Recent Openings and Closings at Montgomery Mall (May Edition)

Below is a list of several businesses that recently opened in Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, as well others that have closed.

Butter Me Up has opened on the bottom level of the mall at the former Aroma Espresso Bar location, near the Old Navy entrance. The breakfast spot, which features “instagrammable” decor, offers a menu that consists of a variety of breakfast sandwiches, toasts, sides, bowls, smoothies, and juices. A Yelp article named Butter Me Up DC’s best breakfast sandwich, as the restaurant’s first location can be found within HalfSmoke in Florida Ave NW.  Items include the “Easy Like Sunday” sandwich with turkey sausage, organic, soft scrambled eggs, smoked cheddar cheese, honey mustard aioli and the “Feels Like Home” Feels Like Home with buttermilk brined fried chicken, organic, soft scrambled eggs, caramelized onions, Gordy’s pickles, smoked cheddar cheese and sriracha mayo.

Alex Baby and Toys, a new concept from FYE, is now open. The store is located downstairs next to Old Navy. The store offers toys for all ages, not just toddlers and young children.  According to Westfield Montgomery, “from legos and baby essentials to LOL’s and STEM, they are your one-stop-shop for all things play.”

Under Armor closed its location on April 26 for remodeling.  For the next couple of months Under Armor will have a temporary location in the mall at the former site of Sports Nation, which closed back in February. The temporary store features the majority of their inventory, except for kids clothing. Kevin Plank, founder of Under Armour, grew up in Kensington. He is the youngest of five brothers born to William and Jayne Plank. His father was a prominent real estate developer who passed away in 1993. A local project of his was the Al Marah subdivision off River Road, just off of exit 39 on the Beltway.  His mother was the mayor of Kensington for 8 years, from 1974-1982. She went on to direct the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the United States Department of State under President Ronald Reagan, and was a real estate broker until the early 2000s. Read more about Kevin’s story here.

Big Al’s Subs and Soups in the Montgomery Mall food court closed around the start of the month. It was located in the space that was previously home to Wicked Waffles, next to Charley’s. The restaurant, which had a menu very similar to that of Subway, opened in December of 2021.  The restaurant offered ten different signature sandwiches, including a vegetarian option called “The Mediterranean”, and a rotating list of soups.

zBounce Kid’s Fun Place has closed its location near Macy’s. According to Store Reporter, the owner is hoping to reopen the business inside the mall across from Forever 21.  zBounce describes itself as “the Ultimate “Kids Fun Center in the mall” with inflatable slides, bounce houses, and bumper cars. zBounce has a location inside of Lakeforest Mall that is listed as “temporarily closed” on Google.  Photo courtesy of www.zbouncefun.com.

Michael Kors closed its Montgomery Mall location permanently in April. In July 2020, Reuters reported that American luxury group Capri (Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Versace) estimated a 70% loss of sales due to the corona pandemic. The report stated that Capri may permanently close up to 170 stores, mostly Michael Kors, over the next two years. It seems as though the Montgomery Mall Michael Kors location was one of those casualties. The Clarksburg Outlet location remains open, but the Georgetown location also closed at the same time as Montgomery Mall, according to an employee of the Clarksburg location. The nearby Tyson’s Corner remains open.