IPO FILING REVEALS WHITE FLINT MALL DAVE AND BUSTER'S STILL PROFITABLE WHEN PLUG WAS PULLED

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 31

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

Dave and Buster's, up until recently a major draw for millennials in White Flint Mall, is going public. An $100 IPO filing by the restaurant/arcade chain gives some insights into the finances of its former White Flint location, before it was forced out by the closing mall's owners last month.

Not surprisingly, profits did decline in 2014, after many restaurant draws and the mall's movie theater were shuttered. Twenty-six week August 2014 revenues for the White Flint location were $5,231,000. In that same period in 2013, D&B grossed $6,384,000.

Even this year, revenue far exceeded depreciation and rent costs ($646,000) for the White Flint D&B outpost. Along with The Cheesecake Factory and the theater, there is no indication that the mall's success would not have continued well into the future, had owners not decided to pull the plug. Not a dying mall until the demolition plan was announced, the retail center was fully-leased less than three years ago, and it was hard to find a parking space near the popular anchor tenants.

Will millennials hit the highways to go to D&B at Arundel Mills Mall? Dave and Buster's corporate office says so in its filing. "With past store closures, we have experienced customer migration to
other stores within the same market," the filing notes.

Explore The Dark Side of White Flint further:

Relive the final hours of Dave and Buster's at White Flint Mall.

Examine the unique architecture and memorabilia of a doomed White Flint auto dealership.

Make a final visit to the legendary Toys R Us.

Go back to the original post that started it all!

TEXAS HAS JOBS, GROWTH, AND...DAVE AND BUSTER'S!

With the demolition-bound White Flint Mall having given Dave and Buster's the boot from Montgomery County 2 weeks ago, I couldn't help but notice this article on the contrasting situation in Texas. Unlike Montgomery County, the Lone Star State is booming with tech and industrial jobs, and is a major destination for millennials seeking employment.

Where we now have no Dave and Buster's, Houston is about to welcome its third D&B in 2015. As suburban areas are again outpacing urban ones in growth nationwide, Houston's newest D&B will be in an indoor mall (that is rapidly-expanding its square footage by 50%), not an urban "town center."

DAVE AND BUSTER'S CLOSES AT WHITE FLINT MALL (PHOTOS)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 30

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

Welcome to 

The Dark Side of White Flint: 

Millenial Edition.

"Hot, young millennials" are ostensibly the target audience for the new, urbanized "more muscular" White Flint. Last night, the only business currently drawing millennials to White Flint was packing up and moving out of town. Ordered out first by the owners of White Flint Mall, and then by a court ruling, Dave and Buster's has complied, closing its doors for good after 18 years.

The rotating D&B sign was stilled, then removed. Arcade machines like Gone Fishing, and Whac-a-Mole were being boxed up for shipping. Teddy bears lay on a brick wall inside the restaurant. In the corridors last night, the only sound was the hum of the escalator leading up to Dave and Buster's. A security guard informed a young, millennial couple approaching the arcade-restaurant that the business had closed. With a dramatic flourish, he flipped a switch, and the escalator stopped moving. Silence. Dave and Buster's was no more.

For those with scorecards in hand, here's the latest update on the urbanization of suburban White Flint: Zero chef-driven restaurants coming on board. Zero Fortune 500 corporate headquarters signed on. And zero 30-story, Class A office towers with Intelsat or the CEB headquarters, as Fairfax and Arlington counties recently celebrated.

The only thing remotely like Dave and Buster's on the boards right now for White Flint is Pinstripes, a bowling alley, bocce court and bistro all-in-one. A sign posted at the shuttered Dave and Buster's just about says it all. "Want to have fun, kids? Hit the interstate for Arundel Mills Mall!" A highly-successful indoor mall, to boot! Drive, drive, drive!

Gone fishing, indeed.

No more fun and games!

Click to enlarge to spot
the teddy bears on the wall

A final look inside
Dave and Buster's

Hasta la vista, millenials!

The sign no longer turns,
the escalator no longer hums

Close-up of the dismantled,
formerly-rotating sign at
Dave and Buster's

Don't worry, there'll be plenty
of barista and jeans-folding
jobs available for millenials
in the new White Flint!

Time to cut bait

The moles won! Whac-A-Mole
is shipping out in search of
hipper vibes

Game over

Turbo Theater now just a
walk-in closet

Hey, millenials, we don't have Dave
and Buster's anymore, but we do
have a repainted Metrobus.
We call it, "Rapid Transit." How
'bout it, kids? Hello? Hello?!
They hung up on us!

And then there were two

Go back to where it all started! The first episode of The Dark Side of White Flint.

WHAT'S STILL OPEN AT WHITE FLINT MALL (PHOTOS)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 24

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

In the last two installments, we've talked about the latest closures at White Flint Mall. What many want to know is, what is still open at White Flint Mall?

The list is quite short: Lord and Taylor, P.F. Chang's, Dave and Buster's, Khoury Brothers, Rochelle Hackley DDS, and the U.S. Post Office. A whopping 6 tenants.

An examination of the April 2013 mall directory, compared to the February 2014 directory, is simply stunning. Remember, the mall was fully-leased, and it was hard to get a close-by parking space for the Cheesecake Factory and other popular dining spots, when the owners pulled the plug. This was never a mismanaged, failing mall:

April 2013

February 2014