Noir, Trina Turk, Chaser, DL1961, French Connection and Mavi, but manager Abby Goldman says she only orders a few of each item “so you’re not going to see five other people wearing the same thing.” Scout & Molly’s stores are franchised, and each boutique is a bit different; click here to have a look.

After Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar said adiosto North Bethesda Market last week, readers have been asking us about the fate of Paladar’s other D.C.-area locations. Rest assured, you can keep enjoying those mojitos: The Cleveland-based company tells us the North Bethesda location wasn’t doing well, but it has no plans to close at Tysons Corner or Gaithersburg’s Downtown Crown. Paladar is the second large restaurant to exit North Bethesda Market over the past year; click here for more.

If you’re one of the few who still go out of their way to shop at Toys R Us, you’ll be happy to know that the Gaithersburg location is not one of the 180-plus stores that are supposed to close this spring. The New Jersey-based retailer, which filed Chapter 11 last fall, is trying to stay in business after a reorganization. Another Toys R Us in Rockville closed four years ago to make way for Pike & Rose.