Lord & Taylor continues to rival me in the department of keeping the spirit of the demolished White Flint Mall alive, and blasting the decision to destroy it.
The department store chain fought the mall's owners to stop their greedy, hasty plan to pull the plug on the fully-leased mall, where the parking lots were jam-packed and diners had long waits for seating at popular restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's.
Then they sued the heck out of the mall owners for a clear breach of contract. The court system correctly determined that the owners had royally violated the contract it signed with Lord & Taylor decades ago that required them to keep the mall intact and operating.
Lord & Taylor won bigtime, with a huge cash award. The valiant effort - along with Montgomery County's moribund economy, County elected officials' utterly-humiliating failure to win the Amazon HQ2 for White Flint in an all-or-nothing Hail Mary pass, and the resulting capstone of the total collapse of the vaunted White Flint sector plan vision - has ground the property owners' "town center" plans to a halt.
Not only has Lord & Taylor winningly kept its White Flint store open next to the overgrown field where the mall once stood, but now it has scored another greatest hit. At Lakeforest Mall, where the chain's new owners have decided to close that store, Lord & Taylor has posted a most-interesting sign.
The sign pays tribute to Lakeforest Mall, another mall falling victim to not only greed, but the decline of Montgomery County in general. But it saves the best for last: It directs Gaithersburg customers to the Lord & Taylor at "White Flint Mall." Not only does this warm the hearts of White Flint Mall fans, but it's technically correct. Lord & Taylor's building was part of White Flint Mall, and it remains standing. Thus, it is still White Flint Mall.
“But let it be. Horatio, I am dead;
Thou livest; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.”
