Wednesday, February 5, 2020

February 2020 Updates


Hello February!  Seems to be a mix of warm and cold weather going on.  Its really messing with my head.  Cant wait till Spring!  Business continues to be good so hopefully that trend continues.  Southern Maryland is the best place to live! 




The Southern Area Aquatics and Recreation Complex will have its grand opening on February 29 at 1:00 p.m. It is located in Brandywine at 13601 Missouri Avenue.



The Circle K owners say they will start construction of their new location in Allens Fresh next to the Town and Country Motel this March.


Looks like we are going to loose one of our anchor tenants at the Mall.  Sears has announced the closing of the Waldorf location by mid April.  Sears is also closing stores in Baltimore and Annapolis at the same time.  



Vocelli Pizza will be taking over the former Jerry's Subs space in the La Plata Village Shopping Center at 56 Drury Drive.  Look for an early spring opening date. 



Wee Bean Cafe will take over the former Pancakes Plus building in La Plata.  6580 Crain Highway.




Horizon Family Dental Care coming soon to the La Plata Plaza next to Panera and the new location for Five Guys Burgers.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe will be coming to the Fox Run Shopping Center in Prince Frederick.  It will be located on a new retail building located out in front of the former K Mart.  Besides the cafe there will be four other spaces for more stores.  Leases are pending on them so information is not out to the public yet.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe will also be coming to the new Brandywine Village Center which is to be built in front of the Chadds Ford Residential development in Brandywine, MD



16 comments:

  1. It's going to be tough for them to fill the space that Sears is leaving. I know Macy's is in the process of looking at closing some locations and downsizing in areas as well so hopefully they are able to stay in place because two anchor tenants leaving would be impossible to fill in this area given the current retail decision. They really should build a replacement AMC at the mall with more screens/amenities.

    Is there any word on replacing the spots left by Buca Di Beppo or Ruby Tuesday? And I thought someone was putting some working into the old Lone Star Steakhouse. There really hasn't been any visible movement on that since it was announced a while ago.

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  2. There is certainly a lot of empty buildings in waldorf. The mall has a lot to be desired. Why can't we have stores that compare to at least springfield mall if not tyson corners. Shop at those malls and you won't want any part of the one in wadorf.

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  3. We have been talking with the mall about how to fill big box stores with something other than retail. As you know the large retail users and malls are dying out. We have to be creative with these spaces and look beyond the normal use.

    There was a large salon that was supposed to take over bucca from what i have heard.
    Lone star new owners are still working on their plan. The building had a lot of damage from vandals prior to them buying it.

    Waldorf and Tysons corner are two completely different places. You are comparing city and country. The town of Springfield has over double the population of all of Charles county! When 60% of our workforce leaves the county for their jobs its hard to get more restaurants. When entire brands are going bankrupt we cant be at fault for that. They leave giant holes in the centers and there are no new big box brands to fill them.

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    1. Chris. 2 questions.

      When is the Wayback Burger's Waldorf location grand opening?


      What entertainment and sports businesses do you think would thrive at the mall in Waldorf? News article examples Mall reinventions:

      https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-retail-entertainment-0916-biz-20160916-story.html


      https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/11/22/malls-are-dying-only-these-ones-have-figured-out-secrets-success-internet-age/

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    2. If 60% of the county leaves the area for work and restaurants see that as a negative, not having good shopping and restaurant options is as good a reason as any to not hurry to get back home. Malls are struggling across the country. Many are revamping to creat an experience, good shopping with food and evening life entertainment in the mall. Maybe if we had better options we wouldn’t spend our money in VA or DC before coming home. Again, Waldorf is now that town on the way to St. Mary’s County—they have better options down there than we do. Terrible on the part of planners and developers.

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  4. Chris, any timeline on when McKay's will open in the old Shoppers in San Souci? Lights are on all the time and several cars are parked out front all the time. I looked in and no fixtures appear to have been removed so I'm guessing they're being retained.

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  5. The Shoppers in Waldorf looks like there haven't been any changes except for all the product removed. It wouldn't surprise me if McKay's is going to simply retain all fixtures, signage, etc. to cut costs. Definitely disappointing that McKay's is taking over the old Shoppers space in Waldorf and I think they might have a tough time. Hopefully Greenburg Gibbons can bring someone like Wegmans or Harris Teeter to Waldorf Station when that project finally moves forward.

    We are never going to have any better options here as long as people commute as much as they have to currently - and it certainly doesn't seem likely to change anytime soon. Until we have new county leadership that wants to work to attract real business to the county, it will stay as is. Not to mention there seems to be resistance from some in the county to move to the next level, not much is going to ever change.

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  6. How many burger and pizza places is enough burger and pizza places? Don't people eat anything else?

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  7. Add to that list -- chicken

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  8. The only decent paying jobs are in the medical field. I guess we need them since all we get are burger and pizza places. I wish we could get a Sweetgreen, a Raman place or some healthier food choices. If we need more medical, it would be nice to have a Kaiser. I have to take my mother to Camp Springs for her visits. They should ask the community what we want so they can try to accommodate our needs.

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  9. Chris, what's your take on the February 12th comment regarding alternative options at the mall in Waldorf??

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  10. People like burgers, pizza and chicken because no one cooks anymore. Look at all the food delivery companies now. Every restaurant is showcasing their take out. People either have busy schedules or just don't want to leave the house. Its fast and easy and like my kids they are picky. I would live for some of these green healthy options to come but most don't want to. We aren't populated enough for them. Little by little they will realize that they are missing a large market.

    I assume McKay will start working on the stores in the spring.

    Wayback I have not seen any activity and their broker has not returned my call.

    I feel Charles County should focus on the medical field. The big boxes at the mall could be used for medical users or even extensions of college campuses.

    I would like to see an entertainment venue. We have the crabs stadium and they have not been able to attract any concerts. I'm not sure how much they promote it like the Calvert museum does. I would like to see things like dave and busters here as well but it comes down to population again.

    Here's one catch for medical. The doctors get bigger kick backs in Prince Georges County for things like medicaid than they do here. So more of them set up shop across the line. Why was it set up like that? I don't know but apparently it would take an act of congress to fix it. Its not very fair.

    Kaiser is looking in the area but they would have to build a campus.

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  11. I agree that the mall needs places like Dave and Buster's, an Escape Room and/or even a Bowling Alley to create an entertainment-shopping complex. I wish they could know the mall down and build more of a Town Center vibe - similiar to what was done in Laurel.

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  12. So the Shoppers in Waldorf is reopening. What happened with McKay’s?

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  13. I have no idea why McKays is opening it as shoppers. That came out of left field. The sites were sold to McKays.

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