Westwood Pet Center is closing at 5428 Westbard Avenue in the Westwood Shopping Center, according to signs in the store's windows. One sign - now found often in store windows across moribund Montgomery County - reads, "STORE CLOSING - EVERYTHING MUST GO!" A closing sale is underway.
The store has been a neighborhood fixture for 42 years. Its exit is somewhat of a surprise, as redevelopment plans for the shopping center property by owner Regency Centers had promised to allow this wing of the shopping center and Giant to remain operational, until a new retail building was completed on the other side of the parking lot. Numerous delays in groundbreaking after receiving approval from the County - some explained publicly by Regency, and others not - have also extended the life of the existing center much longer than expected in 2014.
Westwood Pet Center is one of several neighborhood-serving tenants - similar to the dry cleaners, Westwood Barber Shop, salons and Anglo-Dutch Pools & Toys - that draw such heavy traffic to the shopping center. Giant is the only one of those tenants to reach agreement with Regency on returning to the "New Westwood." If the developer fails to deliver on the promise of retaining the beloved small businesses, it could severely reduce the number of errands being run at the new development.
1 comment:
Very sad news.
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