British Swim School has signed a lease to move into a 6,500SF spot in Rockville’s College Plaza Shopping Center, located next to Montgomery College’s Rockville campus. Edge, a full-service commercial real estate firm with offices in Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, represented British Swim School. Kristin Rebeck, Vice President, Advisory Services for Edge represented Bonnie Alcid, who now owns and manages seven British Swim School franchise locations, the highest number in the North America chain. Rebeck also represented Alcid in the execution of a lease at Cloppers Mill Village Center in Germantown last year.
Located at 15100 Frederick Road, College Plaza Shopping Center is a 110,000 square foot retail center positioned at the intersection of MD Route 355 (Rockville Pike) and College Parkway. Anchored by New York Mart, The Tile Shop and Advance Auto Parts, nearly 320,000 people and 120,000 households reside within a five-mile radius of the center, with an average household income approaching $150,000.
British Swim School was founded in 1981 with a mission to teach water safety and survival skills to children as young as three months old and through its franchise network, now operates more than 215 locations throughout the United States and Canada. The franchise was acquired by Buzz Franchise Brands in 2019, which also owns Pool Scouts, a pool cleaning and maintenance company and Home Clean Heroes, a residential cleaning company.
Bonnie Alcid has always loved spending time in the swimming pool, and the regular exercise transitioned into a mental outlet for her while dealing with a highly-stressful job. She met original British Swim School owner and founder Rita Goldberg when she was first starting a swim program and joined the company as a swim instructor. After sustained growth and popularity led Goldberg to start expanding the company, Alcid immediately stepped forward to become its first franchise owner.
“I was passionate about filling a need in the community to teach young children valuable swimming and survival skills and, because I was extremely familiar with the franchise and its inner-workings, did not perceive any risk in this decision,” Alcid explained. “We teach babies and little children a life skill before progressing into stroke development and more advanced swim techniques. Each student and each day are extremely rewarding as we are convinced that we are making an important difference in the lives of young people and their families.”
“College Plaza Shopping Center is situated within the most highly trafficked retail corridors in suburban Maryland and, with its ease of access it will service not only the immediate area but visitors throughout the DMV,” explained Kristin Rebeck of Edge. “Bonnie brings proven success with the franchise to this new location and, as a hard-working and highly-knowledgeable entrepreneur, she brings an important lifesaving service to Rockville and the surrounding community.”
Courtesy of www.edgecre.com.