But consider that Books-A-Million (a.k.a., BAM!) stores are as small as 4000 SF, and you realize this is a indeed a viable-if-not-ideal space for a bookstore. Now, if they could fit a 4000 SF BAM! store with a 1786 SF cafe area inside here, it might take some of the sting out of losing anchor Barnes & Noble at the end of the year. BAM! does have Joe Muggs cafes in many of its stores. On the other hand, the sidewalk width here is a bit cramped compared to the B&N plaza space, traffic noise is louder, and the BAM! inventory may not satisfy Bethesda demographics seeking more of a Politics & Prose experience.
4 comments:
Trouble I see with this space is it is essentially at the end of Bethesda Row and facing outwards towards a fairy busy street with no retail on the other side.
FRIT really should have put retail on the Arlington side and kept the parking in back, but I guess they know their customer is insistent on front parking spaces. Giant could easily have had a useable facade for other stores though and better activated the corner and street.
The Books-A-Million in Bradley Center lasted only a few years. There is only one BAM left in the inner suburbs, in Greenbelt. Suggesting that Crown Books will open a store there is only slightly more silly.
There really aren't many things that would do well in that space.
The space stinks. And I'm sorry, but no bookstore can afford Bethesda Row rent.
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