Monday, February 18, 2019

Payless, Janie and Jack closing at Montgomery Mall, as business closures continue to ravage MoCo

It's getting impossible to count the "Going out of business!" and "Everything must go!" signs that litter the shop windows across moribund Montgomery County these days. Tax and minimum wage hikes ($15 is "a lot of extra Slurpees" to sell, as one mom-and-pop shop owner put it to our corrupt Montgomery County Council before one of their ominous votes) ignited a virtual explosion of such signs in the years that have followed.

The latest closures imminent at Westfield Montgomery Mall are Payless and Janie and Jack. Both are holding closing sales. According to the Maryland Retailers Association, Montgomery County has suffered a net loss of over 2100 retail jobs since 2000. Until more voters can be convinced to actually research the candidates they are voting for, the most lucrative enterprise in Montgomery County might just be...printing Going Out of Business signage.