The city, Rockville Economic Development, Inc., and the Rockville Chamber of Commerce have worked together to create smoother and more timely development and permitting processes, as well as improvements to requirements for permanent signage that allows shopping centers greater visibility.
To support new and existing businesses, future actions under consideration include changes to parking standards, improving opportunities for existing and new businesses, and supporting redevelopment.
Charik African Fashion will be opening soon at 520 N Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg, the former site of Carter’s.
The family owned African fashion store sells shoes, clothing, and accessories. The company previously had a location inside of Lakeforest Mall.
Montgomery County has announced that all 26 of its ABS (Alcohol Beverage Services) retails stores have returned to normal hours. Montgomery County reduced the hours back on January 12 due to staffing issues.
Per Montgomery County:
National chain Dollar Tree, which has MoCo locations in Derwood, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Montgomery Village, Rockville, and Silver Spring, has raised the price of all items in their stores from $1 to $1.25.
According to Market Watch, Dollar Tree says the higher prices are not a result of inflation, but rather to allow the company to offer a wider range of merchandise.
Last year Kohl’s announce a major partnership with Sephora that would open 850 Sephora “shop-in-shops” in Kohl’s locations across the country by 2023, in a similar deal to the one struck between Target and Ulta. Sephora previously had a partnership with J.C. Penney that has been slowly winding down ever since J.C. Penney filed for bankruptcy in 2020.
Kohl’s has Montgomery County locations in Aspen Hill, Calverton, Gaithersburg, and Germantown, and is about to start construction on the first Sephora shop-in-shop location at the Calverton location, which is in the orchard Center on Cherry Hill Road. This will be the first Kohl’s location in Maryland to add a Sephora.
Updated 12/26/21
Back in the 1980s, a law was passed which prohibited booze from being sold in Maryland grocery stores. At the time that this law passed, four MoCo supermarkets were allowed to be the exception due to a grandfather clause: Shoppers, Giant, Safeway, and Magruder’s. However, these stores are only allowed one location each to sell beer and wine. For a while, two 7-elevens in the county also sold beer and wine, but that permission was revoked after legal battles. Some specialty stores, that are also considered grocery stores, also sell beer and wine (Balducci’s, Roots, etc.).
We reported in November that DSW will be opening a new location in the Milestone Center in Germantown (20900-B Frederick Road), at the former home of Modell’s. The company currently has already has one store in Germantown, located in the Germantown Commons shopping center just under 3 miles away from the upcoming location. We were told there are no current plans to close the current Germantown location.
DSW was founded in 1969 as Shonac Corporation and was the shoe licensee for Value City. The company opened its first store in 1991 in Ohio and was acquired by Value City in 1998. It was acquired by Retail Ventures in 2004, went public in 2005, and then acquired Retail Ventures (its biggest shareholder) in 2011.
Grog Beer and Wine at 524 N. Frederick Ave in the Gaithersburg Square shopping center is now closed and signage says the store will be moving to 513 Quince Orchard Rd in Gaithersburg this month. Grog was previously located in the space now occupied by Habit Burger.
Park Potomac, a 705,000 square foot mixed-use development located in Potomac, Maryland, has announced that it has reached 100% retail lease occupancy.
“Park Potomac has signed leases for each of its retail spaces, welcoming a wonderful variety of shops and restaurants to further enhance the already amenity-rich neighborhood developed by Foulger-Pratt. “
MINISO, a Japanese themed novelty store, has opened on the first floor of Montgomery Mall (7101 Democracy Blvd) next to Macy’s.
According to Westfield Montgomery, “MINISO is a Japan-based, designer brand that places value on their quality, simplistic design, and low price. The global brand operates in over 40 countries, and has over 1,800 stores across the globe. Following their fast-fashion style, the company also launches new products every week – keeping up with trends. Miniso uniquely combines fashion and simplistic lifestyle to give quality products at affordable price”.
We stopped by Gaithersburg Square this morning and spoke with members of the crew working on the old Chuck E. Cheese location who told us that Five Below will be moving in to the location at 516 N Frederick Ave in Gaithersburg.
Chuck E. Cheese closed back in June of 2020.