The Safeway store at 7625 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda will close in about two months, according to a store employee. Signs are posted around the store announcing a Closing Sale, with savings of 30% on many products at the moment. Safeway has two other locations in Bethesda, at 5000 Bradley Boulevard and at the Shops at Sumner Place at 4701 Sangamore Road.
This is a major blow to the Bethesda Place apartments, as well as to residents of the Lionsgate and Christopher condos, and nearby Element 28 and Metropolitan Apartments. Safeway was the closest grocery store to all of those buildings, in terms of walking distance. Hopefully a new grocery store or Walmart Market can be brought in to fill the vacuum.
Online reviews of this Safeway have been harsh, and like the Sangamore location, this store apparently hasn't discovered self-checkout machines exist yet. I'm still puzzled as to why Giant and Safeway leave all these empty checkout aisles that are never manned, instead of removing them for more inventory floor space.
Montgomery County has lost more than 2000 retail jobs since the year 2000, according to the Maryland Retailers Association.
88 comments:
"according to a store employee" - it's almost a joke now.
The Safeway store at 7625 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda will close in about two months"
It will close on March 17.
..accordinging to a store employee."
LOL, sure. Whatever you say, Dyer
Great store and great location for transit users- across the street from Metro and accessible to several bus lines.
"Montgomery County has lost more than 2000 retail jobs since the year 2000, according to the Maryland Retailers Association"
Dyer could have used this information: "The store employs about 59 people, and all jobs will be transferred to other Safeway locations."
How many new retail jobs where created when the Harris Teeter opened last year four blocks from this Safeway? For that matter, doesn't the Bradley Blvd Safeway post-date 2000?
I knew it would go under as soon as the Harris Teeter opened. The only thing it had going for it was convenient location. The worst service ever. Can't believe it actually had 59 employees. Go in at 6pm and they've already closed the seafood counter and you won't be able to find someone in the deli. Maybe there are 3 employees in the entire store. Two of which are on break.
And "Friends of Woodmont Triangle" if you think that is a great store then you are no friend of the Triangle. You've lost any credibility you will ever have. I doubt you even live here because it's impossible to go in that store more than once and not despise it.
6:52 AM It's an average Safeway. It could be better in terms of having self check out and more people to check folks out.
Harris Teeter is new and better, but Safeway is closer for some residents and is nearest to the Metro. That matters for folks who walk to the store or use transit.
With the rumored Trader Joe’s moving closer to the epicenter in the new JB Smith mixed use, plus the new Harris Teeter, and on the south end the Existing Giant, and Existing Safeway does downtown really support a fifth grocery store? A this point, residential uses that need a market are really centered on the north and south ends of town, and likely well serviced by 4 unique and different supermarkets. the Target and other smaller convience stores and markets like Vace fill in the gaps a bit.
Perhap a small Whole Foods or Wegmans would be nice, but somehow it seems that would be unlikely based on the customer base and location.
I wonder if the floors could be lowered to install a new urban movie theater which would be central and an easy stroll from both dense residential areas. Office and theatres are good reciprocal parking users, that is they can share the same parking at different times. The large deck under the Metro Center could support a movie theatre when it is not fully utilized in the PM or on weekends.
Combined with proposed improvements at the Metro Center Plaza and the proposed new Brookfield Metro Center 4 Tower, perhaps a new vitality can be achieved at the epicenter of Bethesda.
While the opening of Harris-Teeter delivered the coup de grace (pronounced "koo day graw", Robbie), one could see that Safeway seriously neglected this store once he Arlington Road store re-opened - they let it die on the vine.
6:10: You actually believe all of those employees are going to local stores? You're probably still waiting in line for Pizza Pass to open for lunch. Unless Safeway has a new store opening nearby, they've been cutting jobs at all stores. 59 people for a full-service grocery store speaks for itself. Talk about a skeleton crew!
"Safeway is closer for some residents and is nearest to the Metro. That matters for folks who walk to the store or use transit."
Written from the perspective of someone living at Fairmont Plaza.
7:12: I listed many buildings closer in walking distance to the Safeway than Fairmont Plaza. Perhaps you should consult a map.
Why are you responding on behalf of a reader, Robert?
I don't live at Fairmont Plaza but stop by the store on the way home from work sometimes, because it is convenient. At the same time, I avoid it at all costs because they don't have enough employees and because a lot of customers seem to be really bad at counting to 15.
"I'm still puzzled as to why Giant and Safeway leave all these empty checkout aisles that are never manned, instead of removing them for more inventory floor space."
Maybe that's because you're not awake in the daytime and have never encountered them during their busiest hours.
7:32: You don't consider 6 PM on a weeknight a busy hour in a grocery store? You're delusional.
scoooooooped.
And as to your understanding issues, it's snowstorms, hurricanes, impending disasters, Christmas Eve. If you don't have the register infrastructure, you can't open a dozen lanes when you need to, three or four times a year. Not opening more when stores are regular-crowded is a (bad) management decision and one of the reasons the Germantown Wegmans is packed with cars sporting WJ, Whitman, and Churchill stickers on the weekends. Bethesda folks are many things; stupid isn't generally on the list.
Both this and the Bradley Safeway will have one or two cashiers working and long lines.
This store is convenient and is below an apartment building.
7:56 - Correct. Churches are built for Christmas and Easter, synagogues for Yom Kippur.
Back in the day, Giant had multiple registers manned.
Robert, why can't you take a decent photo of a store entrance? Instead you take the picture from weird angles in which the store's sign can't be seen.
Haters gonna hate
Lots of comment annihilations over the past few days. Meanwhile, Mr. Dyer continues to step around simple questions such as:
Why are comments disabled for this week's Westbard post?
Why are comments disabled for the Amazon post earlier this week?
Why were comments disabled for last week's Quincy's post (which just so happens to blame the closure on President Reimer)?
Why were comments disabled for last week's Safeway post (which just so happens to slam President Reimer)?
Meta: Why do comments asking about these deletions keep getting removed?
Why do Anna's comments about stock photos keep getting deleted?
Why does this blog operate on Pacific time instead of Eastern time as one might expect for a "hyper-local" blog?
And last but not least: Why doesn't #DodgingDyer simply provide answers to these questions instead of sweeping them under the rug??
Poor Dyer is still clueless to Safeway's neighbor to the Southeast being redeveloped. The whole block is changing.
"Safeway has two other locations in Bethesda, at 5000 Bradley Boulevard and at the Shops at Sumner Place at 4701 Sangamore Road."
Actually the Chevy Chase (DC) and Kensington stores are more convenient to most of Bethesda than the Sumner Place store.
"Montgomery County has lost more than 2000 retail jobs since the year 2000, according to the Maryland Retailers Association."
Does Robert seriously think we're dumb enough to believe this? You've been using the same fake stat for years now, as if the number of retail jobs never declines or increases - it's always exactly "2000 retail jobs since the year 2000," month after month, year after year. You're so lazy you don't even update your lies.
Think back to 2000 - no Rockville Town Square, no Pike & Rose, no Bethesda Row, no Downtown Silver Spring, no Downtown Crown, no King Farm, etc. etc. Montgomery County has added 10,000,000+ sqft of retail since 2000, yet you honestly think we've LOST retail jobs? How dumb are you?
9:51 AM Of course, we lost an entire mall (White Flint) since 2000, so I don't doubt Dyer's #s.
Yes, we gained Pike & Rose, but that replaced existing retail. (I strongly support Pike & Rose). Much of Rockville Town Square is vacant. So it is not quite the picture you paint.
Censorship is the height of vanity.--- Martha Graham
9:54 AM "Much of Rockville Town Square is vacant." What Town Square are you referring to? There are currently four vacant bays in the entire center, hardly enough to earn the adverb much. You are just as dyer as Dyer.
"Of course, we lost an entire mall (White Flint) since 2000, so I don't doubt Dyer's #s."
I just listed millions of sqft of new retail and you think Dave & Buster's moving to a slightly smaller space negates all that? Are you serious? Even just looking at county malls - the worst performing sub-category of retail - and you'll see retail additions at both Wheaton (Costco) and Montgomery (Arclight and dining terrace) and a complete renovation of Ellsworth Place that far exceed White Flint's lost capacity.
"Yes, we gained Pike & Rose, but that replaced existing retail."
Duh. That's the point. The county has grown exponentially and replaced 15 acres of surface parking with new retail.
"Much of Rockville Town Square is vacant."
RTS is over 92% leased. There are six vacancies totaling 14,057 sqft out of 187,000 total sqft of retail.
Maybe educate yourself a bit instead of blindly swallowing the nonsense Robert spoon feeds you, yeah?
11:24 AM Merchants at RTS continue to say the paid parking is a problem there.
11:48 AM A lot of big square footage spaces on the Pike vacant- HH Gregg, the former funeral home, former hooters, REI's old space...
11:48: Actually that is not a Dyer talking point. If anything, Dyer tends to understate the closures at RTC. It's a federal Realty property - gotta keep those sponsors happy, ya know.
ROCKVILLE WILL NOT BE GREAT AGAIN UNTIL WE BRING BACK ROBERT HALL, KINNEY SHOES, E.J. KORVETTES AND THE SUPER GIANT!
This blog has ceased being useful. It’s now people just coming here to give Robert a hard time because of many untruths he posts here.
Robert, why didn’t you just link to the Bethesda Magazine article? They had more/better information and had the story first.
12:51pm lol...bethesda beater actually they had less information.nothing about the 30% off sale, for example. Kind of a big thing to not mention.
Try again next time beaters!
"A lot of big square footage spaces on the Pike vacant- HH Gregg, the former funeral home, former hooters, REI's old space..."
Again, you're talking about a rounding error that doesn't affect the equation. Millions of sqft of retail have been added to the county since 2000 and you're talking about the closure of a funeral home. Wake up.
1:48pm you mentioned examples, so did I.
If you dispute Dyer's numbers, please cite a source that contradicts.
Looking forward to your response.
I mentioned six entirely new retail districts that average 400,000 sqft each and you countered with four singular examples of retail turnover that average 6,000 sqft each (as if there wasn't retail turnover in 2000, anyways). It's comparing watermelons and raisins.
If you sincerely think the MoCo of 2000 had MORE retail than MoCo of 2018 then you haven't lived here very long at all. MoCo of 2000 was an entirely different place with 200,000 fewer residents and a far more suburban/exurban bent.
Are you disputing:
Montgomery County has lost more than 2000 retail jobs since the year 2000, according to the Maryland Retailers Association.
I've searched the Maryland Retailers Association's website and cannot find any reference to the statistic Mr. Dyer cites. As Mr. Dyer is chronically allergic to providing links to source material, we can only assume he pulled the numbers out of thin air.
How come Dyer never signs his posts between noon and midnight?
Fairly lousy Safeway. I still remember the days when the cashiers would clown around broadcasting whatever amused them on the storewide PA system.
"The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a red zone."
"All hands, brace for impact!"
Odd that Dyer describes geological time as "THOUSANDS of years ago".
Dyer, are you a Young-Earth Creationist?
"Are you disputing:
Montgomery County has lost more than 2000 retail jobs since the year 2000, according to the Maryland Retailers Association."
Anyone with two brain cells to rub together would dispute that.
Saith Dyer: "Humans' beachfront property is hardly the highest priority of the systems that sustain the planet."
This statement alone is breathtaking for its utter stupidity. As if none of the world's most densely populated areas, including Washington DC, and much of the world's most productive agricultiural lands will be affected.
Dyer, do you not realize that the shores of the Potomac River are at sea level all the way up to Little Falls?
7:15: Sorry, Saul Alinsky, but the term "thousands" was used by yourself in your original comment I was responding to. You said "thousands," and I responded to your misguided belief that there are weather almanacs with accurate daily (or even monthly) weather data going back thousands of years.
7:38: You doubt the Maryland Retailers Association? I think they're in a position to know. You also seem to confuse the size of a building with the number of employees that work in it.
8:25: Is it the planet's fault that we built on land that likely would be flooded hundreds of years later? What do you suggest - messing up the self-regulating systems that maintain Earth so that Jeff Bezos can have a house in Kalorama?
"You doubt the Maryland Retailers Association?"
No, Dyer. We doubt YOU. Can you actually provide a link to the article in which your "retail joba lost in MoCo since 2000" appears?
"messing up the self-regulating systems that maintain Earth"
That's already what humans have been doing for hundreds of years.
On it's own, the planet wouldn't be using up it's fossil fuels, melting the polar ice cap, and putting plastic in it's waters.
It's a big concern of the next generation who are taking the reins from the boomers. Study up. Don't get left behind. NOAA has good info.
4:59: I have studied up. That's why I strongly support research to find alternative energy sources, beyond wind and solar. I'm not sure fossil fuels are to blame for the record low temperatures this winter, however. In fact, they're helping to keep us warm.
In regard to plastic, why does Montgomery County allow it to be put into our waterways? Why does it force local watershed groups to spend time hauling trash out of our streams? Had I been elected in 2014, we would have had a crackdown on littering and dumping, and we could have had some of those fine folks in our County jail get out there and pick up that litter. Maybe some of those 6 or 8 officers being called in by our racist Planning Board to confront black church representatives could instead be patrolling our stream valley parks for litterbugs.
Election results suggest "progressive" MoCo isn't very concerned about litter in our waterways.
4:54: I've got it right here.
[[According to Maddy Voytek of the Maryland Retailers Association, Montgomery County has lost 2141 retail jobs since the turn of the century (around the same time the core members of this current Council were first elected). She said adoption of the $15 wage would "devastate our economy."]]
http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2016/06/businesspeople-on-moco-councils-quest.html
Dyer, as I recall, you opposed the County's 5-cent tax on plastic shopping bags. That has only been on the books for a few years, but it has already made a huge impact on litter in our County.
5:38: Wrong. The actual tax results found the tax had no effect on the use of bags. That is hard data. Claims that there are fewer bags littering the County have been mostly anecdotal, sometimes from those who would lose funding generated by the tax.
Thank you for confirming what I said.
"On it's own, the planet wouldn't be using up it's fossil fuels, melting the polar ice cap, and putting plastic in it's waters."
I'll just ignore your tangent to blaming all the world's troubles on the Montgomery County Maryland County Council and the fact that you weren't elected all those years ago.
6:24: I realize this is how you spend your days now, for pay or otherwise, but the fact is, you moved the goalposts from the original topic of record cold. No, the increasing or decreasing size of the polar ice cap at any time is not related to human activity. The proof is that the amount of ice has changed in the past, long before the industrial revolution and fossil fuels.
You appear to be endorsing "peak oil" theory, which was disproven about 30 years ago when the naysayers originally claimed we'd run out. Plastic in the water has nothing to do with atmospheric temperatures.
Responding to your broad claim that I'm not "concerned" about the environment does not equal an endorsement of your theories.
Dyer, there is only a finite supply of fossil fuels on Earth. They are not generated continuously as you seem to think. The fossil fuels we burn today were created from vegetation that existed almost 300 years ago.
The more immediate concern is the increase in atmospheric carbon from burning these fuels, but if we keep using them without finding alternative sources of energy, they most certainly will run out some day.
Saith Dyer: "That's why I strongly support research to find alternative energy sources, beyond wind and solar."
What? You support fossil fuels as "alternative energy sources beyond wind and solar?"
Robert, I read and comment on a few blogs/websites. Between working, online classes, audio seminars, and my own writing, I have days when much of my time is spent in front of a computer and during calm moments I hit up blogs and stuff. It's no big mystery, and I resent you and your minions spending the past 2 years questioning me and inferring I have some nefarious reason.
Actually YOU moved the goalposts @2:11AM when you said "What do you suggest - messing up the self-regulating systems that maintain Earth" which is when I joined the convo mentioning things that the Earth was not doing to harm itself & it therefore could not "self-regulate"
The fact that the ice cap has repeatedly grown and shrunk over the years is not proof. You really would benefit from reading the NOAA site.
12:25: Continuous daily attacks on me can certainly be described as "nefarious."
10:24: There was more carbon in Earth's atmosphere BEFORE humans existed. Certainly fossil fuels are finite, but the peak oil folks greatly underestimated just how large those supplies are.
10:27: Huh? Fossil fuels are not "alternative energy," old sport. It's about finding a new fuel source and a clean, more powerful method of creating energy not currently known.
What a crock. You write a blog, I comment on what you write and take you to task to defend it.
Everything else is in your head.
Anna - Stupid-Never...Outspoken-Always...Truth-4Life
Robert Dyer said "Continuous daily attacks on me can certainly be described as "nefarious."
Are you admitting your constant attacks on Hans and others are nefarious?
Robert Dyer said..."4:54: I've got it right here. [[According to Maddy Voytek of the Maryland Retailers Association, Montgomery County has lost 2141 retail jobs since the turn of the century (around the same time the core members of this current Council were first elected). She said adoption of the $15 wage would "devastate our economy."]] http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2016/06/businesspeople-on-moco-councils-quest.html"
Do you have a source that isn't from your own blog?
Dyer @ 9:01 PM - It is true that from the time humans emerged as a species, to the start of the Industrial Age approximately 150 years ago, atmospheric CO2 levels had reached a low point in Earth's history in a range of 180-250 ppm. CO2 levels were as high as 6,000 ppm before land plants emerged in the early Paleozoic Era, about 400 million years ago. The growth of land plants created a sink for atmospheric carbon, drawing down CO2 from 6,000 ppm to 180 ppm over the course of 400 million years.
Human activity, specifically, the burning of fossil fuels that had been formed from these plants as they died and became buried under new layers of soil then rock, returned huge amounts of carbon which had been sequestered under the Earth, to the atmosphere, in a very short time. In just 150 years, atmospheric CO2 has been increased from 250 ppm to 400 ppm, an increase of nearly 40%, which is unprecedented in Earth's history. In just 150 years we have increased atmospheric CO2 to the same level that it was 20 million years ago.
2017 was, globally, one of the warmest years on record. The temperature map in the Post article includes the East Coast of the United States and shows us as warmer than average. So I'm not sure where you're getting your "cool summer" data from. Can you share your source?
Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/01/18/2017-was-among-the-planets-hottest-years-on-record-government-scientists-report/?utm_term=.9f45e9625292
The last two or three summers were "cool" only in he sense that daily highs did not exceed 100 degrees F, as they did several times in the summers of 2010-12. However the mean temperatures were higher.
Robert DyerJanuary 16, 2018 at 9:14 AM
Antarctica was once free of ice, as ancient maps show. Is it a catastrophe if it becomes free of ice again? Not necessarily. Humans' beachfront property is hardly the highest priority of the systems that sustain the planet.
AnonymousJanuary 16, 2018 at 12:52 PM
Ancient maps don't show Antarctica...
Robert DyerJanuary 17, 2018 at 6:04 AM
12:52: Uh, yeah, they do. Some were the source for the Piri Reis map, which has an accurate map of Antarctica's coastline.
You probably also believe that Columbus discovered America, but that's why you probably should stick to shilling for the MoCo cartel rather than challenging a history major on world history.
Who's buried in Grant's Tomb? LOL
AnonymousJanuary 18, 2018 at 10:45 AM
"The Piri Reis map, which has an accurate map of Antarctica's coastline."
Debunked here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map#The_Antarctic_coast
7:48: The last two summers here in the D.C. area were among the coolest of my lifetime, with 2016 being the coolest ever. And now we've had two of the coldest winters.
7:00: In other words, the planet survives high levels of carbon in the atmosphere. Good to know going forward.
7:00: Anyone can confirm my account by watching that public hearing, which is on video on the Council website. Just because other local media conveniently excluded much of the business community's testimony doesn't mean my report is inaccurate.
8:38: Not debunked, just somebody's theory about it. Unlike you, I don't elevate theories or strong "consensus" to the level of scientific data. Again, you sound like someone who believes nothing happened before the Age of Explorers. Get woke.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudohistory
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoarchaeology
The notion that the Piri Reis map "shows Antarctica" is "one man's theory", and that man, Arlington H. Mallery, was neither a historian nor an archeologist.
What is claimed to be "Antarctica" is actually a distorted extension of the southeast coast of South America. Antarctica is not connected to South America.
"In other words, the planet survives high levels of carbon in the atmosphere. Good to know going forward."
There was no life on land at all at that time, and only the most primitive lifeforms in the ocean,let alone the vegetation on which we depend for sustenance.
8:54: No kidding. I never said it was attached. What I said is that the Antarctic coastline was shown in ancient maps prior to its "discovery" in 1820. The Piri Reis map, like the maps it was based upon, was obviously made in an age prior to aerial and satellite views of the world. It's not surprising that it does not show the complete land mass of Antarctica, nor that someone exploring in ancient times would not have known what they were sailing around was connected or not connected to. In that context, the map shows a remarkably similar shape to Antarctica's coast, just in the wrong place and relation to South America.
8:59: But we're here today. According to the apocalyptic predictions, such high levels of carbon would have resulted in a John Cusack "2012" cataclysm. It apparently did not. Having said that, I'm not suggesting we attempt to use fossil fuels anymore than we have to. You've moved the goalposts from talking about the record cold of this winter to the burning of fossil fuels.
It's one thing to argue that Chinese and Viking navigators have not received sufficient credit for their discoveries which came before the Portuguese and Spanish "Age of Discovery".
It's quite another thing to claim that a 500-year-old map which shows a distorted version of South America, supposedly shows an "Ice-Free Antarctica" instead.
"I don't elevate theories or strong "consensus" to the level of scientific data."
You just showed that you don't understand what any of those three terms actually mean.
"Get woke."
Oh, please. What kind of crank would use that phrase in a scientific discussion?
"2012" is fiction, and the plot has nothing to do with global warming.
9:23: A map is not a theory. It appears to show part of the Antarctic coastline. That doesn't mean I said Antarctica was "ice-free."
9:36: Good. I've never wasted two hours of my life screening it.
"A map is not a theory" Quick, let me draw a map and call it fact!!
Um, Dyer... you said that "Antarctica was once free of ice, as ancient maps show", on your East County blog on Tuesday morning.
Piri Reis Map (fragment) from 1513 here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map#/media/File%3APiri_reis_world_map_01.jpg
It's one thing to infer that a squiggly line extending eastward from southeastern South America is "Antarctica".
Looking at that, and somehow determining that "Antarctica was free of ice" then, is a whole 'nother level of crazy.
Again, what is your source regarding these cooler summers? Because according to Weather.gov the average temperatures of June and July of 2017 were 2 degrees warmer than the norm average of 150 years of data. August was a bit cooler than average - by 0.7 degrees. And even August - cooler than average - was warmer than the average temperatures of the 2014, 2004, and 2000 Augusts. All of which were within your lifetime. So again - what is your source?
Here's mine: https://www.weather.gov/media/lwx/climate/dcatemps.pdf.
Suze - Dyer thinks that because daily high temperatures did not exceed 100 in the summers of 2016 and 2017, those summers were "the coolest of his lifetime."
It's clear that he does not understand the concept of mean temperature.
@12:30 - Sigh.
Anna, every time I read your comments on this blog, I can't help thinking of how much your comments remind me of Trump's impulsive and rude tweets.
5:07PM is so jealous of the attention Anna got from Dyer he can't contain himself. #SheepshillEnvy
Saith Dyer: "the map shows a remarkably similar shape to Antarctica's coast"
Other than going in an east-west direction, how is that reputed coastline "a remarkably similar shape to Antarctica's coast"?
11:15: The coastline had to be free of ice in order for someone to have mapped it.
12:24: I'm a lifelong resident. I've been here every summer, and I can say with certainty that 2016 and 2017 were cooler than previous summers.
7:47: Look at it and match it up to part of Antarctica's coastline. It's in the wrong place and wrong position on the map, but it does match up remarkably close, especially considering the time it must have been recorded.
At 7:02 (or more likely Anna), keep dreaming. The fact that I find you as repulsive as our pathetic president due to your impulsive and obnoxious comments, does not mean that I'm jealous of you. Actually, I find it sad that this is the way you spend your time and I'm hoping that by enlightening you about your rude behavior, you might be intelligent enough to stop. But just like Trump, you just keep the comments rolling.
See, classic Dyer. (always done on old stories, never on the current day)
Claim I said horrible things.
Call out the sheep to question my existence.
Call me mentally ill.
Rinse and repeat.
6:51AM, Oh my goodness, if my words are upsetting you so much, please stop reading my comments! Drink some chamomile tea, meditate. Stop torturing yourself.
Nothing more completely baffles one who is full of tricks and duplicity than
straight forward and simple integrity in another.
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