Showing posts with label closed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label closed. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

TGI Fridays closes in Rockville (Video + Photos)


TGI Fridays
has closed at 12147 Rockville Pike at the Pike Center in Rockville. The American restaurant chain that was founded on March 15, 1965 in New York City has filed for bankruptcy. Even dropping the "TGI" from the brand name - a memo few Americans ever got, and likely would have confused with a defunct Saturday Night Live knock-off that aired in the dawning years of the 1980s on ABC anyway - couldn't turn the chain's fortunes around. TGI Fridays closed 60 restaurants last fall, and it looks like another round of closures is quietly playing out now. Let's take a last look at Rockville's TGI Fridays:


The flagship TGI Fridays location that started it all at First Avenue and 63rd Street in the Big Apple has been considered by many recent business writers to have been America's "first singles bar." Only in the occasional creepy and awkward moment has the Rockville location been considered as such. But it was a reliable destination on the Pike for above-average creative cocktails, the famous Fridays Loaded Potato Skins, and just about any sports bar appetizer or entree you can imagine with a whiskey glaze applied to it. Now, unless you are up for a long drive to Tysons or Hanover, Maryland, you'll just have to hope that somewhere in the back of your freezer is a box of frozen Fridays delights you had bought from the freezer aisle at your supermarket.


An insider at the Montgomery County Council building reports that several councilmembers were exultant upon hearing the news of TGI Fridays closure. Having banned several ubiquitous American chains from the County, including Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, Cracker Barrel, and Waffle House, the existence of other big names like TGI Fridays, The Cheesecake Factory, Buffalo Wild Wings, Red Robin, and LongHorn Steakhouse has been one of the banes of the Council's existence this century.


Ironically, the departure of TGI Fridays from Pike Center refocuses attention on how the County Council was directly responsible for the shopping center's struggles in recent years. It was the Council's action to ban Walmart from opening any new stores in the County that tanked Pike Center's plan to reinvent itself with a super-high-traffic Superstore as anchor, after the moribund Montgomery County economy had left the property with empty storefronts. Upon learning that many more of their constituents - whom they privately refer to as "losers" and "suckers" - might soon be saving $21 a week on groceries, the Council swiftly moved to block the proposed Pike Center and Aspen Hill Walmarts by banning the chain altogether. Heckuva job, Brownie!













Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Specs New York closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda


Specs New York
has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Signage has been removed from above the storefront. The sunglasses retailer first opened at the mall in 2014. It temporarily closed at least a couple of times in the first four years of its tenancy at the mall, so another return can't entirely be ruled out. Specs appears to be the latest victim of the moribund Montgomery County economy, as this is the only of the chain's locations nationwide to be closing.




Kelly's Cajun Grill temporarily closed at Montgomery Mall due to gas problem


Kelly's Cajun Grill
had to temporarily close yesterday at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Located in the Dining Terrace food court, the restaurant cited a "gas supply interruption" as the reason for the closure. A specific day or time for reopening was not given, but it promised to "reopen as soon as possible," so it could reopen as early as today. It's always best to call ahead in this situation, if this is the only reason you are going to the mall. The gas issue did not seem to impact the other tenants around it in the food court last evening.

Sunday, January 12, 2025

McDonald's gutted in surprise renovation at Cabin John Mall (Photos)


The venerable McDonald's at 11301 Seven Locks Road inside the Cabin John Mall in Potomac has been gutted inside. According to signage posted at the restaurant, it is temporarily closed for renovations. No reopening date has been posted, but one of the signs says that the remodeling will take a few weeks to complete. A second, more optimistic sign says "a few days," but that's a bit too optimistic from what you can see here. But overall, the renovation sends a very positive message to customers that the ownership wants to provide a brand new dining room experience for them.


This McDonald's almost closed a couple of years ago, but agreed to stay at the mall after outcry from its many loyal customers. It looks like they are now updating the store for the long haul, with a sneak peek at the new interior visible in the photo above. Customers are being directed to the Montgomery Mall McDonald's while the renovations take place. Yes, Cabin John Village has Shake Shack - but Shake Shack doesn't have the Big Mac! Or America's favorite fries.







Wednesday, January 8, 2025

White Flint McDonald's closes on Rockville Pike (Video + Photos)


McDonald's
has closed at 11564 Rockville Pike in White Flint. The loss is not permanent, however. McDonald's is relocating into a new restaurant building on the former Arby's site just up the Pike at 11710 Rockvile Pike. I had expected they might make an overnight switchover, but it looks like the transition won't be as seamless as I thought. The new McDonald's will have something this one never did: a drive-thru.
















Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Ruby Thai Kitchen closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda


Ruby Thai Kitchen
has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Its kiosk in the Dining Terrace food court has been cleared out, and signage has been removed. Ruby Thai Kitchen has been a longtime tenant of the mall, surviving even as many other food court occupants have opened and closed around it. Perhaps Charleys Philly Steaks was simply too much competition.

Saturday, January 4, 2025

Trendy Man closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda


Was Trendy Man too far ahead of the curve? If Trendy Man is wearing it, is it already too late? Who is more stylish, Trendy Man or Florida Man? We may never know the answer to these and other questions, as Trendy Man has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Trendy Man opened here last March, and began a closing sale this past fall. We do know Trendy Man is smart, because Trendy Man stayed open through the biggest shopping months of the year, hopefully landing some trendy gifts under the tree or on the coat hangers of trendy men in Bethesda, Rockville, and Potomac.


Friday, January 3, 2025

See's Candies closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda


See's Candies
has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Their space has been cleared out, although they left an odd artwork at the back of the store. Christmas is not officially over yet, as it ends on the Epiphany feast of January 6 or on Candlemas on February 2, depending on how you count it. But we can agree that the holiday gift-buying season is over, so seasonal tenant See's Candies departs for another year.




Wednesday, January 1, 2025

7-Eleven closes in Rockville


7-Eleven
has closed at 1701 A-16 Rockville Pike, at The Shops at Congressional Village in Rockville. Windows are covered, and signage has been removed from the storefront. 7-Eleven opened at this location ten years ago. Can we blame this closure on Montgomery County's moribund economy? Yes. 

This past fall, 7-Eleven announced it would be closing 444 stores nationwide. However, it also stated that the locations getting the axe would be "underperforming" stores. So business at this location must have been below expectations, which would certainly reflect Montgomery County's stagnant economy and declining income levels. 

Inflation continues to hit those of lower incomes the hardest, and that is now the fastest-growing demographic in Montgomery County. The combination of moribundity and inflation has created stagflation in MoCo, and a longer drive to the remaining 7-Elevens north and south of here on the Pike.

Friday, December 13, 2024

Subway closes on Rockville Pike


Subway
is closed at 1402 Rockville Pike. No message is posted to customers at the building, which still has a vintage pay phone out front. Subway's corporate website currently lists this location, giving its status as "closed." Yelp and Google state that it is "temporarily closed," but the Subway signage has been entirely removed from the building's exterior. Subway is hardly winding down in Montgomery County, though, as its expansion includes a new location at Montgomery Mall.


Sandwich artist parking only!