The long and painful death of Stuart Weitzman at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda has mercifully come to an end. Its space on Level 2 was cleared out and stripped of signage yesterday. Customers - or potential customers - of the upscale shoe boutique often found the store closed during its stated business hours starting in December. Bizarre indeed, as this was at height of the holiday shopping season. So, while this is a stunning development, it's not much of a surprise to regular readers of this website.
One reader commented, as the often-reduced hours of the store continued last month, that there were staffing issues there. Stuart Weitzman opened exactly ten years ago at the mall. This was a coup for Westfield at the time, as you might have expected a brand like this to land at Bethesda Row. Perhaps it was a ten-year lease, and the chain decided to stick it out to the end, rather than close last month. Regardless, it was a very solid run in the very business-unfriendly climate of Montgomery County, and those who managed and worked at this store over the last decade can certainly be proud of that.
2 comments:
I don’t think you know women’s shoes. This would have never survived at Bethesda Row.
I do believe that MC is slipping away as a premier county: Downtown Silver Spring is lost, Wheaton, lost, and soon Bethesda will be 'lost' as well. The real estate Mavens that created ' North Bethesda' where South Rockville really is, are at least seeing the writing on the wall, if not actually writing it themselves!
Business is tough anyhow, and our LG makes it much worse; competition is keen and success is limited to where we feel safe. Bethesda crime is way up, the environment and police passivity are partly to blame. The Purple line will be the death knell,, it's already bad enough that people are actively avoiding Bethesda.
Post a Comment