Armed robbery at Rockville home

Montgomery County police responded to a report of an armed robbery at a home in Rockville yesterday morning, December 1, 2023. The robbery was reported at a residence in the 14100 block of Chinkapin Drive at 4:14 AM Friday. Among the property reportedly demanded in the robbery was a vehicle. A firearm was the weapon employed in the incident. Chinkapin Drive is in the Willows of Potomac neighborhood, which is located off of Shady Grove Road.

Strong-arm rape reported at Shady Grove Road nightclub

Montgomery County police responded to a reported incident of strong-arm rape at a nightclub on Shady Grove Road Monday night, September 11, 2023. The sexual assault was reported at a club in the 15900 block of Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg, at 9:48 PM Monday. 

Assault at 7-Eleven on Shady Grove Road

Montgomery County police responded to a report of an assault at the 7-Eleven store at 15900 Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg, early Tuesday morning, May 16, 2023. The assault was reported at 1:43 AM Tuesday. 

Animal bites at Rockville hotel

A report of an animal bite drew Rockville City police to a hotel they're quite familiar with on Tuesday night, May 2, 2023. The chomp was reported at a hotel in the 16000 block of Shady Grove Road at 9:23 PM Tuesday. A Red Roof Plus hotel is located on that block.

Rockville Amazon Fresh store canceled on Shady Grove Road (Photos)

The long-anticipated Amazon Fresh store at the 270 Center on Shady Grove Road will not come to fruition. All signage has been removed from the building in stages, over the last 48 hours. This is a reversal of not only Amazon's strategy of using bricks-and-mortar stores to expand its warehousing capacity for same-day deliveries, but also of CEO Andy Jassy's recent bullish remarks that the e-commerce giant would "go big" on physical grocery stores in 2023.

Canceling the Shady Grove Road store, which is on the border between Rockville and Gaithersburg, represents a major financial loss for the company. The store was fully built-out inside as of late summer 2022, and it has sat empty with bare shelves since. That has been the case with several other Amazon Fresh stores that were on the verge of opening around the country.

Now the question would be, will Amazon use its lease of the former office supply store for another grocery or retail concept, or will it break its lease at 270 Center at further cost? Jassy said the firm had settled on a format they want to "go big" with, but he did not say if "Amazon Fresh" was that format. Montgomery County has two existing Amazon Fresh concept stores, at the Collection at Chevy Chase and Chevy Chase Lake.

Damaged Amazon Fresh sign as it
appeared April 13, 2023

The cancellation of this store is the latest retrenchment move by Amazon. It recently laid off a substantial number of employees, and has "paused" construction of several projects at its HQ2 property in Arlington, Virginia, including the centerpiece Helix building that was scheduled for a 2025 delivery. 

Bulbs exposed behind damaged area
April 13, 2023

Just a week ago, the main sign that has been lit on the front of the store was damaged. Green shards of the lower part of the logo lay on the sidewalk below the sign. The bulbs that had been hidden behind them glowed in the night, as empty shelves and navigational aisle signage remained visible inside the store. It was unclear if the sign had been vandalized, or if the damage was sustained during the recent high wind event.

Sign debris on sidewalk below on April 13

Bare shelves inside store

Signage for navigating aisles and
merchandise visible inside store

Rockville Amazon Fresh store: "Go big," or go home?

A long-completed but yet-to-open Amazon Fresh store filled with empty shelves on Shady Grove Road has become the local poster child for a nationwide freeze on Amazon's expansion plans in the grocery sector. Amazon successfully opened Amazon Fresh stores in Friendship Heights and Chevy Chase Lake, but the 270 Center store on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg has been frozen in time since the fall of 2022. Yesterday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy offered the first update on the cloudy future of the retail giant's bricks-and-mortar grocery adventure to the Financial Times, and it was a vaguely positive one.

Empty shelves inside the completed-but-unopened
Shady Grove Amazon Fresh store

Amazon plans to "go big" on expansion of its physical grocery stores this year, Jassy said in an exclusive interview with the FT. He said the halt he ordered on the openings and leasing of new locations cost the company $720 million in Q4 of 2022, and blamed the problems that warranted the pause on the pandemic. He said that now "we're hopeful that in 2023 we have a format we want to go big on, on the physical side."

That sounds like we can expect the Shady Grove store to go forward this year, and that the hysterical forecasts of all Amazon Fresh stores closing will prove to have been premature. Surprisingly, Jassy sounded more bullish on bricks-and-mortar stores than on the company's Amazon Fresh online delivery service, saying "people want to actually touch and feel" the foods they are buying before making a purchase. The FT noted that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had promised to remain engaged on the grocery push after stepping aside as CEO in 2021. It's likely Bezos wasn't too pleased to hear the company hesitate on a plan that was meant to facilitate major growth in Amazon's online same-day-delivery service, which is dependent upon having neighborhood hubs like the Amazon Fresh grocery stores function as warehouses.

Bezos has a home in Washington, D.C. You can be sure he is going to be monitoring the progress of a Shady Grove store that is practically right under his nose in Montgomery County.

Rockville-Gaithersburg Amazon Fresh store opening postponed until 2023

There's been much anticipation of a grand opening announcement for the Amazon Fresh store on Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. But excited grocery shoppers will have to cool their engines for at least three more months. Amazon has postponed the opening until 2023. This is surprising, as the construction has been completed, and all the shelving and display cases have been in place for months now.

Amazon Fresh Shady Grove Road store still has empty shelves (Photos)

There's still no official opening date for the Amazon Fresh store at the 270 Center on Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. On my latest trip by, the shelves inside the store remained bare. An Amazon Fresh store opened recently at Chevy Chase Lake, so they may just be staggering the openings so they can focus on ensuring a smooth launch at each store, especially with all of the technology involved with the Just Walk Out checkout system.

Rockville Home Depot for sale on Shady Grove Road

Have you always wanted to own a Home Depot? Now, your dream can come true at the 270 Center on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. The 102,190 square foot Home Depot store at 15740 Shady Grove Road is now available for sale. A co-anchor of the retail property with Best Buy, the Home Depot is a triple-net lease (NNN) ownership opportunity at a shopping center soon to add an Amazon Fresh grocery store. The asking price is not public, but the store is currently valued at an assessment of $27,020,300, according to the sale listing.

Photo courtesy CBRE

Shelves still not stocked at new Amazon Fresh store in Rockville (Photos)

The interior of the new Amazon Fresh store opening soon at 15790 Shady Grove Road on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg is complete, but merchandise is still not on the shelves and displays. I do see many shipping boxes filled with adhesive labels for price guns inside the front entrance. That is clearly a necessary step toward stocking the shelves. 

While we are waiting for the opening, there are two new in-store benefits for Amazon Prime members at Amazon Fresh grocery stores, including this one when it opens. The first is 20% off "everyday essential" items year-round. Second, is 20% off on a rotating selection of prepared foods, that will change about once a week. You can identify eligible items by their blue bubble tag that reads, "Prime Member Exclusive Deal."

Update on new Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins in Rockville (Photos)

The drive-thru menu board has been installed at the future Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins at 16268 Frederick Road in Rockville. It is located on the Shady Grove Road side of the property. The existing Dunkin' Donuts at 16220 Frederick Road will relocate over here when it is completed. We now can see which Baskin Robbins items can be ordered at the drive-thru, a rare amenity for an ice cream shop.

New signage added for Ripieno's, JoJo's at Burger King in Rockville

Ripieno's Italian Bistro and JoJo's Express have been operating in the newly-renovated Burger King at 16004 Shady Grove Road since April. Now they also have lit signage on the facade of the restaurant, which is at the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. The branding is all over the place at the property, with Ripieno's referred to in different places as "Ripieno's Italian Bistro," "Ripieno's of Ocean City" and now "Ripieno's Express" on the new sign outside. This is still the best Burger King in Montgomery County, now with Ocean City's increasingly-famous giant Ripieno's pizza, which is beginning to get shoutouts from tourists in their reviews of the resort city.

Rockville Amazon Fresh update (Photos)

The cart return, and signs for curbside pick-up customers, are now out in the parking lot in front of the future Amazon Fresh grocery store in the 270 Center on Shady Grove Road, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. A sign inside the store now reads "Gaithersburg," so that's where Amazon comes down on the subject (and leaves the door open for a more centrally-located Rockville store in the future). More has been added to the interior, but there still isn't anything on the many shelves yet. so opening day is still a ways off.

New Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins with drive-thru nearing completion in Rockville (Photos)

Signs and banners are up at the new Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins with drive-thru at 16268 Frederick Road in Rockville. However, as I predicted, the store is oriented toward Shady Grove Road more than MD 355. The existing Dunkin' Donuts at 16220 Frederick Road will move into this one. Parking spaces are painted, and the ordering canopy is in place, but they still have to install the drive-thru menu board and speaker.