Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Met Bethesda closes, Smart Toys closes temporarily; Sheepskin Gifts opens, Halloween Adventure coming Friday (Photos)

Met Bethesda, one of several upscale restaurants lured to Westfield Montgomery Mall during its expansion two years ago, has closed. The restaurant was empty yesterday, and the website appeared to be down this morning. It's going to be a challenge to fill this spot, and I would not be surprised if it was converted to retail space. Still, second floor spaces are tricky for retail as much as restaurants, when they are as isolated as this one is.


Also closing, but just until the holidays, is Smart Toys. Halloween Adventure, a pop-up shop featuring costumes and scary accessories, will take over the space this Friday, September 23.
Finally, Sheepskin Gifts and Alpaca Too has opened.


53 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:25 AM

    #Scooped

    #DeadMall

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a shame. I always enjoyed Met when I would tag along with the Au Pair and the twins on a trip to Arclight. It was a nice alternative to the delightful lunch counter in Nordstroms. I may have to become a fast food junkie and start going to Beefsteak more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:55 AM

      Poppy, I hope you Au Pair is on The Pill. Else you might be the grandmother of Quadruplets.

      #AuPairILF

      Delete
  3. Anonymous6:36 AM

    Also there's a new kiosk place going up on the first floor near Sears, right by the kids play area (between that and the coffee kiosk for Peet's). I think the bubble tea place used to be there, but not sure.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous6:37 AM

    No surprise on the Met -- poor location and not a big draw. I agree it'll be a difficult space to fill. Next to go will be the pizza place below it -- I never see anyone there, even at lunchtime when all the other places are full.

    Any word on Bobby's Burger Palace? That part of the mall is much more quiet now that the transit center was moved, and BBP was devoid of customers when I walked by yesterday. Their food is actually quite good, but it's just a tough location.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:00 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous7:01 AM

    Met was "lured" to Montgomery Mall? Against their better judgement? I see a lawsuit coming.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Incidently, I did not mean my mention of Beefsteak to be a dig. Yes it is fast food, but it is smart, progressive and darling. I would be tickled pink to see the McDonalds on River Road replaced by a Beefsteak complete with drive-through!

    That's it. I talked myself into it. Off to Beefsteak it is for their delightful vegan Beefsteak Burger on the cutest olive oil brioche bun.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous8:19 AM

    Yes I hit up Beefsteak when I am on my monthly vegan cleanse.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dyer was obviously first and the competitor stole the news from him. Again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:17 AM

      Elm obviously lives in Dyer's Mom's basement's subbasement.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous11:20 AM

    Incompetent MoCo Machine replaces productive office park with moribund cookie-cutter mixed-use bedroom community.

    http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2016/09/19/vornado-pitches-multiplex-retail-overhaul-and-main.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 11:20: We are indeed becoming the bedroom community for the regional job centers of Northern Virginia and the District. Humiliating for the impotent County Council.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:52 PM

      While it would be great to have the jobs here too, don't we receive income taxes from all those residents that live here? It could easily be construed as a positive that NoVa workers want to live in MoCo (and pay us their taxes).

      Delete
    3. Anonymous4:34 PM

      Why does Dyer hate bedrooms so? Could it be that his own bedroom has never seen any action?

      Delete
    4. Anonymous4:41 PM

      @ 3:52 PM - Not just income taxes, but property taxes, too. And most of the sales taxes, too

      Suck it, NoVa, you Confederate, Dyer-spawning bastids!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous5:56 PM

      So what's so bad about having everyone live here?

      Obviously it would be better to have the jobs too, but a growing residential population seems like a good thing.

      Delete
    6. 5:56: Unfortunately, your whole tax argument is exploded when you remember that we're collecting "all these taxes," and we still have a structural deficit that extends outward as far as the forecasts reach. In fact, as Leggett has warned, another tax hike is ahead next year, thanks to the County Council. Sounds like being a bedroom community - with all of the school and services costs - isn't a fiscally sound approach.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous10:05 PM

      So would it be better if these folks lived in NoVa also?

      Delete
    8. 10:05: Based on the budyes deficit we have, apparently yes.

      Delete
  11. 11:02AM posts as me and then responds to himself at 11:17AM.
    I think your obsession with Dyer is out of control.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:19 PM

      Responding to "Elm" = "Obsession with Dyer"

      LOL

      Delete
  12. Anonymous12:43 PM

    Mall is becoming too urban, kiss of death

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous2:20 PM

    We are a Free Schooling, Housing and Feeding community for illegals, and NoVa is laughing at us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:41 PM

      You haven't much time in the South Arlington-Bailey's Crossroads-Seven Corners area, or US 1 between Huntington and Mount Vernon, have you?

      Delete
  14. Anonymous3:53 PM

    Can we get clarification on when something is plagiarized or not? Hard to tell nowadays. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 3:53: A good example would be The Other Website ripping off my scoop on Hooters closing in Rockville yesterday. My enterprising, shoe leather reporting was not cited as the source and they attempted to pass it off as their own work. Shameful.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:04 AM

      Is it because they came after you as the reason it counts as plagiarism? So how does this post count?

      Delete
    3. 6:04: No, it's because they were nowhere near Rockville prior to my report, then dashed out and tried to make it look like their scoop. Think about it, if you're even capable of doing so. #BabaBooey

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9:51 AM

      What do you mean they were nowhere near Rockville and dashed out?

      Didn't their post come first?

      I understand being rude to trolls but I am reasonably asking questions here to try to better understand your point.

      Delete
    5. 9:51: Actually, you're just plain lying. My report on the Hooters closure was posted at 8 AM that morning. The knockoff was published hours later, after they saw my report on RockvilleNights.com and ran out to Rockville.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous4:56 PM

    Marriott's acquisition of Starpower will close on Friday. The MoCo Machine has successfully poached another Fortune 500 headquarters, and now owns the largest hotel chain in the world!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 4:56: They didn't poach any headquarters, it was a merger. In fact, your "creepy clowns" Council has failed to attract a single major corporate headquarters in almost 20 years. You're still "Dumass material all the way."

      Delete
    2. Andrea7:26 AM

      How many major corporate headquarters has any other county attracted in the last 20 years i am curious?

      Delete
  16. I remember Giffords6:04 PM

    5:56 PM Living and working in the same place is ideal. Live, work and play, right?
    Roads are jammed and Metro isn't reliable anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous7:01 PM

    How many blogs has Robert Dyer inspired folks to start? They all fail, the copycat the bloggers eventually go nuts and quit trying to replicate Dyer.
    Rinse and repeat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 7:01: The process of them going nuts is actually more entertaining than the blogs they publish. To be a fly on the wall at the angel investor meetings...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:25 AM

      Which bloggers went nuts and when?

      Delete
  18. Anonymous7:54 PM

    Many have tried to emulate Dyer's level of failure, but none have succeeded!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:08 PM

      If Dyer is so terrible, why are so many folks trying to replicate what he does?

      Lol..lots of folks with Dyer on the brain.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous10:07 PM

    Wow people are obsessed with Dyrr and other sites tonight. Why all the mentions of other sites?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous7:30 AM

    Bethesda Mag's publisher has directly plagiarized Dyer under his own byline. So, no surprise that his staff of interns and freelancers do the same.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:36 PM

      Can you provide examples and supporting evidence of this claim?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous3:14 PM

      1:36pm there are many examples.
      The 7770 Norfolk switching to rental, Blackfinn closing, etc. Under the publisher's own byline, with no credit to Robert Dyer.

      Standard practice is to at least give a hat tip.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:42 PM

      What's the evidence of plagiarism? Just saying it was doesn't make it so.

      Delete
  21. Anonymous4:39 PM

    Dyer's Hooters story on Rockville Nights was obviously stolen by Bethesda Mag.

    Do you think the Magazine's staff of well heeled white Potomac housewives were stopping by Hooters for lunch and found it closed? Lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:57 PM

      What evidence do you have that the story was obviously stolen?

      Delete
  22. Anonymous9:08 PM

    8:21 PM You're giving your favorite councilmen more than a hat tip. Remember to pick up his dry cleaning. Does the councilman want extra starch in his shirts?

    ReplyDelete
  23. 5:42: Published after mine, had no source, and in a Freudian slip, stated that the author confirmed a "report" that 7770 Norfolk was changing - there was no report anywhere other than my article published earlier that morning.

    5:57: Uh, because there was no other source for the information, and their article mysteriously appeared several hours after mine. It was such a big story that it wouldn't be held back; it was breaking news. Wake up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:25 AM

      No source is not proof that it was plagiarized.

      How do you know they are referring to your report?

      I don't disbelieve the possibility but this is hardly proof

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:33 AM

      Dyer has a right to call out folks plagiarising his work.

      In Arlington, a blogger just recently pushed back when he thought wjla 7 stole his story on the Arlington phantom pooper. They had to credit him eventually.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous5:37 AM

    Everything Dyer and his supporters say is circumstantial at best.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous9:02 AM

    It is a popular misconception that circumstantial evidence carries less weight or importance than direct evidence.
    While direct evidence is generally seen as more powerful, most successful prosecutions rely greatly on circumstantial evidence.
    Circumstantial evidence often has an advantage over direct evidence because it is more difficult to suppress or fabricate.

    ReplyDelete