Rockville police respond to 3rd assault in 5 weeks at same grocery store

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault at a grocery store in the 600 block of Hungerford Drive Friday afternoon, September 15, 2023. The assault was reported at 12:00 PM. That's the same Giant supermarket where an employee was punched last month, less than 24 hours after another aggravated assault was reported there August 11. Friday's incident makes this the third time in five weeks that police have responded to an assault call at the store.

Rockville Wegmans opening delayed to 2025 (Photos)

With construction of the Phase 1 building of Twinbrook Quarter rounding into the home stretch at Rockville Pike and Halpine Road, many including me assumed interior fit-out of the Wegmans grocery store in the ground floor would begin before the end of the year, and that the Wegmans would open in 2024. But the Rockville Wegmans is now anticipated to open in 2025. Here's a look at the latest stage of construction at the site:

Police called after assault at Rockville grocery store

Rockville City police were called to a grocery store Wednesday night, May 24, 2023, after an individual reported having been the victim of a 2nd-degree assault there. The assault was reported at a supermarket in the 1800 block of Rockville Pike at 7:35 PM. A Safeway store is located on that block, at the Galvan development.

Giant limiting self-checkout to 20 items or less, due to "a significant increase in crime"

The other shoe has dropped in Giant's changes to its self-checkout system, and it's landed directly on the shopper's head. Self-checkout will now be limited to 20 items or less, due to "a significant increase in crime and theft that we and many other retailers are experiencing across our market area," Giant President Ira Kress said in a message to customers. He said the new limit, along with the weighing scale recently added to the self-checkout units, will "mitigate the impact of theft to our business."

Under the new system, parents shopping for large families, or anyone who prefers to get their shopping out of the way once a week, will essentially be forced to go through the traditional checkout lines. However, Giant has tended to shut those down as the evening goes on, angering customers who were averse to self-checkout machines. Kress did not specify if Giant will now keep cashiers at the old checkout lines until closing at stores. But he did acknowledge what will be a major impact on many Giant customers.

"We know that these changes may cause some inconvenience or be disruptive to the experience you are used to," Kress said, "and I assure you we are making these changes out of necessity to prioritize the safety of our associates and customers." A shoplifter was recently caught on video assaulting a security guard at the Bethesda Row Giant store. Corporate policy appeared to limit the guard's ability to escalate his response; even after being struck in the face, he could only plaintively continue to ask the shoplifter to show him a receipt. 

Once again, we see how the failure of our elected officials to respond to increasing crime - one of the most basic responsibilities of their offices - creates negative impacts for the law-abiding residents of our community. It's interesting that business leaders will admit crime is increasing, and is a major problem, before our elected officials will.

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 Wegmans construction update (Photos)

Phase 1 of the Twinbrook Quarter development at the corner of Rockville Pike and Halpine Road is now more than 8 stories above ground level. The 9th floor of the building is currently being constructed. Wegmans will be the retail anchor on the building's ground floor. 

Concrete framing and pouring is anticipated to be completed by late spring or early summer, developer B.F. Saul says. Work on the building facade is to begin soon. B.F. Saul says that when Phase 1 is complete, there will be more than three times the pervious surface on the property than when it was a shopping center

Assault at Rockville grocery store

Rockville City police were called to a grocery store in the Twinbrook area yesterday afternoon, December 5, 2022, after an individual reported being the victim of a 2nd-degree assault there. The assault was reported at a supermarket in the 1900 block of Veirs Mill Road at 3:20 PM Monday. Lotte Plaza Market is located on that block.

Gourmet Bazaar opens in new location in Rockville

Gourmet Bazaar has relocated in Rockville. Back in March, I reported that the Persian deli and grocery store would be moving to 736-A Rockville Pike, and now the move is complete. The family-owned business was founded in 2013. In addition to groceries, they offer a full menu of freshly-prepared carry-out items, so you can pick up a hot lunch or dinner while restocking your pantry.

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.

Assault at grocery store in Rockville

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault at a grocery store Wednesday morning, July 27, 2022. The assault was reported at a grocery store in the 1800 block of Rockville Pike at 6:46 AM Wednesday. There is a Safeway store at 1800 Rockville Pike.

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."