Macy’s will be adding Toys”R”Us store-in-store shops to all of its U.S. locations over the next few months. The shops will range from 1,000-10,000 sq. feet, depending on the size of the Macy’s and will expand during the holiday season to offer a wider assortment of products. There are currently Macy’s locations in Lakeforest, Montgomery, and Wheaton Malls.

Depending on the success of the Macy’s version of Toys”R”Us, the company could consider bringing back standalone stores. The former Toy”R”Us location at 600 Frederick Rd in Gaithersburg has remained vacant since the company closed all its stores in 2018. Did you know the first ever Toy’s “R” Us opened in Rockville? 


A representative from Westfield Montgomery tells us that MacGuffins bar is very close to opening inside of AMC Theaters at the mall. MacGuffins is AMC’s in-house bar that offers beer, wine, and mixed drinks to moviegoers. According to AMC, “the term “macguffin,” coined by Alfred Hitchcock, refers to a plot device that propels a movie forward. Our specialty cocktails, craft beers and premium wines will be just the thing to turn this movie experience into a story worth remembering.”

A Drink Mighty Enough for a God!


Popular local food truck Malia’s Kitchen will be opening up inside the Montgomery Mall food court, taking over the space that was previously occupied by Lazzaro’s Authentic Italian Deli and Big Al’s Sub Shop. Malia’s Kitchen serves soul food and seafood, which they describe as the best “homemade” down home cooking in the DMV. Items on their menu includes crab cakes, fried chicken, fried fish, and BBQ.  No opening date has been announced.

Lazzaro’s confirmed its closing on Sunday morning when owner Larry Lazarro wrote the following in response to a post on the Support MoCo FB page: “Thank you for all you and everyone has done on this page. Business was great and so was the feedback. It was a personal family health matter. But this is not the end I’m looking to move into a brick/ mortar. This place fell into my lap. Goin into the mall was never my first choice. lol Thank you to everyone we’ll miss seeing your beautiful faces every day! We love you and appreciate what everyone has done for us in this group! And the family is doing fine now.


Lazzaro’s Authentic Italian Deli opened in the Montgomery Mall Food Court back in May, in the space previously  occupied by Big Al’s Sub Shop. Earlier this week the stall in the food court was closed and mostly cleared out and Google listed the restaurant as permanently closed.

Early this morning there was confirmation that the food court location has closed, but hope of a reopening in a brick and mortar locations, when owner Larry Lazarro wrote the following in response to a post on the Support MoCo FB page: “Thank you for all you and everyone has done on this page. Business was great and so was the feedback. It was a personal family health matter. But this is not the end I’m looking to move into a brick/ mortar. This place fell into my lap. Goin into the mall was never my first choice. lol Thank you to everyone we’ll miss seeing your beautiful faces every day! We love you and appreciate what everyone has done for us in this group! And the family is doing fine now.


Today in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Joshua Wright, 17, of Bethesda, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the death of Lawrence Wilson Jr. on December 19th, 2021. According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, Wright faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on October 12th, 2022, at 1:30 p.m. Co-defendant, Antonio Lawrence, is set for trial beginning February 6, 2023.

Lawrence Richard Wilson, Jr. was a 2006 graduate of Watkins Mill High School in Montgomery Village.


Per Montgomery County:

On Thursday, County Executive Marc Elrich announced an innovative new development project that would transform two Bethesda Parking Lot Districts (PLD), Lots 25 and 44, to almost 300 affordable and deeply affordable housing units. The project is a joint venture with private partners and will also include a greenway between Highland and West Virginia Avenues as envisioned in the Bethesda Downtown Sector Plan. The County Executive was joined at the announcement by Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson, whose district includes this area.


A new ice cream spot named The Scoop is coming to 7909 Tuckerman Ln, the former Baskin-Robbins location in Cabin John Village. The creamery is being opened by Timothy and Mitch Ryoo, Potomac natives and Winston Churchill High School Graduates (2010 and 2006).  The Scoop plans to open in about 2-3 weeks as they are just waiting for final permits and inspections from the county.

The Scoop will feature 24-30 permanent flavors and 8-10 seasonal options. All of the ice cream is made in house with natural ingredients, staying away from products like simple syrup.  The owners tell us they are working with local distributors and are in talks with local farms to purchase ingredients from. The Scoops plans to stay open later than their competitors (11pm) as they want to be known as a late-night dessert destination. The Scoop will offer ice cream cones, cups, and milkshakes, as well as Italian ice and dairy free ice cream. They also plan to eventually serve gelato. We will post an update once an opening date has been announced.


The details are provided in a summary below, adapted from the State’s sentencing memo. Kemp was essentially the ringleader of a group who would travel from the District of Columbia into Chevy Chase, MD and steal cars from driveways and garages. In at least one case, they entered a home and burglarized it. A co-defendant, Azriel Echavarria, was sentenced to 18-months on April 26th, 2021 for burglary in the first-degree for his role in one of the incidents in June of 2020.

“We thank Assistant State’s Attorney Hannah Gleason for her work in this matter and Judge Burrell for appropriately holding this defendant accountable for such brazen, repeated auto theft in our community. This career criminal will no longer be able to target residents in Montgomery County,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.


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