Miniso closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda (Photos)

Miniso has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. It turns out that even popular concepts from rapidly-growing companies are not immune to the moribund Montgomery County economy. Miniso's revenue grew 9.1% in mainland China, and 30.3% overseas during the first quarter of this year, the Chinese company announced in May. Employees are boxing up the contents of the store. The anti-business Montgomery County Council never met a slim profit margin it couldn't shrink even further. Heckuva job, Brownie!

GAP closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

GAP has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Strange things have been afoot at the store in recent weeks, namely the store frequently - if not nightly - closing early, and posting a sign stating that it was due to the air-conditioning being out. The floor inventory had also been dwindling. Now the reason for all this is clear, as the clothing chain announced in an email to customers yesterday that "Gap Montgomery Mall has closed." Customers are being directed to the GAP at 11820 Grand Park Avenue at Pike & Rose in Rockville. The Montgomery Mall GAP is the latest victim of the moribund Montgomery County economy, as its parent company's downsizing plan of closing 350 GAP and Banana Republic stores shuttered those locations between 2023 and early 2024, and the Montgomery Mall store was spared the axe in that culling.

Signage installed at Coffee Fi in Bethesda

Permanent signage was installed above the future storefront of Coffee Fi in downtown Bethesda yesterday.  Located at 4929 St. Elmo Avenue, the coffee shop will offer single-origin Ethiopian coffee "from our farm to your cup." It is taking over the space recently vacated by Scorpio Tattoo Studio in the St. Elmo's Cove shopping center. Coffee Fi will have to compete with several other existing coffee shops now open, or opening soon, on St. Elmo and the surrounding blocks.

Hollister claims its space at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

We knew Hollister was returning to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, and now we know where. It is moving into the space just vacated by Foot Locker on Level 1, next to American Eagle, in the Old Navy/Cheesecake Factory wing of the mall. "Coming soon" signage has been installed across the storefront, and it confirms the fall opening date of my original breaking news report. Hollister is a tremendous addition, as it is one of those tenants every self-respecting mall needs, much like Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's, Panda Express, Sephora, Urban Outfitters, and Hollister's sister brand, Abercrombie & Fitch - to name a few.

Call Your Mother Deli to open in downtown Bethesda

A source tells me that Call Your Mother Deli will be opening a new location in downtown Bethesda. That location is said to be 4828 St. Elmo Avenue, the corner space recently vacated by Hardwood Artisans. Call Your Mother had operated a trolley car food truck at the historic Bethesda Community Store for several years, before departing as a major renovation project began there. It also has a location at Pike & Rose. 

The new space on St. Elmo was famously once home to Johnny Rockets before its conversion to a furniture store. Fortunately, the prime location retained its kitchen venting system, allowing it to now return to restaurant form for the popular D.C.-area deli chain. Call Your Mother gained nationwide attention when former President Joe Biden made it his first restaurant order after being sworn in as Commander-in-Chief in 2021.

Lilit Cafe in Bethesda to offer early morning breakfast starting August 1

Lilit Cafe, a popular gluten-free restaurant at 7921 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda, will soon offer an early morning breakfast with a new menu. The new breakfast will be available starting at 7:00 AM on August 1, 2025. An expanded breakfast menu will include pancakes, waffles, omlettes, and parfaits.

Guru Groceries temporarily closed in Bethesda

Guru Groceries & Chaat House Indian Market is taking a brief summer break at 7817 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda. The store will reopen on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Guru did not post a reason for the closure. However, quite a few small businesses in Bethesda temporarily close in the summer, when their ownership takes a vacation or travels on business.

Virginia wins AstraZeneca megafactory over Maryland

"There's going to be so much losing, you'll get tired of losing." We're definitely tired of losing in Montgomery County and Maryland, but Virginia just handed us another big L. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has announced it plans to build its largest global drug manufacturing facility yet in Virginia. The loss is even harder to take when you consider that AstraZeneca already has a substantial presence here in Montgomery County. How did we lose this one?

AstraZeneca's announcement is the latest victory for President Donald Trump's trade strategy, which is in part designed to bring jobs back to America. GE Appliances recently announced it would relocate some of its China manufacturing footprint to the massive factory complex at Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky. AstraZeneca's move is to avoid high tariffs Trump proposed for drug imports. 

Montgomery County isn't a total loser in the $50 billion investment AstraZeneca plans to make in the U.S. over the next five years: the company said it also plans to expand its Gaithersburg manufacturing facility, and to add a cell therapy manufacturing facility in Rockville. But it's simply cheaper to do business in Virginia, and the Commonwealth is quickly catching up in the regional biotech race, which has been the sole bright spot in Montgomery County's otherwise-moribund economy.

“I want to thank AstraZeneca for choosing Virginia as the cornerstone for this transformational investment in the United States,” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “This project will set the standard for the latest technological advancements in pharmaceutical manufacturing, creating hundreds of highly skilled jobs and helping further strengthen the nation's domestic supply chain. Advanced manufacturing is at the heart of Virginia's dynamic economy, so I am thrilled that AstraZeneca, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, plans to make their largest global manufacturing investment here in the Commonwealth.”  

“Today’s announcement underpins our belief in America’s innovation in biopharmaceuticals and our commitment to the millions of patients who need our medicines in America and globally,” AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said. “It will also support our ambition to reach $80 billion in revenue by 2030. I look forward to partnering with Governor Youngkin and his team to work on our largest single manufacturing investment ever. It reflects the Commonwealth of Virginia’s desire to create highly skilled jobs in science and technology, and will strengthen the country’s domestic supply chain for medicines.” 

Fantastic Four: First Steps photo booth at Bethesda Row (Photos)

A rare promotional display for the Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema has been placed on the public plaza across Woodmont Avenue from the movie theater. Tied to today's opening of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the photo booth features a clear window with a backdrop, and comic book cover iconography superimposed on the window. When you step inside, you enter the cover of a comic book, and can have someone outside photograph it for posterity. 

Montgomery County Council rams through ZTA to upzone SFH neighborhoods

The Montgomery County Council took the first major step toward realization of its radical, warmed-over Reaganomics "Thrive 2050" plan yesterday, by approving construction of duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and apartment buildings up to four stories tall on lots currently restricted to single-family homes along multiple commuter corridors. True to its form of recent years, the Council simply blew off community opposition, and a crowded hearing room of angry residents. Taunting the crowd at times, the Council's sense of invincibility was hard to hide in both their microexpressions and tone of voice. The "More Housing N.O.W." zoning text amendment - like Thrive 2050 - had no grassroots support, and overwhelming opposition among residents.

Steamrolling ahead, the Council's willingness to outright lie about the intention of the ZTA was astonishing. From the beginning, they have attempted to sell Thrive and this ZTA as addressing housing affordability issues. Councilmember Andrew Friedson specifically cited middle-income "teachers, firefighters, police officers and nurses" as being able to afford the $2 million duplexes and $1 million apartments that the ZTA will produce. This is nothing more than pure, unadulterated malarkey. Incredibly, the reporter from The Washington Post accepted this farcical statement at face value, declining to fact check Friedson, ask tough follow-up questions, or outright declare Friedson's statements as false, as the paper regularly does for Donald Trump. The Post even used the term "missing middle," which doesn't remotely apply to the multimillion-dollar units that will be constructed under this ZTA. 

Eligible properties (in pink and yellow) in
Aspen Hill, Glenmont, and Wheaton

All this ZTA will do is increase the cost of housing in Montgomery County. If the townhome right next to the parking garage with no backyard at Westbard Square is $1.x million, then the future duplex with half a backyard and half a front yard in Springfield has to go for $2.x million. Now the colonial with the full front yard and backyard and Whitman school district is suddenly $3.x million, and the new-construction McMansion is $4.x million. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Urbanization of the suburbs is the primary goal of the ZTA. For example, the map of eligible properties shows how this ZTA is advancing the plan to urbanize River Road between the D.C. line and the Capital Beltway, which I have warned you about for many years. You can see the many churches, schools, country clubs, and other large properties the Council and their developer sugar daddies imagine will be demolished in the coming years. The speed limit on River Road has already been improperly reduced to 35 MPH, the exact opposite of sound traffic engineering, as the road is designed for speeds up to 55 MPH. Eventually, under the urbanization plan, River Road will be reduced to one lane in each direction, with bus/bike-only lanes seizing the other travel lanes heading east and west. A Purple Line extension to Westbard will be planned to juice density even further. As tall apartment buildings rise along the sides of River Road, the speed limit will drop to 25 MPH. Similar plans are in the works for Georgia Avenue between Olney and downtown Silver Spring, Old Georgetown Road, Veirs Mill Road, Route 29, MD 355, and other major commuter routes countywide.

Here is how each Councilmember voted on the ZTA yesterday. The names under "YES" are the people you will be voting AGAINST on your 2026 ballot, and the names under "NO" are the people you will be voting FOR in the 2026 Democratic primary election.

YES - to approve the ZTA

Gabe Albornoz

Marilyn Balcombe

Natali Fani-Gonzalez

Andrew Friedson

Evan Glass

Dawn Luedtke

Laurie-Anne Sayles

Kate Stewart

NO - to oppose the ZTA

Will Jawando

Sidney Katz

Kristin Mink

Duck Duck Goose building gutted in Bethesda (Photos)

The former Duck Duck Goose restaurant space at 7929 Norfolk Avenue has been gutted for a future new tenant. As you can see in these photos, the interior has been stripped down to the walls and floor. The one-story 1962 building was acquired this past April by The Greenhill Companies of Bethesda, a major real estate firm with a vast portfolio of properties in Montgomery County. This includes a number of restaurant buildings in the Woodmont Triangle neighborhood alone.

Bethesda office building to be "entirely transformed" by 2026

A 40-year-old office building in downtown Bethesda is about to be "entirely transformed," Transwestern and the Ronald D. Paul Companies have announced. 7830 Old Georgetown Road will be getting a facelift and renovations to better position it for today's tough office market. The building has been particularly popular with medical professionals, and the the updates will retain suites suitable for medical use, as well as general office suites. 7830 Old Georgetown has 30 covered parking spaces, which are leased by the month. The renovations and upgrades will be completed by next year, if all goes according to schedule. Hickok Cole is the architectural contractor for the project.

RNC demands Maryland "clean up voter rolls"

Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley

The Republican National Committee has sent a letter to the Maryland State Board of Elections demanding it "clean up voter rolls." RNC Chair Michael Whatley said the notice letter informs the SBE that it is "violating federal law" in failing to do so previously. It's unclear what will happen if the SBE ignores the letter. A previous attempt by the conservative organization Judicial Watch to purge the names of dead or out-of-state voters from the Maryland rolls was unsuccessful. Judicial Watch's analysis at the time found there were more names registered to vote than actual voters in Maryland.

"Maryland is failing to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter rolls, in clear violation of federal law," Whatley said in a statement. "Citizens deserve to know their vote isn't being canceled out by duplicate or ineligible voters."

No Republican has won any office in Montgomery County since Maryland switched from punch card voting to electronic voting in 2006. Only four years earlier, County Republicans held at least two seats on the Montgomery County Council, several seats in the state legislature, and at least one Congressional seat. 

Westbard shooting suspect hearing postponed after defense motions filed

A hearing to schedule a trial for the sole suspect arrested so far in the March 29, 2025 shooting on Westbard Avenue in Bethesda has been postponed until this Friday, July 25, after the suspect's attorney filed several motions in advance of last Friday's original hearing date. Devon Edwards, 22, is facing charges of felony 1st-degree assault, reckless endangerment, loaded handgun on person, and discharging a firearm in an urban area in the shooting outside of the Bowlero bowling alley at 5353 Westbard Avenue at Westbard Square. Two people were injured in the shootout, and one or more additional alleged shooters still remain at-large.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge James A. Bonifant postponed last Friday's hearing, after attorney Danielle Moore of the Office of the Public Defender filed motions requesting a speedy trial, demanding discovery and inspection, requesting production of the grand jury transcript, and to suppress/exclude evidence, dismiss and severance. The latter was a request to separate the charges or to entirely dismiss the charges. Last week's actions also now confirm that the charges Edwards faces were the result of grand jury proceedings.

Woodmont Crescent 2nd-floor available for lease in Bethesda

The Woodmont Crescent building at 7770 Woodmont Avenue in Bethesda has recently completed major renovations and upgrades to the property. These include the addition of an elevator and elevator lobby, which have created a modern and alternative access to the 2nd floor beyond the existing staircase. The updates to the building have attracted new tenants to fill the ground floor retail spaces: Hardwood Artisans, and Max's Best Ice Cream. They join longtime anchor tenant Starbucks at street level. Now the ownership is marketing the second floor office space, part of which was once occupied by the offices of Bethesda Magazine. They're also noting that signage can be installed for second-floor tenants, at this high-visibility intersection.

Bethesda Lidl store touts grand opening, "Special Guests" (Photos)

Lidl has posted new banners at its downtown Bethesda store at 7625 Old Georgetown Road at Bethesda Place, touting its grand opening on July 30, 2025. New signs have also been posted inside the store, in the bakery department. "SPECIAL GUESTS," they read - but they're not for VIPs attending the grand opening. Rather, they are for the chain's "Special Guests" bakery promotion. The reserved shelves below the sign will display limited-time-only baked goods that are introduced every two weeks, and will be sold for four weeks only.

Trattoria Sorrento to take summer break in mid-August in Bethesda

Trattoria Sorrento at 4930 Cordell Avenue in Bethesda has scheduled its annual late-summer break for mid-August. The Italian restaurant will temporarily close on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, and will reopen on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. Still family-owned after 34 years in business, Trattoria Sorrento is one of several small businesses in downtown Bethesda that schedule time off in the summer.

T.J. Maxx moving back into Friendship Heights location (Photos)

Two years ago, T.J. Maxx announced it would be returning to its former location at 5300 Wisconsin Avenue NW in the Friendship Heights area of Chevy Chase. Now the discount department store is moving back in. The address may be the same, but the building has changed, with the upper levels of the former Mazza Gallerie mall having been demolished and replaced with residential housing. With the flight of the ultra-rich from Montgomery County sending once-ritzy Friendship Heights into a staggering decline, landlords in the area are attempting to meet the market for more affordable retailers like T.J. Maxx.