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Lululemon Bethesda

Latest on Lucky Strike, Potomac Day Spa closes, trendy Thai ice cream

September 29, 2016 By Store Reporter Leave a Comment

 

 

 

Lucky Strike Social

 

No bowling at the mall this fall

Remember the bowling alley that was supposed to open this summer at Westfield Montgomery Mall? As we move into fall with construction barely under way, we thought it was time for a check-in with California-based Lucky Strike. “We’re now looking at the first quarter of 2017,” says company spokesman Brandon Thomsen. “We’re excited to come to Bethesda, but some details of the project are still evolving.” This will be the second location for the company’s new Lucky Strike Social concept, which recently launched in Albany with 18 bowling lanes, a full kitchen and bar, a concert hall/party room, and a variety of games from billiards to old-school arcades. For a preview of what’s on the way, click here.

 


 

Ize's Dei & Bagelry: http://izesdeli.com

 

 


 

Potomac Day Spa

 

Potomac Day Spa closes

Potomac Day Spa, operating out of a cute little house in Potomac Village for more than two decades, has quietly closed its doors. “The rent here is just crazy expensive, and we had been struggling for a long time,” says owner Angela Hay, who bought the spa four years ago and shut it down last Saturday. The business had little walk-in traffic, Hay says, and it’s been increasingly difficult to compete with larger operations like Red Door and the new Woodhouse Day Spa on Rockville Pike. “The older people liked our quaintness, but the younger people like to go to places that are trendy,” Hay says. “I just couldn’t keep pouring money into something that wasn’t going to survive.”

 


 

Marmi Shoes: https://marmishoes.com

 

 


 

thai-rolled-ice-cream

 

Rolling out a new ice cream trend

Thai rolled ice cream, a Southeast Asian street food that’s trending across the country, has arrived in downtown Rockville. Class 520 (the name is a play on the Chinese phrase for “I love you”) opens Saturday on Dawson Avenue just off North Washington Street. Each dessert is made fresh when you order, starting with a liquid ice cream base that’s poured over a cold grill until it freezes over. “Then we add the mix-ins and run it over with a spatula to shape it into curls, so you wind up with a hard texture that slowly melts,” says manager Adam Shi. Virtually unknown in the U.S. until recently, Thai-style ice cream has popped up in foodie cities from Los Angeles to New York to Philadelphia in the past 12 months. “We believe that ours is the first one in Maryland,” Shi says. “It’s a trendy food that’s familiar to the Asian population, so we think it will do very well in this area.” Want to see how it works? Click here for a video demo.

 


 

Empty Bowls Bethesda event: https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/empty-bowls/

 

 


 

Root vegetables

 

Ready for Rosh Hashanah?

If you’re hosting a crowd for the Jewish holidays this year, there’s still time to order from Potomac Grocer. On the menu for Rosh Hashanah: onion-braised brisket, pomegranate molasses-glazed salmon, lemon honey roasted chicken, sweet potato-carrot tzimmes, noodle pudding and much more. Pre-ordering is recommended, but some dishes will be available à la carte while they last. Potomac Grocer, 10107 River Road, 301-299-4200. For the catering menu, click here.

Sponsored Content

 


 

 

Here’s a product that takes balls

Look out Nike and Under Armour: Lululemon is going after the men. In an interview this week with Bloomberg.com, Lululemon CEO Laurent Potdevin says he hopes to double the company’s male customer base from 20 percent to 40 percent of its sales. Potdevin has a pretty good track record in this arena, having previously helped drive more male customers to Tom’s Shoes and more females to Burton Snowboards. This fall Lululemon is showcasing a new line of men’s pants called “ABC” — as in Anti-Ball Crushing. Wondering just how they’re going to promote this product? We did too. Click here.

 


 

Cosi sandwich

 

Bad week for Cosi

The Cosi restaurant chain, which exited downtown Rockville two years ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Almost half of the company’s corporate-owned locations, including the one in downtown Bethesda, closed their doors this week. Thirty-one locations owned by franchisees, including one on Wisconsin Avenue, are expected to remain open. For more on Cosi’s bankruptcy, click here.

 


 

For inquiries, contact publisher@storereporter.com

 

 


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Potomac Village drugstore shake-up, Wootton Parkway grocery update, Marmi to the mall

January 14, 2016 By Store Reporter 1 Comment

 

 

 

Walgreens Potomac Village

 

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.

 


 

Rockshire Village Center Giant

 

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.”

 


 

ArcLight Cinema interior

 

Win tickets to the ArcLight Cinema

Want to win some FREE tickets to the ArcLight Cinema at Westfield Montgomery Mall? All you have to do is share the scoop about Store Reporter! Forward this (or any) issue to friends who might not know about us, then click here to tell us their names. If your friends subscribe, both you and they will be entered into our ArcLight drawing. The more friends you tell, the more chances you have to win! 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.

 

 


 

Vaneli Jara bootFire & 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.

 

 


 

Solidcore logo blueNew 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. 8th edition.

 


 

hmprod00-1452113890

 

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.

 


 

Filed Under: Current Issue Tagged With: ArcLight Cinema Bethesda, ArcLight Cinema Westfield Montgomery Mall, Fire & Ice, Fire & Ice Bethesda, Fire & Ice Westfield Montgomery Mall, Fitness Together Bethesda, Fitness Together Gaithersburg, Giant Rockshire Village, Giant Wootton Parkway, H&M White Flint Mall, Lululemon Bethesda, Lululemon Westfield Montgomery Mall, Marmi Bethesda, Marmi Tysons Corner, Marmi Westfield Montgomery Mall, Potomac Village drugstores, Rite Aid Potomac Village, Rockshire Village Center, Solidcore Bethesda, Solidcore Wildwood, Walgreens Potomac Village, Westfield Montgomery Mall, Wildwood Shopping Center

What’s on the way to the mall — and your chance to weigh in

January 15, 2015 By Store Reporter

 

 

 

ArcLight Cinema/Westfield Montgomery Mall New Entrance Rendering

 

More at the mall

Last year marked the beginning of a $90 million transformation for Westfield Montgomery Mall, including the addition of several full-service restaurants, a posh new Dining Terrace, luxurious public seating areas and a 16-screen movie theater. But there’s much more to come in 2015, says mall manager Eric Howard. “The story in 2014 was the renovation,” he says. “The story this year will be about upgrading our tenant mix, getting the right retailers to come in.” Read on for an update on what’s coming — and a chance to tell mall management what else you’d like to see.

 

CRAVE exterior

 

More new restaurants

This week marked the debut of the high-end restaurant CRAVE American Kitchen & Sushi Bar (shown here), joining the recently opened MET Bethesda and soon to be followed by Naples 45 Ristorante e Pizzeria. Today (1/15), Chipotle will open in Westfield Montgomery Mall’s Dining Terrace. Coming soon: Cold Stone Creamery and Chloe’s NY Style Deli. We expect to see several more destination restaurants joining the lineup for 2015.

 

Tiffany blue box

 

More luxury stores

We’re betting on the arrival of Tiffany & Co., whose presence at Westfield Montgomery Mall would help pave the way for a whole new group of similarly high-end retailers. Mall management will confirm only that a “luxury jeweler” is on the way, and Tiffany remains tight-lipped about its plans. But our Mall Crystal Ball has been pretty accurate so far: This is one of three predictions we made back on May 29 (you can read that issue here) — and two of them (Lululemon and the Microsoft Store) have since come true.

 

Peet's Cappucinno

 

More coffee

Peet’s Coffee & Tea will open a kiosk this spring in Westfield Montgomery Mall’s Sears wing, offering another alternative to those long lines at Starbucks. This will replace (and hopefully improve on) the old Caribou Coffee kiosk, which closed in 2013 after Caribou was sold to Peet’s. Expect some light food and a casual seating area, similar to the coffee shop just outside Nordstrom.

 

I Voted Sign

What else would you like to see?

Westfield Montgomery Mall is actively courting new tenants for 2015, and manager Eric Howard wants to know what Store Reporter readers are looking for. “We don’t want to just fill space — we want to figure out who’s missing,” he says. “Who is that retailer we don’t have yet?” So here’s your chance to offer some feedback to Howard and his team: Are you hoping for a housewares store to replace Crate & Barrel? Do you have a favorite place at Tysons Corner that you’d like to see in Maryland? Is there something you miss from the former White Flint Mall? Tell us what you think by email (click here) or on our Facebook page (click here). We’ll tally up your suggestions and pass them on to mall management.t

 

Filed Under: Current Issue Tagged With: Chipotle Bethesda, Chipotle Westfield Montomgery Mall, Chloe's NY Style Deli, Cold Stone Creamery Bethesda, Cold Stone Creamery Westfield Montgomery Mall, CRAVE Bethesda, CRAVE Westfield Montgomery Mall, Lululemon Bethesda, Lululemon Westfield Montgomery Mall, MET Bethesda, Microsoft Store Bethesda, Microsoft Store Westfield Montgomery Mall, Naples 45 Bethesda, Peet's Coffee & Tea Bethesda, Peet's Coffee & Tea Westfield Montgomery Mall, Potomac Grocer, Tiffany & Co. Bethesda, Tiffany & Co. Westfield Montgomery Mall, Westfield Montgomery Mall

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Who's the Store Reporter?

Cheryl Kane Heimlich has been a staff writer, columnist, editor and contributor to a dozen publications including the South Florida Business Journal, Bethesda Magazine, Miami Today, Miami Metro, Vista Magazine, St. Louis Magazine, the Boca Raton Observer, Washington Jewish Week and Variety. She has won numerous awards for her magazine profiles, parenting columns and business news coverage.

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