Books A Million takes over

Books A Million will be replacing the now vacant Borders book store at Waldorf Shoppers World. We expect them to move in by the holiday season after some minor renovations. Books A Million is the third largest book retailer in the nation and operates over 200 stores in 23 states and Washington D.C.

You can apply online at their website: http://www.booksamillioninc.com/career/index.html

Projects in Waldorf & La Plata

There are a few projects going up in the area, some getting started and some coming to completion.  It's a good sign that the economy is taking a turn for the good in Charles County.  Let's take a quick look at what's under construction in the area.

Community Bank of Tri County is expanding its offices on Leonardtown Road.  They are building a separate building tht will be connected with the existing one.

A new retail strip center is being built next to Lowes & Popeye's on Crain Highway.  Tenants include 7-11, Dairy Queen ice cream, and Benny's.

Buffalo Wild Wings is under construction in the former Uno's Location on the mall circle.  They are giving an opening date of late December.

The County is building the Waldorf West Library at the Wharf at O'Donnell Lake behind the St. Charles Town Center Mall.  They are at around 60 % completion.

A new retail center is under construction in La Plata next to Texas Roadhouse.  The first tenant will be Chipotle.

There is some highway construction going on in White Plains at the Billingsley Rd. Intersection to extend the turning lanes.  That should help keep traffic moving at the cross county connector.
That about covers all the larger projects in the area.  We will continue to keep you posted here or on our facebook page.

Walmart Supercenter Land Annexation Approved

The Town of La Plata has approved the annexation for the property on the south side of Rosewick road.  The vote makes it possible for the development of the new Walmart Supercenter which will take a large part of the 14 acres that will be added to the town.  The Walmart will also take over the now vacant Mitchell Supply.  Besides the Walmart there will be additional office and retail built including moving the Enterprise rental car office to a new location.  The new development will bring more jobs and more business to the existing Rosewick Crossing Shopping Center as well as construction jobs during development, and revenue to the Town of La Plata. 
We will be working with Faison to fill the current Walmart space with new retailers such as Kohl's, Marshall's and Nick's of Clinton.  We will also be working on filling vacant spaces at Rosewick Crossing.  If you would like to lease space in these developments please give us a call.  Below are some concept drawings of what the supercenter may look like if its passed.

Hey Chris why can't we have a ...........around here??

Lets talk about rumors and what the reality is when it comes to some of the bigger name restaurants that people have asked me about.  For a long period of time there have been rumors floating around about Waldorf getting a P.F. Chang's and a Cheesecake Factory.  I will just start off by telling you they are completely false.  It was a rumor that started when the Peterson company began planning the Waldorf Town Center, a "lifestyle center" that was supposed to be built in the former Stardust location on Route 301.  The plans for that shopping center have been put on a definate hold because the Peterson company is currently working on the expansion of the National Harbor.  Now the land is for sale and are looking for other developers.  So anyway back to why we can't get some of these well knows places.  The biggest problem....population.  A place like the Cheesecake Factory requires a large daytime population to keep it running.  The last time I spoke to them they wanted a population of 250,000 people within a 5 mile radius of the location to be built and we are nowhere close to that.  We are just reaching 150,000 total in the county!  We also have a problem here because of the amount of people that leave the county to work and that's not good for us.  If we cant fill restaurants during lunch then they wont be able to survive.  The dinner crowd just won't pay the bills.  Other smaller places requested that I have looked into have another issue..franchise owners.  If no one wants to run a Krispy Kreme or a Salad Works then we aren't going to get one.  All I can do is call the franchise and offer my services to help someone find a location when the time comes.  So if you are an entrepreneur and are ready and able to start up a new business, we are here to help you through the process.

Valvoline Opens in La Plata

As of Friday the new Valvoline instant oil change facility has opened for business.  The store is located at 6660 Crain Highway near the corner of Route 301 and Route 6.

Buffalo is a Go!

According to the engineers for the project, Buffalo Wild Wings is scheduled to begin tearing down the former Uno's building this month to make way for the new project.  At first we were told it would be a remodel but it looks like the floorplan just didnt cut it.  Check the Buffalo website http://www.buffalowildwings.com/jobs.php for job inquiries as it gets closer to completion. They currently have a scheduled opening date of mid January 2012.

Goodbye Borders

Unfortunately all news we bring cant be good news.  Borders books chain has fallen victim to new technologies like the kindle and falling sales so all stores will be closing.  The Waldorf location currently has no set date to close.  Personally I would rather hold a book in my hand rather than a electronic one.  It just isn't the same.  Hopefully we can assist in finding a new store to take it's place that everyone will enjoy just as much.