The Swedish are Coming?
With the Downtown Silver Spring Borders in the final stage of its death throes, there's been the inevitable speculation as to what will ultimately replace it. As commenter Justafed has pointed out, the DTSS space is not on the list of formerly-Borders-owned leases up for sale, indicating that there might already be plans afoot with regard to the bookseller's replacement.
One rumor out there is that the large Borders space will be bisected, with one half being occupied by Swedish clothing retailer H&M and the other to be taken over by a retailer-to-be-named-later.
If H&M is indeed coming here, I think this qualifies as a decent pickup for DTSS, as they offer reasonably-priced and stylish clothing for both men & women (and kids at select stores). Will update you when and if I get confirmation on this one.
Thanks to JG for the tip on this one.
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35 comments:
Yawn...
It's pathetic that H&M is considering locating there verses a location that's actually inside shitty place. It will just be another reason why there's NO REASON to enter shitty place. (All the good shopping is available to you without even entering the "mall"
Good point on the need for stores like H &M to go into City Place, exactly what the inside needs to turn around.
As for "yawn", I'm so sick of people on this blog whining about every. single. development. It's really getting old, the most negative people in the world seem to read this blog. Nothing but whiny little wankers.
I'll pretend I'm Google Translate for the first comment...
"yawn..."
in English:
"I personally do not shop at H&M, so I'll go out of my way to bemoan its presence. Unless a store caters directly to me, it's a waste of retail space."
Isayaah: I'd love to see City Place rejuvenated just as much as you... but you have to look at things from an objective business standpoint. H&M clearly would have a better street presence on Ellsworth than it would inside of the mall, and I can't imagine a scenario where a company would locate inside the mall (likely reducing their ROI) just to help out a failing commercial venue.
The burden is on City Place to find a way to attract a large swath of new retail, but I fear that from an urban design standpoint, that building is doomed.
Although I'd love to see an H&M in the old Borders space, I'd be surprised if this were true since H&M is opening in Wheaton Plaza (excuse me, Westfield Shoppingtown Wheaton) this fall. Considering how few H&M locations there are in this area, and the U.S. in general, it would be odd to have two so close together.
Now if there were a way to do a condensed IKEA concept ... ;)
H&M would be a great fit. That and an additional coffee shop to replace the Border's cafe? Coffee + NY style bagels + wireless please?
I haven't been inside an H&M since a visit to NYC in 2001 or 2002, didn't really like it, know I will likely never purchase anything there, and would still be pretty excited if one located here.
It's the kind of place that, if successful at this location, will attract other retailers.
If there's one already in White Flint and another one moving into Wheaton...we'll see if this rumor ends up being true. I'd be surprised if it is. Either way, I'm not worried about Ellsworth at all - something nice will move in, guaranteed.
This is great news! I'll welcome H&M to DTSS regardless of the actual building they decide to locate in. In fact, just the other day my husband and I were lamenting the lack of an H&M in Silver Spring, since it seems like it would do really well here.
It is unfortunate that Shitty Place has become so shitty that retailers prefer to locate elsewhere in DTSS and pay what is likely much higher rent. Something like a Bed Bath & Beyond would a great anchor tenant (especially since the closest one is in Columbia Heights and is a pain to get to), but it seems like Shitty Place's owners are content to let the place rot. Sad.
I would like to see Filene's Basement instead of H&M, esp since there will be one in Westfield (aka Wheaton Plaza). A home furnishing store wouldnt be a bad idea also.
IHATEYUPPIES SAID:
I think the former Borders location would be an ideal spot for a Forever 21 shop for the spoiled-rotten suburban kiddie crowd who want rock-bottom prices from sweatshop (slave labor) manufactured clothing.
Or an Urban Outfitters for the hipster dorks and skater punks. Clothing also manufactured in sweatshop, slave labor conditions.
-IHY-
I'm telling you Sh1tty place would be the ultimate indoor skate / bmx / MTB park.
I heard that H & m and Modell's will be sharing the space, which seems odd since city sports will be around the corner in the Pier 1 space
As best as I can tell, there is a hearing in the Borders bankruptcy case scheduled for September 8 that might clarify what happened with DTSS lease, although it might reveal everything from the lease being generically being bought back by Peterson (if they were the only bidder, it might only cost them $10K) to soMething that could resemble real news.
Concerning the possibility of H&M...the spacing does seem pretty close. I am not sure the space is big enough for Bed Bath and Beyond. It is a bit of a puzzle since the parking situation is not ideal for many tenants that need that much space.
Finally, the situation with City Place Mall is really clear. They were bought out in 2007 by a group that could not afford the debt load during the Great Recession and were then bailed out by a development group that specializes in cleaning up such messes. That leaves unanswered how the mess will be cleaned up, but the key sign will whether or not they can or will bounce the Burlington Coat Factory from the premises. For all I know they have a really solid lease, but that's your limiting factor right there.
I agree that H&M would be more profitable from more visibility on Ellsworth but it would seem to me that the company that owns Shitty Place would be working to attract such stores into its premises instead of allowing them to populate Ellsworth. What's the point of the mall if all the shopping is developing outside of its walls? There actually street level retail space available next to the new TD Bank facing Colesville and they could even expand it because there is room with that loading dock/old Golds Gym entrance there. Just a thought. And I agree that URBAN OUTFITTERS seems overdue for Ellsworth, 2 levels, brightly lit with glass and fun displays like the one in Chinatown would really complete DTSS. I too am surprised that H&M is considering having two stores so close to one another, may be they are in expansion mode. I also agree that BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY needs to get the boot. It's just not the type of FUN RETAIL that we need in downtown, plus its dingy in there and people steal from it like it's nothing.
I heard talk yesterday that White Flint Mall as a whole may close; according to my boss, it's gone downhill badly in recent years. No idea how true that is, I haven't been there in years. But that may drive H&M and other retailers to try other locations. We'll see.
Somewhere in DTSS, there has to be room for the Art Spring store. Those poor people got jerked around and now don't have a store front at all.
The Ritz Camera spot makes sense for Art Spring, though it looks like the owner of that property enjoys the vacancy or something.
The Ritz Camera spot isn't part of the Peterson Company's "Downtown Silver Spring", which gave ArtSpring a nicely (deeply?) discounted rental rate in exchange for moving to a new vacant space each time their former space was leased. I imagine if the owners/management company who runs the Ritz space offered a similar concession, then ArtSpring would move right in.
Right, that's what I'm saying. The owners of the Ritz space should just get the tax rideoff since apparently they're not interested in renting the space for market rate.
As of now, Dave & Busters is what has saved WHITE FLINT from Shitty Place status. I personally would like to see Dave & Busters, H&M, PF Changs and others, relocate to Downtown Silver Spring, and White Flint can be replaced with a couple of new highrise offices and condos with ground floor retail.
This just in: the lease of the Silver Spring Borders was not assumed or assigned in the just concluded auction, so Peterson will get it back. It is not clear where their previous legal action had any chilling effect on potential bidders or whether potential bidders thought they could get a deal from Peterson anyway or both.
Interesting comments about White Flint mall. Not sure if it is really on the verge of shutting down, but is was hardly ever in danger of Shitty Place status, and Dave & Busters did not save it from that status. White Flint does get a decent amount of traffic aside from Dave & Busters (think Cheesecake Factory), in addition to having some nice higher-end stores that you can't find in Montgomery Mall (Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn), as well as other, more common stores that still haven't come to SS (Gap, Banana Republic).
Anyone rooting for a PF Changs to move to DTSS should be blocked from commenting ever again.
RE: ArtSpring. They recently announced that they were moving to Takoma Park. Can't blame them given how they were moved around so often in SS.
http://www.artspringsilverspring.com/
RE: ArtSpring. They recently announced that they were moving to Takoma Park. Can't blame them given how they were moved around so often in SS.
Why do so many people think ArtSpring got a bum deal and had to move out of Silver Spring because they were "moved around" a lot. ArtSpring got a BARGAIN from Peterson! The only reason they chose to move to Takoma Park is because there are no more vacant spaces Peterson can offer then at BARGAIN rent. Frankly, Peterson is to be commended for offering them discounted space for so long. Most developers wouldn't even consider such a thing unless there was a serious upside for them.
Excuse the heck out of me "anonymous" for merely wanting fun restaurants to come to Downtown Silver Spring. Someone said that White Flint was in danger of closing and since PF Changs and Cheesecake Factory are apart of that mall, then I don't see what the issue you have with them relocating to Downtown Silver Spring. Just because you wouldn't patron these restaurants yourself, does no mean that other people shouldn't have a desire for them or have access to them. Wow such hostility! I have not noticed a decline in business at White Flint, it's always crowded and I can never find a parking space there. I don't get the attitude that SILVER SPRING is not worthy of stores and restaurants that locate in areas like Bethesda-Rockville. I wonder where some of you live.
lol@the snobby Anon who hates on Changs. Typical Hipster clowns who balance out Silver Spring from the rest of the thug population.
If H&M comes here it will be quickly engulfed with thugs and punk teenagers and become the most ghetto H&M in the area.
just because someone posted some random rumor about white flint mall planning to close does not make it true. let's focus on the issue at hand -- downtown SS retail -- and not be distracted by some unfounded nonsense.
Anyone who thinks hipsters live in SS or that ghetto people shop at H&M shouldn't be allowed to comment.
Anyone who thinks Hipsters dont live in SS (check out Quarry House Tavern sometime) should probably shut up and go back to BEING a whiny douchebag hipster.
And no, Ghetto people dont shop at H&M typically. Too bad every store that opens up in SS is full of ghetto people.
Does Borders typically attract Ghetto retards? No. But the DTSS location certainly did.
Man, NoVa guy, you're truly a terrible person. Please leave us fat, hipster, ghetto people alone. The question is: are you masochist who lives in DTSS or are you a psycho who stalks blogs just to be racist and piss on people?
P.S. you don't know what a hipster is and you don't know what ghetto is if you think Borders is full of ghetto people (here's a hint: non-white does not mean ghetto) or that hipsters would live within 5 miles of Peterson Co. Seriously, do you live here and pee on yourself for fun or do you just like peeing on others?
P.P.S. I'm not even anti-hipster. I'm sure there's a correlation between rising home prices/quality of life and the # of hipsters. I'm just not crazy, either.
A brief note about White Flint, the area and the mall, since it is a competitor in some markets with DTSS. Reports of the mall's immediate demise are greatly exaggerated, but it does have some issues. One issue is with it's anchors: losing Borders was a serious issue that will not be easy to fix. As others have noted, they have a Bloomingdales, but that location really needs a major renovation, and it is not immediately clear whether that happens in the longer term given the decision to build a brand new store at Friendship Heights.
White Flint the area is interesting because like DTSS, it has a major federal employer and is rapidly growing; unlike DTSS it is on the more affluent side of the county, which is also demographically older and much whiter. It is hard to tell how the situation will evolve from here, but I think it will take some time before you see the density of higher end retailers in DTSS that you see in North Bethesda.
So, it's closing.
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