HOAMGAR OPENS IN BETHESDA; BOUTIQUE IS CHINESE LABEL'S FIRST OUTSIDE OF ASIA (PHOTOS)

The discerning Bethesda fashionista, who wants to wear something none of her friends or coworkers have, has a new hot spot in Bethesda.

Hoamgar, a popular fashion house that has produced lines sold exclusively in China, Mongolia and Singapore for the last two decades, has opened its first boutique outside of Asia right here at Westfield Montgomery Mall.

The clean white interior of the store puts all the attention on the clothes, until now unavailable in America.

Stop by and check it out.

HOAMGAR TO OPEN IN BETHESDA, BOUTIQUE WILL BE CHINESE LABEL'S FIRST IN AMERICA (PHOTO)

Bethesda is getting a very unique new boutique. Hoamgar is one of the best-selling fashion lines in China. For twenty years, their high-end women's apparel has been sold only in China, Mongolia and Singapore.

Now the company has decided to expand beyond Asia, and the city they've chosen above all others in the world to conquer first is...

Bethesda, Maryland!

The boutique will open this spring in Westfield Montgomery Mall.

When Hoamgar says, "exclusive high fashion," they're not kidding. You'd have to take a mighty long plane trip to get these outfits and accessories - until now.

This is another coup for Westfield, but the company is so new to America, they don't even have a website yet.

Here's another bit of interesting Hoamgar Bethesda trivia: the store employees are reportedly undergoing training for 2-3 months in China.  It sounds like the company is serious about making a good impression, and having a successful American launch, to take such a hands-on approach.

COMMUNIST CHINESE OFFICIALS ADVISING MONTGOMERY COUNTY ON BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT) PLAN

STRANGE
BUT
TRUE!

Another Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row Exclusive

The saga of the Emperor's new bus (a.k.a. Montgomery County Bus Rapid Transit) took another bizarre turn yesterday.  A statement regarding a recent - but, strangely, unpublicized - visit by transportation officials from the province of Henan in Communist China, included a reference to the BRT project.

While the 18 officials from Zhengzhou were here to "learn about" planning and transit, the statement went on to say that they "shared insights about their own bus rapid transit system."

So to set the scorecard straight, Chinese officials have had more opportunity to weigh in on the BRT project than the taxpayers of Montgomery County.

How ironic, as China is the only country in the world to successfully accomplish what county politicians have claimed is their goal:  "get people out of their cars."  Oh, and they just happened to force people to do it.  For example, one day half of the people are allowed to drive into work, and the next day, the other half can drive.

Is having Communist officials advising you on an already-controversial project good PR?  Mmm... not so much.

This is the latest public relations disaster to befall the BRT "juggernaut."  First, the finished plan was presented and endorsed by several elected officials - without a single public hearing on the matter.  Then, when citizens like myself started pointing out that some downtown Bethesda residents could pay $1000 a year or more in BRT taxes, irate taxpayers turned out to a belated afterthought of a public hearing (again, after the plan had been finished).

Without those massive taxes, BRT was suddenly with no source of funding.  Primary BRT advocate Marc Elrich then demanded the business community pay for the system.  If they didn't, Elrich warned ominously, businesspeople would "get their worst nightmare."  Unfortunately, he declined to specify what that "nightmare" would be.

And the county's own master planner said the BRT system won't work, and won't have the ridership.

With a terrible concept being made worse by gaffe after gaffe, it's time to retire the downright nutty BRT plan, and get to work on building our decades-delayed master plan highways.

As the Chinese officials may have told them, Beijing has not just one Outer Beltway, but five!

Ask their advice.