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.
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| No more fun and games! |
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| Click to enlarge to spot the teddy bears on the wall |
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| A final look inside Dave and Buster's |
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| Hasta la vista, millenials! |
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| The sign no longer turns, the escalator no longer hums |
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| Close-up of the dismantled, formerly-rotating sign at Dave and Buster's |
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| Don't worry, there'll be plenty of barista and jeans-folding jobs available for millenials in the new White Flint! |
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| Time to cut bait |
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| The moles won! Whac-A-Mole is shipping out in search of hipper vibes |
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| Game over |
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| Turbo Theater now just a walk-in closet |
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| 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! |
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| And then there were two |
33 comments:
Oh my god ... Will the MoCo machine never stop?!
Dyer, do you have a day job? Seriously ... what the eff bro. What. THE. EFF.?
THREAT LEVEL DYER!
The MoCo Machine can confirm that people aged 20-34 did indeed sometimes step foot inside this Dave & Buster's location.
The Machine also used its telepathic abilities to make Dave & Buster's sue White Flint Mall, knowing that White Flint Mall would counter by claiming the Arundel Mills location was built against the terms of its lease, a judge would agree with White Flint Mall and Dave & Buster's would be denied its appeal.
Let's just say the Machine has some very powerful telepathic abilities. We also know what will happen in the future.
And no, lifetime Bethesda resident bloggers don't have time for jobs, only living their lives in Bethesda and blogging in it.
Too bad Arundel Mills is quite a drive away. We need a Dave & Buster's closer.
The only times millenials go to David Busters is when a work event is hosted there. Ust & 14th dont have any dave & busters but they are bursting at the seams with millenials.
Haha, Dyer is trolling the shit out of us - now he's even inserting his inane Fortune 500 & NoVa talking points in articles about freakin Dave and Busters!
D&B served younger folks in MoCo well over the years. If you live in Rockville, Gaithersburg, Bethesda, etc. then you most likely spent time there.
Sure, DC has options, but you have to drive there or take Metro.
I think Pike & Rose could fill the entertainment void left by D&B closing.
6:51 Whichever developer or councilmember hired you to handle PR for them deserves a refund.
7:09 Says the person who is posting comments on this blog all day long.
8:57 That is categorically false. Millenials go to Dave and Buster's all the time, and were being turned away from the shuttered D&B last night. If millenials are living in $2,400+ a month luxury apartments, they are definitely getting a housing subsidy from their employer.
Is attracting high-wage jobs to Montgomery County an "inane" idea? That's a debate I welcome anytime.
Wow. Didn't expect that they would suddenly go dark. I was in there a week ago, and there was no indication that they were going anywhere. I'll definitely miss that place, for sure.
Dyer totally gets off on arguing with people. It explains so much.
7:52 - Elect him. 108
Robert,
Correct me if I'm off the mark here... but what continues to perplex me in opponents of your Fortune 500 stance is that there would obviously be many more jobs created, not just, for example, those 800 jobs averaging 100K. I mean, offices do not manage and maintain themselves.
I think I stated this elsewhere, but the more I research and observe, the more I believe in you and your campaign. Our Founding Fathers, the majority of them, would not have won popularity contests; but they were undeterred in setting the order of a stage, that it might play out to a solid, flourishing future. And they sure as hell got that job done.
One fundimental distinction I see between the Moco ClankTank and yourself: They seem bent-focused on winning some "King-of-the-Mountain" game; but you didn't come to play. You act like a true public servant. Argue all you want. "We the people" need someone with a Voice. That actually knows the way to the Promised Land ... not just The Red Lobster.
"That actually knows the way to the Promised Land ... not just The Red Lobster."
Coincidentally Robert recently did a review of Red Lobster's new microwaveable dinner. Check out his YouTube page. Four stars. I hear it gave off a great scent of seafood. Only at CVS.
90s D&B manager
John "Lippy" Lipscomb's farts would reek of rotten parmesan cheese and dirty gym socks.
Any place around that still has arcade machines?
4:52 What serendipity! You've just demonstrated another fundimental distinction between Robert and whomever is lurking behind that shifty lil curtain in Oz:
He's
Not
The
Snob.
He understands cost, budget, and can relate genuinely with anyone. He would not sneer at someone that shops at CVS.
He actually gets budgeting. How...you know... sometimes it helps to buy a frozen meal with your own cash than use taxpayer dollars to crack those claws oceanside? And instead allocate the difference toward goals like improving the future for children in ALL of the neighborhoods?
I know his youtube site. In fact, I encourage anyone who will be 18 and older by November to check out EVERY SINGLE political clip this totally real, practical, strategic candidate has on there. It won't take long (he's to-the-point), and you will see exactly why they are doing their best to avoid debating Dyer on radio and tv. It isn't that he argues (that is the nature of political debate... unless the opposing party cannot come up with a decent defense; why else indeed would they try to cut him down for a youtube food review which has a loyal following. Robert is not the one in need of a bib.); it's that what he argues has been extremely well thought through, even fiscally.
Did you just actually criticize the man for sharing a meal review purchased at a local drugstore?
Yes.
We need to forcibly remove Dyer from MoCo ... Just like the ancient greeks exiled people.
Will you leave willingly Dyer? Or are we going to need to hold a referendum?!
P.S. To Robert@Bethesda Row,
I know you don't need anyone to fight your battles for you. But I am also one voice, and since everyone else has been exercising their freedom of speech here today (and how gracious an example you've set, by not blocking any opposition that does not seem certifiable), I thought I would, too. All Best.
Is Dyer secretly backed and funded by Putin? Has the MoCo machine discovered his duplicity?! Tune in tomorrow and find out on "As Dyer Turns"....
This is actually developing into an awesome forum page. I'm not even the one running.
Can't you bullies come up with any reasonable debate? Please!
Please do/don't show the world that the best you can come up with is shady, creepy force on an opposing candidate. (What would your father think.)
What's with that Un-Bus?
What about the 80% Math Fail rate in the secondary schools and your plan to reshuffle students to jimmy the numbers rather than fix the issue and educate the kids?!
What's with the agenda to squeeze out traditional small business owners in the Asian community (I'm half Asian) and replace their stores with overabundant national chains like Starbucks?
Why after 20 years is getting to Dulles so inconvenient that great companies pick more convenient places to settle?
For starters.
What the hell has happened to the comment section of this blog lately ... I honestly don't get it.
Robert, you should be above responding to these crazy comments.
I'd suggest disabling comments or making everyone post under a real name.
I use to find valuable tips by residents here and now I just read endless garbage.
6:52 I will do my best to keep the comments clear of these garbage posts. It appears to be one disgruntled individual, who has been posting a bunch of bizarre comments the last few days. Thank you for your patience and readership.
5:24 One just closed - the old movie theater at Montgomery Mall. As of the last time I visited Regal Rockville, the theater had some arcade machines on the lower level.
The disgruntled anonymous guy is spending his summer break trolling a local news site.
He desperately wants Robert's attention for some reason. Please transfer that energy to something productive. Get involved in the community like Robert is. Try some Tabata exercise classes. Do something good.
I like to visit this site for the frequent, detailed updates to developments in and around the Bethesda. It's too bad that I have to sift through the other 90% of heavily-biased, right-wing, unsubstantiated garbage on here. I find myself frequenting Bethesda Now more and more, and this site less and less.
As sad as it is to see D&B go, the last I checked, it was their own fault that they were kicked out. The Lerners/Tower Co. were graciously allowing them to stay for the time being, despite the fact that they had obviously violated the terms of their lease.
Your pipe dream of 30-story office towers and what not sprouting up overnight is irrational, especially in this business climate. The White Flint plan is a LONG TERM plan that has barely just been implemented. You yourself have blogged about the Pike & Rose project which was made possible by this plan. The new Strathmore, Pinstripes, iPic, Whole Foods, and restaurants are just the very, very beginning of destinations meant to "attract millenials."
It seems like you have nothing but contempt for this county, and nothing but praise for the supposed utopia that is Northern Virginia. It's really surprising that you chooses to continue to live here...
Preserving affordable housing, pedestrian safety in the downtown and tranportation are "right wing" issues?
I think everyone can coalesce and agree on many of these issues. I don't see pedestrian safety as a political issue and it's a major problem in downtown Bethesda where I live.
I'm hoping we'll get some action on sidewalk access because of Robert's reporting.
Guys please shut the fuck up and let Dyer do his job. The man takes out some of his valuable time to write these posts you know. I for one, am interested in the White Flint mall updates, and if you don't like it, do us all a favor and get out of this blog! How would you like it if you took out some of your own time and put in you own effort to write a post, and in return you get crappy comments such as "Get a fucking job man", or "Trolling the shit out of us"? Those type of comments are retarded and should not even be said. Next time think before you speak and thank you Mr. Dyer for taking the time to write this post and your other posts as well.
8:03 AM - Can you give me an example of "right-wing" garbage I've posted? And of something "unsubstantiated?" If you consider that virtually everything we've been promised by those promoting BRT and urbanization of the suburbs has been completely unsubstantiated, the bar for credibility is very low.
There's no question that this is probably not the site of choice for people who are not critical thinkers, who accept anything they are told by authorities or media without question, or are simply paid or unpaid apologists for mediocre politicians and a moribund economic development situation in Montgomery County.
Fortunately, the analytics for my site indicate that the interest in getting "the rest of the story," critical analysis, investigative reporting, and new ideas is quite high in the Bethesda area. That not surprising, given that we have perhaps the highest-educated population in America.
Of course we won't have demand for office towers in Montgomery County's currently-unwelcoming business climate. That's why I'm arguing we need to change the climate! Tysons has actually started its transformation later than White Flint, but has quickly moved far ahead of us. Why? They have the jobs, and Virginia is investing in real highway and rail transit solutions. Not a BRT that no one will ride, but simply is a Trojan horse to allow urban development in suburban neighborhoods.
How many $25 movie tickets do you think the average millennial will be able to afford? Dave and Buster's was a good "cheap date" option for millenials, and now it's gone. Montgomery County shouldn't just be for the rich.
You seem to define "Montgomery County" as the relative handful of bumbling politicians and economic development policies responsible for our moribund business climate. Any opinion contrary to that of government or the MoCo Machine is "contempt," and strictly forbidden. That sounds like a dictatorship. I think an open discussion, with a broad array of opinions, is a healthier and wiser approach.
"Right wing garbage"? Must be a left wing douchebag, that guy.
We'll save him a spot at the inauguration of President Scott Walker or, if the country is really fortunate, President Nimrata Haley in January 2017.
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