The vacant space previously home to Gateway Newsstand (or "Newstand," as the sign spells it) in the Bethesda Metro Center bus bays area is now being marketed for lease. Despite the name, and the sound logic of a newsstand located at a subway station, the business was more of a coffee bar and convenience store than a newsstand. The space continues to be a great location if you have a product or service of interest to morning and evening commuters.
I would like to see a real newsstand here. But just as the opening of new fast food restaurants in Bethesda has apparently been banned by Montgomery County government, so too has the opening or operation of any place where you can purchase print editions of major newspapers from cities around the United States or the world. This is less surprising when you learn that the vandalism-style paint around the rim of the plaza at the Metro Center is what passes for "art" in our time. We are a civilization in decline.
The space has been empty for about three years. It was more of a mini mart.
ReplyDeleteNothing to do with “the MoCo Cartel”. Newspapers are very rarely printed outside their local markets anymore, except for those which have a national following such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and the inventory is small enough that a corner of a grocery store, CVS or 7-11 is sufficient.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t seen a print edition of The Baltimore Sun in this area in ages, and the print edition of The Washington Times is nearly extinct.
Foreign papers are even harder to find in print. A few Chinese or Arab papers, and that’s it.
Last Baltimore Sun I purchased was from Rudy's shop at the base of Triangle Towers, but he stopped carrying it (One Copy on the rack) years ago before COVID.
Delete@ 6:40 PM - Rudy’s store spawned from the much bigger newstand that used to be where the Lionsgate is now. Only carries a handful of newspapers and magazines. But the post office is very convenient.
DeleteYears ago, you could always get major newspapers at Starbucks, and at the convenience store that was on Norfolk Avenue, right near the Starbucks. Plus, right outside those stores there was a row of newspaper boxes. (Sigh.)
ReplyDeleteAh, newsboxes! A decade ago there were about 15 in and around Veterans Park and about 30 in front of the Metro station. As of early this year, the very last newsbox in downtown Bethesda is on Wisconsin between the Exxon station and the Bethesda Medical Building, though long empty and derelict.
DeleteI used to buy my Sunday papers at that store - One Stop - originally a High’s, then a 7-11. Run by a nice Cambodian family.