Saturday, January 13, 2018

Barnes & Noble closes at Bethesda Row (Photos)

Barnes & Noble has closed forever at Bethesda Row. Despite the funereal black window coverings, some would-be patrons were still trying to figure out how to get inside last evening. The store will now be remodeled into a Anthropologie, which will open later this year and include a cafe with outdoor seating. Book lovers will have to travel to the Barnes & Noble at Montrose Crossing until the Amazon Books store opens at Bethesda Row this summer.





53 comments:

Anonymous said...

"some would-be patrons were still trying to figure out how to get inside last evening."

LOL, what a bunch of retards.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of store closings -- looks like the "Suburban News Network" missed some really big news out of Westfield Montgomery yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Has Redwood re-opened yet?

Anonymous said...

The other Anthropologie cafes look very cute. Hopefully this one will be as well. I buy my books from Politics & Prose anyway, so I'm not despondent over Barnes & Noble's departure.

Robert Dyer said...

9:57: LOL, check again, dumbass - Your favorite website posted a fake news story claiming Sears was closing, then had to retract their false report after Sears officials went ballistic. The "really big news" is that you didn't post any comments over there blasting them, asking why they hadn't "talked to somebody" before running the story, and threatened them with a lawsuit for all of the money the store would be losing as a result of the false report that was spread far-and-wide by the meth-and-Adderall addicts who reflexively retweet anything the small-and-slightly-failing Magazine posts.

Is that because you work for the magazine? LOL

Anonymous said...

Dyer's comment is #FakeNews.

Here is the real story: "On Thursday, the company notified government officials that it would close the store at 7103 Democracy Blvd. and lay off up to 73 people starting in mid-March."

Robert Dyer said...

5:35: You apparently missed their retraction of the story posted at 5:10 PM Friday. Sears is not closing. They just signed a new lease with the mall.

Anna said...

Nothing more childlike than insisting something isn't true when it irrefutably is
true. I'm sorry you can only feel worthwhile by diminishing others.

Anonymous said...

This is the funniest line:

"spread far-and-wide by the meth-and-Adderall addicts who reflexively retweet anything the small-and-slightly-failing Magazine posts."

Dyer, why can't you just admit that they have 20 times as many readers as you do?

Anonymous said...

I shopped at Sears last night. They are very much open, despite the fake news.

Sadly, the fake story always gets more attention than the retraction.

Barwood Sucks said...

This Bethesda Magazine Sears fuck up reminds me of the guy who pressed the Hawaii missile alert button yesterday.





Anonymous said...

10:19 AM Sears didn't announce any such thing. They maintain a list of closures and Bethesda was never on that list (so far).

The Magazine issued a retraction after telling the employees they were out of jobs.

Barwood Sucks said...

10:19 AM Post the link to Sears "announcement" please.

Anonymous said...

Bethesda was never on that list

Lies. They notified the State of Maryland that the Westfield store would be closing and that they'd be laying off the employees. Then they signed a renewal for their lease, and the notice was rescinded. Bethesda Magazine reported those events as they occurred. There was no "fake news" nor any "fuck up." Nice try, sheepshills.

Anonymous said...

11:19 AM Again, Bethesda was never on the Sears list of closures.

The list is current and posted here:

http://searsholdings.com/docs/010418-store-closing-list.pdf

A little bit of fact checking would have avoided this mess.

Anonymous said...

This has zero to do with "the Sears list of closures." The Magazine reported that Sears filed a notice with the state that they intended to close the store. Why did the Magazine report such a thing? Because Sears filed a notice with the state that they intended to close the store.

Why is this very simple series of events so hard for you to understand?

Reality: 1
Sheepshills: 0

Anonymous said...

Your document is dated January 4. Last Friday was January 12. The document dated January 4 said that Sears would continue to evaluate the performance of all Sears stores.

Anonymous said...

12:02 PM Extra step- such as confirming whether Sears was actually closing? They have the list posted on their website and Bethesda was not on it.

If you think spreading false news is good, so be it. I disagree.

Anonymous said...

Extra step- such as confirming whether Sears was actually closing?

They reached out to Sears. Sears did not respond. So nobody is allowed to file a report unless they've gotten a response directly from the subject of the article? That standard invalidates 90% of Mr. Dyer's posts.

They have the list posted on their website and Bethesda was not on it.

They filed a notice with the state and Bethesda was on it. This really is quite simple.

Meanwhile, we've got more BIG NEWS today about the closure of a Bethesda standby -- but you won't find it here...

Anonymous said...

List is from January 4. The news about the Montgomery Mall Sears was on January 12. Was it really just a councidence that the lease was renewed the same day?

Boyce Bowles said...

To be clear, there was never an "announcement" from Sears that they were closing their Bethesda store. No one has produced a link to such an announcement and the original blog post never quoted anyone from Sears making such an announcement.

As written above, Sears maintains a list of closures. It is updated as more closures are announced. Bethesda was not and is not on the list.

Anonymous said...

People could take Dyer more seriously if he'd comment on BB's articles instead of perpetually whining about them here, usually anonymously.

Baloney Concrete said...

To be clear (is that your favorite phrase, Boyce?) this ruse about "announcements" is a distraction. Bethesda Magazine's article was not predicated on an announcement. They did not report that an announcement was made.

As written above, the list of closures maintained by Sears has nothing to do with anything.

Anonymous said...

No body is whining about them. Just commenting on the Sears fiasco.

Reminds me of the guy that pressed the ballistic missile alert in Hawaii. False alert, mass panic and eventually a retraction.

Anonymous said...

2:51pm I think someone anonymously above claimed there was an "announcement" from Sears. There was no such announcement. There was an announcement a week ago about store closures but Bethesda was not on the list.

Anonymous said...

Unless reporters are making up quotes, Sears notified the county, by mistake, that it was closing the Montgomery Mall store, and then corrected the error.

Anonymous said...

Since Dyer won't stop lying about what the article said, here is he full text of it:

Update: Sears To Retract Closure Notice for Westfield Montgomery Location; Will Stay OpenSears signed new lease with Westfield Montgomery mall at the last minute, company spokesman says

BY BETHANY RODGERS 

Published: 2018.01.12 03:19

This story was updated at 5:10 p.m. Friday after Sears reported that it accidentally filed an official notice with the state that the Westfield Montgomery mall store would close.

An official closure notice for Sears at Westfield Montgomery mall was filed accidentally this week, and the store will remain open, a company spokesman said Friday afternoon.

“Our lease was expiring and we signed a new lease with the mall owner at the last-minute,” Sears Holdings Corp. spokesman Howard Riefs wrote in an email Friday. “Sears looks forward to continuing to serve our members and customers at this store as we have for the last 50 years.”

On Thursday, the company notified government officials that it would close the store at 7103 Democracy Blvd. and lay off up to 73 people starting in mid-March. Bethesda Beat published a story Friday afternoon, referring to the official closure notice.

Bethesda Beat could not reach Sears representatives by phone and email before publication early Friday afternoon for comment.

After the story was published, Riefs emailed and called Bethesda Beat to say that Sears accidentally filed the closure notice with the state of Maryland, which posted the news Friday on its website.

Riefs acknowledged during a phone call that Sears was considering a store closure before it worked out the new lease with Westfield Montgomery. He declined to provide any information about the lease.

He said Sears will contact the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation to retract the layoff notification. Federal law requires businesses with 100 or more employees to give 60 days’ notice of plant closings or mass layoffs.

Last year, Sears Holdings sold its Bethesda store building to the Westfield Group as part of a $105 million package deal with that included two other stores. The other Sears locations that Westfield sold were located in California.

Bethany Rodgers can be reached at bethany.rodgers@bethesdamagazine.com.

Anonymous said...

3:10pm That is NOT the original blog post. The first article had no comments from Sears, Westfield or anyone else. It never linked to a source at all.

To say that is an "updated" post is misleading. It is an entirely different post. Legacy media fail.

Anonymous said...

The deed for the sale of this Sears store to Westfield was dated March 28, 2017. So the lease would have expired on the anniversary, March 28 of this year. With just 2 1/2 months remaining, it looks like the negotiations went right down to the wire.

It will be interesting to see what happens this time next year.

Anonymous said...

The first article had no comments from [the subject of the article] or anyone else. It never linked to a source at all.

This describes 97% of posts on this blog.

Anonymous said...

3:29pm not Dyer, but thanks anyway

Anonymous said...

The site says it's an "update" - not an "updated blog post." It is providing new information on a previous story. What's the problem?

Regardless, the point remains that it's Sears that notified the county it was closing the Montgomery Mall store, and then corrected the error. Where's the legacy media fail?

Anonymous said...

Sears filed an official state document announcing the closing. As there can be criminal or civil charges for filing false documents with the state (though very rarely prosecuted), I think it's fair for BB to assume the information was valid.

It was Sears mistake, but no surprise. They continue to offer crappy products and crappy service, so why wouldn't they also mess up their official government filings?

Robert Dyer said...

That's strange - I remember being attacked mercilessly when I reported Kaldi's own online ad announcing they were "closing their doors" and holding a "complete liquidation" of their contents. Yet, you're giving the magazine a free pass for an even less direct statement of closure, and "not talking to anyone before publishing!!!"????

You've been exposed as a complete fraud, and possibly a magazine employee.

Dozens of people working at Sears heard through a false media report that they were being fired. Few have paid attention to the "update," and the tweet retracting the false Sears report has far fewer RTs than the "Sears is closing!" tweet. All comments on the article are in the context of it closing.

Yet, no criticism from you, the self-appointed media critic?

Anonymous said...

Robert, you are criticized because you are the fake media. You make it up as you go along. And you don’t even have the balls to keep comments that point out you’re wrong. You just delete because you can’t handle the truth. Sad.

Robert Dyer said...

4:54: Bethesda Magazine published a major false report, and you're calling me fake media? Laughable. Still waiting for your critical comments on their article over there.

Anonymous said...

BB's Sears article: Updated 1 hour 51 minutes later after Sears withdrew their closure notice to the state of Maryland.

Dyer's Kaldi article: Never updated. Dyer still attacks readers for pointing out that ot was wrong.

Anonymous said...

BB reported that Sears had filed notice with the State of Maryland that they were closing the Montgomery Mall store. That was true. And BB updated the story when Sears wihdrew the notice.

If you are unhappy with BB's reporting, why not comment over there, where people will actually read it?

Anna said...

5:04AM - One has nothing to do with the other. Other sites can update with new info and you can put out fake news.

Here's a fake statement from you at 4:28.
"You've been exposed as a complete fraud, and possibly a magazine employee."

No one's been exposed of anything of the sort.
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” —
Marcus Aurelius

Anna said...

I had a good point waaaay up at the beginning that was deleted. Why? Nothing more than the truth.
Here it is:

Nobody missed anything.
1) The company said they would close.
2) Later, the company retracted their statement and took the blame for the false report.

That's the truth.

Here's the thing, when you distort something purposely to make others look
bad...
Well, in the end, you're the only one looking silly.

Robert Dyer said...

5:24: Wrong. There was no comment from the store. The company never said they were closing. I carefully check each Sears store closing list, and Bethesda was never on there.

Whatever happened to your demand that a reporter "speak to an actual person" before publishing?

I find no comparison between a Roman emperor, and someone who hides behind a keyboard all day in a dark room, taking potshots at me - but not at the outlets who are actually publishing fake news!

Anna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anna said...

Blogger Anna said...

The company said they were closing by informing the state they were closing. This is a separate function from keeping a list.

I never "demanded" anything. More fake crap from you.

I don't read other local blogs. If someone here references something I'll go read it. That article and possibly I'll comment-on that article.

As it is, I'm in a bright sunlit room, I post under my own name, so how the heck am I hiding behind a keyboard? As for potshots? I call you out on your ridiculous claims and exaggerations, I defend myself, and I defend your right to use whatever time zone you wish.

I'm sorry you can't understand how the quote applies to you.

Baloney Concrete said...

Dyer @ 5:30: Wrong. There was no comment from the store. The company never said they were closing.

Wrong. Sears filed official notification with the State, as required by federal labor regulations, stating that they were closing the Bethesda store. It's still posted.

Notice Date: 1/11/18
NAICS Code 452112
Company Sears Holdings
Location 7103 Democracy Blvd. Bethesda, MD 20817
WIA Code 7 [MONTGOMERY COUNTY]
Total Employees 73
Effective Date 3/18/18
Type Code 1 [PLANT CLOSURE]

Anonymous said...

Dyer, why do you keep insisting that Sears will never close any more stores beyond those that were on the list that was published on January 4? Even that document says that Sears will continue to evaluate the performance of all their stores. The decision on the Montgomery Mall store was made on January ***12***.

Robert Dyer said...

7:27: Never made any such claim. I said none of the official closing announcements as of last Friday ever listed Bethesda.

7:19: Kaldi's posted they were "closing their doors," and holding a "complete liquidation." You said that was not enough to print, that you had to talk to someone first to confirm. Why did you flip-flop on that position? I noticed you didn't comment on the magazine for the Sears blunder. Interesting.

Is it like Hawaii, like the commenter said? No big deal?

Anonymous said...

The Magazine's headline was:

Sears Files Notice That Its Westfield Montgomery Store Will Close

This was and still is true. Meanwhile, your headline re: Kaldi's was:

Kaldi's Social House closing in Silver Spring

This was not true.

Robert Dyer said...

7:52: It wasn't true - Sears is not closing.

Maloney Concrete said...

Probably should have checked the actual closure list on the Sears corporate site. Montgomery Mall was never on the list.

Panic was created with a false post. Then the original post was deleted rather than updating and a new post went up.

Did I miss anything?

Anonymous said...

Who would "panic" at the prospect of Sears closing the Montgomery Mall location?

Perhaps those who use the store as a cut through - but it really seems that no one shops there.

Robert Dyer said...

7:17: Oh, I don't know - maybe the people who work there, and depend on their salary to eat?

Anna said...

Well, I hope those employees chewed out the Sears management for giving the county bad information.

Anonymous said...

Sears should have checked their closing list before they sent their notice to the state of Maryland.