Waldorf Park Coming Soon

Waldorf Park will be a new, 30,000 square foot shopping center located near the corner of Route 301 North and Smallwood Drive.  It will connect by access road to the Cracker Barrel restaurant, Carrabba's and Hampton Inn.  Construction has started.   Tenants currently signed are Chick-fil-A, Jersey Mikes Subs, Nail Trix Salon and Spa, and a Starbucks with drive thru that I know many people have been waiting for.  This will be a second location for Chick-fil-A and not a relocation.  That should help with the long lines at the current location that can sometimes expand out onto the highway.  The expected time to complete the center is Winter of 2020. Individual tenants should open a few months after.  Chick-fil-A has a proposed opening of Spring 2021.

September Updates

Back from vacations and back to school!  Hope everyone had a wonderful summer. September updates have begun!

I would also like to take a minute to mention something here that I may have talked about on Facebook but I don't think I spoke about on the blog.  I bring it up because the Charles County EDC has now mentioned it as well.
As you know the things we say especially on social media can effect businesses we have here and businesses we could get here.  Potential prospects look thru social media posts and speak to residents before they decide to plant a flag here.  If all they hear is negativity they aren't going to come.  So please think before you speak or post.  Every city has its issues but some people tend to make them much larger than they really are.  Take pride in where you live.  Help make it a great place to be.  And tell your kids to do the same. #charlescountyproud #mycharlescounty

Wild Birds Unlimited will have its grand opening September 11th at the La Plata Plaza Shopping Center next to Target.

Lucianna's Steakhouse is now beginning soft openings at their location at 3331 Plaza Way in Waldorf behind Bob Evan's Restaurant.  Reservations are suggested.

Aldi is now open in Clinton, MD at The Landing at Woodyard.

Chick fil a has almost completed construction in the same shopping center.

Hancock Family Farms Store will open September 27th in La Plata.  6 St. Mary's Avenue, Unit 100C.

Taco Bell is now open at the Shoppes at Apple Greene in Dunkirk, MD

Southern Tire and Auto Centers has opened a new location at 131 St. Patrick's Drive in Waldorf.

The Waldorf Senior and Recreational Center is now open at 90 Post Office Road.

August Updates

August already??  

ALDI is now open at the Waldorf Shoppers World next to Harbor Freight Tools.

ALDI in Clinton will have a grand opening August 29th.

Crafty Crab Seafood is coming to the former Hard Times Cafe location at 1120 Smallwood Drive West in Waldorf.  Crafty Crab has 8 locations in the South with 18 more locations on the way.  

Crafty Crab specializes in home style seafood with Southern charm and a friendly experience.

https://www.craftycrabrestaurant.com

Choba's African Kitchen and Bakery - Coming soon to the Waldorf Shoppers World behind Chipotle. 3240 Crain Highway.  More information as it becomes available.

Lucianna's Steakhouse hopes to be open in early September.

Panda Express to be part of the redevelopment of the former Ruby Tuesdays site in Prince Frederick, MD.  

Arby's is coming back to Waldorf

The former Chevy Chase Bank located at Route 301 and Smallwood Drive West in Waldorf has been purchased by a group to put in a new Arby's.  This is over by Burger King, Panda Express and the former Hard Times Cafe in the St. Charles Towne Plaza.  This was a recent purchase so there are no details yet on an opening date.  It will be nice to have them back in the area. As you may remember we had a few of them before Roy Rogers took over the locations in Waldorf and La Plata.  Existing building to be remodeled. 

Arby's is part of the Inspire Brands which include Sonic, Buffalo Wild Wings and Rusty Taco.

As of April 2020 no opening date has been announced.

You Can't Have Your Cheesecake and Country Too

UPDATED 2019

I've posted this before but its so far back in the blog now its lost.  I often get asked for a few of the same restaurants over and over.  Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Changs are at the top of the list.  Then there are the high end grocery stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes and Wegmans

Why don't they come?  What stops them from opening up here?  Well here are the requirements they look for:

Population - The biggest factor.  The entire population for Charles County is estimated around 159,700 Calvert 91,502, St. Mary's 112,667 (all as of 2017).  And for reference Prince Georges County has a population estimate of over 900,000.   Places like the above mentioned restaurants want a daytime population of somewhere in the area of 300,000 within a 3-5 mile radius of the location. Currently the estimated daytime population of the mall within 5 miles is estimated at around 92,000. They want the restaurant packed at lunch and dinner which is why they go to dense urban areas.  On a regular lunch day you can walk into almost any restaurant in Waldorf with no wait time and that's not good.

Wegmans Grocery says they want high daytime population because they depend on the lunchtime crowd to use their food bars.  The issue in our area is that 65+ percent of our workforce leaves the county for work.  Which means our daytime population is lower than what they want to see.

Demographics - workforce, high school and college graduates, number of households, average household incomes, retired or working, age, race, sex.  Our average household incomes are great but not enough houses. Also mentioned by some that we didn't have enough college graduates.  Did you know you needed a diploma to buy food?

Roads and transportation - Is the site on a major road? How many vehicles per day pass the site?  Does the site meet parking requirements? Does the company have a distribution site within a certain radius of the proposed location?

Government - Are they easy to work with? Do they want growth?  Are they business friendly? Any incentives to come to the area?  How long will the process take to get our site approved?

Attractions - What pulls people to the area? Historic sites, large venues, sporting arenas, tourism, casinos, amusement parks.

Land -  They want high profile corner sites with traffic lights and ease of access for their patrons.   They want sites along Crain Highway and we are running out of them.  Many that are out there have wetlands running thru them and you can't build near that.  Storm water and environmental regulations are constantly changing and take up more of the land so you either build a smaller space or have to buy a larger site which comes at a higher price.

So we either have to build houses and apartment and become a densely populated area which is not going to happen because nobody wants that, or stay a little country, a little city and be happy.