WHITE FLINT MALL SOCIAL MEDIA GOES DARK - IS THIS THE END? (PHOTO)

Is the final closure of White Flint Mall at hand?

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 26

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.

First it was announced this week that the White Flint Mall U.S. Post Office would close this Saturday, April 12. Then we learned Ted Lerner's own brother, Leonard Lerner, filed suit against the mall's management and ownership to stop the mall's demolition, saying it violates the terms of the 1975 partnership agreement (in which Leonard holds a 2% stake, according to the Washington Business Journal). And I'm backing Leonard on this, just as I support Lord & Taylor and Dave and Buster's efforts to stop the demolition.

Now it gets really weird. Check out this screenshot:

Here's the screen I got
when loading the official
White Flint Mall website
last night

Yesterday, the White Flint Mall website disappeared. And, as best as I can tell, so did their Facebook page. A mall Twitter account remains online, but has not tweeted since 2011 (and only tweeted 12 times when it was operational).

Does this mean the mall is about to shutter for good?

There is conflicting evidence. Note that the Friends of White Flint article mentions the USPS had to vacate, because "demolition planned for their mall space prevents them from staying any longer." That is a very significant statement.

But last night, I called Dave and Buster's and P.F. Chang's, the two remaining restaurant tenants. Employees who answered said both restaurants would be open today, and this weekend, as usual. Since the USPS is open this Saturday, too, that may well be the case.

What about beyond this weekend? Remember when Hamburger Hamlet employees insisted they were not closing, hours before the entire contents of the restaurant were due to auctioned off?

Stay tuned!

Read more in this series:

Part 26: The final hours of Mid-Pike Plaza.
Part 1: White Flint Mall Phase 1 demolition photos.

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

MRS. FIELDS, ROBERT LEWIS SALON CLOSE AT WHITE FLINT MALL (PHOTOS)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 23

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.

Another pair of holdouts at dying White Flint Mall have closed. No more cookies at Mrs. Fields, and no more salon appointments at Robert Lewis Salon.

Coincidentally, Debbi Fields opened her first cookie shop in California in 1977 - the same year that White Flint Mall opened to great acclaim on Rockville Pike.

Mrs. Fields at White Flint Mall

Robert Lewis Salon
at White Flint Mall

BANANA REPUBLIC, H&M CLOSED AT WHITE FLINT MALL (PHOTOS)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 21

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.

Banana Republic and H&M - two high-profile holdouts at dying White Flint Mall - have finally closed. Shocking, right?

Wow, as the blogger chronicling the demise of White Flint Mall for nearly a year, I suddenly have a lot of deep-pocketed company. The puzzling move by the Washington Post to suddenly acknowledge the end in December seemed to open the floodgates. Since then, just about every moneyed local media site has published the exact same sort of "postapocalyptic" White Flint Mall photo galleries I have been bringing you since last spring.

Now even a national website is trying to get in on the act, directing folks to a one-off post on a travel blog. That post focuses on supposedly shocking and fresh photos of the abandoned "food court" at White Flint (actually called, "The Eatery," not "the food court"). Just one problem: I posted photos of this same food court last August.  Last August! August 3, 2013, to be exact. And, well, the food court was actually abandoned at that time already.

Give credit where credit is due. Just Google "dark side of white flint" to see the ongoing reporting. My articles were easily found in Google by anyone who was as overwhelmed by nostalgia as the Johnny-come-latelies claim to be.

Not a single news outlet ever linked to my White Flint Mall articles or photo galleries. One problem is, my news and photos came with inconvenient analysis and context that did not flatter Montgomery County elected officials, planners and the mall's ownership, who are all choosing to urbanize a suburban commercial area.

What's astonishing is that, after those in line to make a buck (one way or another) got their way in White Flint, the same media who were looking the other way now want to fill their pockets with gold, generated by click-bait and knockoff photo galleries. Sad.

Banana Republic at
White Flint Mall

H&M at White Flint Mall