Potomac Village drugstore shake-up
The acquisition of Rite Aid by larger rival Walgreens will soon have a direct impact on Potomac Village, where the two stores stand across from each other on either side of River Road. One of those stores will almost certainly be gone by this time next year — but the question is, which one? Across the country, Walgreens is expected to shed as many as 3,000 stores over the next 18 months. In Potomac Village, we hear that execs are weighing the merits of the drive-through lane at Walgreens vs. the recent renovation at Rite Aid. Either way, about 25 people will likely lose their jobs.
No Asian market for Wootton’s empty Giant
Here’s one question we get asked all the time: Is an Asian market really coming to the Rockshire Village Center across from Wootton High School? This rumor has been going around since the Giant store exited three years ago, leaving a few small tenants and lots of empty space at the ’70s-era shopping center. But so far, neither an Asian market nor anyone else has shown much interest in opening there. Bob Harris, an attorney for the property’s owners, says Giant still has one year left on its long-term lease — and after that, it’s likely the property will be torn down to make way for more housing. “This is a poorly located center that’s too small and has no visibility,” Harris says. “The community has asked us to go get another grocery store. But at this point, it doesn’t appear that’s going to be feasible.”
Win tickets to the Arclight Cinema
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Want to enter our ArcLight drawing via Facebook? Click here to find out how. Update: We’ve named the winners for this contest, but stay tuned to Store Reporter for more great giveaways.
Fire & Ice out, Marmi to the mall
Moving out of Westfield Montgomery Mall after more than a decade: Fire & Ice, the gift shop on the second level near California Pizza Kitchen. The Baltimore-based chain says its lease is up at the end of January, and there are no plans for another location in this area. All remaining inventory of art glass, fossils, jewelry and handcrafts is now on clearance at 30 to 70 percent off. Moving into the space this spring: Marmi, the women’s shoe store that some may remember from Tysons Corner. Marmi specializes in hard-to-find sizes from Vaneli, Sesto Meucci and Eric Javits. For a sneak peek of what the store will carry, click here.
Lululemon’s “naked sensation”
For our many readers who love Lululemon, the Chicago Tribune had an interesting piece this week on the future of the fitness retailer — including its Ivivva teen stores and its new line of “naked sensation” pants (shown here). If you can’t get enough of Lululemon, you can find the Tribune story here.
New gym opens at Wildwood
D.C.-based Solidcore just opened its first Maryland location at the Wildwood Shopping Center on Old Georgetown Road. This makes eight locations for the two-year-old chain, which features intense 50-minute workouts on Pilates-based Megaformer machines. Another Solidcore is set to open on Wisconsin Avenue this spring. To read more about Solidcore, click here for our Oct. 8 edition.
Would you wear this scarf to temple?
The H&M store at White Flint Mall is long gone, but we couldn’t help noticing this week’s brouhaha over the beige fringed scarf with black stripes that was pulled off store shelves in Israel. The move came after critics charged that the scarf bore an uncomfortable resemblance to a tallit, the prayer shawl worn at synagogue by many observant Jews. H&M apologized over the controversy, stating that its only intention was to embrace this season’s fondness for stripes. The scarf is one of several tone-deaf fashion moves for H&M in recent years, following a tallit-inspired poncho and a tank top that layered the image of a skull on top of a Star of David.