Pettit Companies has announced the ground breaking of “North Pointe at Flower Hill”, a new 16,000 SF retail and restaurant center located at 18251 Flower Hill Way in Gaithersburg. The project is located behind the new Gentleman Jim’s location, which is a sister property to this project and other Flower Hill properties.
We’re told the anchor tenant will be a restaurant with a roof top terrace area for dining. The property will also have outdoor seating, signage, car charging stations, curb side/mobile pickup areas, extensive landscaping, and on-site property management.
They center is tentatively scheduled to open in the fall of 2022. Call 301-975-1020 for leasing or contact information.
Building renderings below:
4/15/21 2:41pm Update: Washington Gas contractors & crews are continuing efforts to restore natural gas service to Pike & Rose at Old Georgetown Rd & Executive Blvd disrupted on 4/14. Service restoration is expected to begin on Friday morning, April 16. More info at WashingtonGas.com
Photo Courtesy Montgomery County Fire & Rescue
Shortly after 9AM Monday, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue units responded to the area of the construction zone at Executive Blvd and Old Georgetown Roads for a large gas leak. Responders arrived and found a 12″ gas line struck and leaking on Executive Blvd.
The leak was not controlled for several hours. The gas line had to be shut off Wednesday afternoon for repairs which cut off gas service to several businesses including some Pike & Rose establishments. Repairs were being conducted by Washington Gas crews but it was not immediately clear when repairs will be completed.
Some restaurants at Pike & Rose are closed due to the gas leak.
From Washington Gas at 7:21pm (4/14/21)
Third party construction damage to a Washington Gas pipeline has disrupted natural gas service to the Pike & Rose area at Old Georgetown Road & Executive Blvd. At this time, Washington Gas does not have a timeline for restoration.
Montgomery & Wheaton Mall Owner Looking to Sell Properties
The Los Angeles Business Journal is reporting that Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) plans to sell all of it’s US holdings in 2022. This would include both Westfield Montgomery and Westfield Wheaton.
Shopping malls, which were already hurting due to the rise of online shopping, were hit especially hard during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CEO of URW Jean-Marie Tritant said “We are implementing a program to significantly reduce our U.S. footprint once the investment markets reopen, which should happen as soon as the economy rebounds.”
You can read the full article at
https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2021/mar/08/mall-operator-urw-plans-sell-all-us-properties/
Aldi to Takeover Old Shoppers Location in White Flint Plaza
Bethesda Beat reported Monday that Aldi will be coming to 5110 Nicholson Lane in White Flint Plaza. It will be taking over the space formerly occupied by Shoppers, which closed in January of 2020.
Aldi is a German discount grocery chain that currently has Montgomery County locations in Gaithersburg, Germantown, Montgomery Village, Rockville, Silver Spring, and Takoma Park. The German owned grocery chain announced last month that it plans on opening 100 new U.S. locations in 2021.
Lidl, another German discount grocery store, recently opened in the previous Shoppers location in Glenmont.
In an email to Bethesda Beat, PR firm Maier & Warner said the store is likely to open in the fourth quarter of this year.
Main Street Pearl Bubble Tea Hoping For March Opening
Back in December it was announced that Main Street Pearl would be taking over the former location of Great Shoals at 7050 Carroll Ave in Takoma Park.
Main Street Pearl posted on their Facebook page that they are “patiently” waiting for their food service license from Montgomery County in order to open the bubble tea café inside its store.
The retail portion of the store is currently open and features a selection of local beers, ciders, hard seltzers, sparkling wine, coffee, gifts and more. Its hours are Thursdays & Fridays 4-8PM and Saturdays & Sundays 11-7PM.
From their Facebook Page:
Bubble Tea Update! We have been trying to spread the news far and wide: We are WAITING (and waiting and waiting) on our food license from MoCo before we can fully open the cafe part of Main Street Pearl. We are expecting it to come through around March 1st, and will be sure to share the news far and wide. 
Credit: Source of the Spring
MoCo ABS Announces Winter Lottery
Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services (formerly DLC) will be holding several sets of lotteries for residents and licensees to purchase highly sought after distilled spirits. Registration for the lotteries begin February 21st.
“To more equitably distribute limited-availability products that are in high demand, we have developed a lottery process for our most popular, hard to find spirits products.”
The list of spirits is available here. The list features mostly whiskeys, including popular brands like Pappy Van Winkle. The most expense bottle on the list is O.F.C. Vintage 1995 25 Year Old Bourbon, at $2,599.
Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services Launches Winter Lotteries Providing Opportunities to Purchase Highly Sought Spirits
For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 18, 2021
Montgomery County’s Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) will help warm up the winter season with the next in its series of whiskey lotteries that provide opportunities for residents to purchase highly sought spirits. The lotteries are free to enter but have varying residency requirements.
ABS has set up two resident lotteries this winter. The first lottery will be open to Maryland residents 21 and over. The second lottery will be open to Montgomery County residents 21 and over only. Each includes a wide range of spirits bottles, with some overlap. County residents will be able to enter both the State and the County lottery, boosting the potential access to County residents.
A total of 1,132 bottles will be available to customers for purchase in the lotteries. An increased number of bottles is being distributed through this lottery due to the COVID-19 related cancellation of ABS’ Whiskey Rocks event.
Registration for the lottery begins at noon on Sunday, Feb. 21. Consumers will have until 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, to enter the lotteries. After each lottery closes, a random drawing will be conducted and the winning numbers will be posted online at noon on Thursday, March 4.
Winners will be able to purchase their bottle from a designated store from Monday, March 8, through Saturday, March 20. There may be extended hours during this timeframe to accommodate pickups.
Each resident entering the lottery will be able to select their top six preferences from the list of bottles available. Bottle counts are listed on the registration forms. Details on how to enter the lottery, including an entry form, are available on the ABS website at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/abs/lottery.
A third lottery will be open to Montgomery County alcohol license holders who are authorized to sell spirits on their premises. The licensee lottery will run at the same time as the residents’ lottery and will boost availability of allocated items available by the glass in the County.
“ABS is able to procure items that neighboring jurisdictions can’t get, or get very little of, and we offer them at fair pricing to give people access,” said ABS Retail Chief Kent Massie. “You just do not see this happening elsewhere locally.”
ABS is the alcohol wholesaler of beer, wine and spirits for Montgomery County. ABS operates 25 beer, wine and spirits stores and one spirits-only store in Poolesville. It manages alcohol licensing, enforcement, and education for more than 1,000 businesses. Generating more than $35 million in net income annually, ABS profits are used to pay down County debt with a large portion deposited in the County general fund to pay for resident services that would otherwise be funded by County tax dollars.
Learn more about ABS by visiting the website and by following ABS on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Godiva in Westfield Montgomery Closing
Gourmet chocolatier Godiva recently announced it will be closing all 128 of it’s U.S. retail stores, which includes one located inside Westfield Montgomery Mall.
The company says its decision is directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. A statement put out by Godiva’s CEO Nurtac Afridi stated, “Our brick-and-mortar locations in North America have had a clear purpose since we first opened our doors in this market, to provide an in-person experience for consumers to enjoy the world’s most exquisite chocolates,” and “We have always been focused on what consumers need and how they want to experience our brand, which is why we have made this decision.”
Godiva, which began making chocolates in Belgium in 1926 (now headquartered in New York City), will still be available to purchase online and through other retailers.
According to Store Reporter, the last day in business for the store will be February 15th.
The Sears located at 11255 New Hampshire Ave in Silver Spring was among the stores recently announced to be closing its doors. A brief history of the store, from a recent Forbes article: “the Silver Spring Sears opened in early 1966 and stands as a symbol of the company’s suburban initiatives. It’s a stand-alone store, not located within a mall. There was a time when Sears carried practically everything. It didn’t need to attach itself to an enclosed shopping mall.”
Last week we reported that the KMart at 14014 Connecticut Ave in Aspen Hill will also be closing. Sears Holdings was formed in 2004 after they were acquired by KMart. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018. The Montgomery Mall location closed in 2018 and Lakeforsest Mall location in 2019. Read about the additional Sears stores closing here.
Burlington to Take Over Barnes & Noble Location in Montrose Crossing
Discount clothing retailer Burlington will be coming to the Montrose Crossing Shopping Center located at 12055 Rockville Pike.
It will be taking over the space formerly occupied by Barnes & Noble, which moved to Congressional Plaza this past August.
Burlington currently has two other locations in Montgomery County, Gaithersburg (600 N Frederick Ave) and Silver Spring (8661 Colesville Rd.). The retailer used to be known as Burlington Coat Factory.
Boardroom Salon for Men recently opened in Montrose Crossing on March 31st.
We will post an update, including an opening date, when more information becomes available.
Victor Litz Celebrates 60 Years
This year, Victor Litz Music Center in Olde Town Gaithersburg is celebrating 60 years in business.
Founder Victor Litz, an accountant and musician in the Washington Metro area, opened Victor Litz Music in Olde Towne Gaithersburg in 1961. He taught private lessons at the music store as well group lessons for the City of Gaithersburg.
In the late 1960s, the store moved to a new location at 305 N. Frederick Avenue. This location was an old house that they worked out of for nearly 30 years. Eventually they out-grew the building and opened a showroom down the street at 506 N. Frederick Ave while the other location held the music lessons.
In 1999 they moved to their current location at 306 E Diamond Ave in Olde Town Gaithersburg, formerly a Ben Franklin craft store.
Victor Litz is a family business. In the early 1980’s, Victor’s children Tony and Terry Litz took over the day to day operations. They started a mail order business (long before the internet) which gave them the the ability to buy and sell in volume.
Today Victor Litz Music is still run by Tony and Terry, as well as 3rd generation family members Michael and Logan Litz, accomplished musicians themselves.
When asked how the business has adapted during the pandemic, Tony Litz told us, “Music lessons are almost all virtual/on-line and that part of the business has taken a big loss. Our school band instrument business has also dropped way off due to schools being closed for in school teaching. We have shortened our hours closing earlier as not many in house music lessons.”
Riding the wave of the vinyl comeback, Victor Litz Music recently bought out a used record and cd store, now located in the back of their showroom.
“We have been very blessed and fortunate to stay solvent during these crazy times due to the support of our long standing wonderful customers and staff members from teachers and employees that are all friends and like family to us. We live eat and sleep music and music and would not be able to do it with out all of them.”
