It's been almost a year since Federal Realty announced Kate Spade would be opening a boutique on Bethesda Avenue. That store will be next to Barnes and Noble, in the current Petra space. There's still no opening date for Kate Spade, however.
What is now known is the fate of Petra. That boutique is not simply closing, but now plans to move to Annapolis. There's no official closing date announced for Petra yet.
7 comments:
Nice to see some national brands. Hopefully they will have some more pull and lasting power.
My wife would certainly go visit Kate Spade but a random boutique like Petra is just a stop to browse while you are walking by kinda store.
??? Yeah, who needs these worthless small businesses. I for one welcome our international conglomerate overlords.
Nice sarcasm.
There certainly is a place for small business retail, but these little boutiques don't really have a draw to more than a very small niche buyer. Kate Spade and other (inter)national chains at least have a wider audience they pull in and can survive the seemingly difficult economic times many of the local retailers face. Look at all the small business retail turnover!
Kate Spade is so Friendship heights Downtown Bethesda should be for something with a little more character and local flavor.
That said, I'd rather see more food than more fashion stuff.
I think FRIT said they were making an intentional point to bring in more retail so folks would do and spend more before and after eating. It was getting pretty restaurant heavy before and there was nothing else to do but walk around after eating.
*should be says who?
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