Amazon Fresh Gaithersburg store posts opening date

Amazon has posted the opening date for its Amazon Fresh grocery store at 15790 Shady Grove Road at the 270 Center, on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. The long-delayed but highly-anticipated store will open at 8:00 AM sharp on August 8, 2024, according to the banner that has just been posted on the storefront. A grand opening of this supermarket has been years in the making, and the process has taken almost as many twists and turns as the 2024 presidential race. 

I broke the story about Amazon's plans way back in September of 2020. More than two years passed before a potential opening date was even hinted at, as Amazon itself kept total secrecy about its plans, even as it completed the interior fit-out of the store. The only public confirmation of the store came when signage was installed on the storefront. Yet, with all shelving in place but empty of merchandise, the company then announced it would be postponing the opening until 2023.

Amazon never stated publicly why it was postponing the opening of the Gaithersburg store, and several others around the country. In February of 2023, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy still wouldn't offer details on that front, beyond citing the impact of the pandemic (which had long been declared "over" by that point, even by the most fervent lockdown proponents at all levels of government, as political winds shifted). But Jassy did promise that the retail giant would "go big" on its push into bricks-and-mortar grocery stores in 2023.

That never happened.

Just two months later, Amazon ordered its expensive lighted signage to be removed from the building at 270 Center. It had hung on the unopened store so long that it had already been vandalized. The store was now officially canceled. 

Amazon continued to hold its cards close to its vest, even as pundits declared the firm's venture into physical supermarkets a flop, and even began predicting that the existing Amazon Fresh stores might all close. Was it going to wave the white flag, and stick to online grocery delivery? The company was silent.

But the epic story of Amazon Fresh in Gaithersburg wasn't over yet!

During the first week of June this year, Amazon's employment site suddenly listed jobs for an Amazon Fresh store in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Was this an error? On June 5, I emailed all three leasing representatives for 270 Center to ask if Amazon had reversed its plans. All three declined to respond.

Three weeks later, Amazon confirmed it indeed had changed its mind yet again. The company posted a "coming soon" banner on the otherwise blank storefront. A few days later, the lighted logo signage - either repaired or replaced - was installed on the building. Last night, the opening date banner was in place, the logo sign was lit up, and the lights were on inside the store. 

You can't completely divest Amazon from its penchant for secrecy, though: paper now covers the windows to block the public's view of the long-completed interior, and the status of possible inventory being placed onto those long-empty shelves. No more "spy photos" like those I was able to post a few weeks ago.

The lights are on...and somebody is finally home at Amazon Fresh in Gaithersburg.

Dawson's Market closes in Rockville (Photos)

Dawson's Market has closed at 225 N. Washington Street at Rockville Town Square. The permanent closure ends a long but tumultuous run for the grocery store at the struggling Town Center development. It also leaves an anchor retail space vacant at property that already has no shortage of empty storefronts. A bigger-name chain grocer could spur more shoppers to patronize Rockville Town Square, but property owner Morguard faces the same challenge as the original developer here, in that the poorly-designed-and-placed grocery space was turned down by many such supermarkets almost twenty years ago.

The space is well-sized for brands like Aldi, Lidl or Trader Joe's. If one of those can be attracted here, the famous brand will have to overcome the shortfalls of being hidden away from the busy state highway MD 355 at the very back of the development, and the almost universally-despised parking scheme at Rockville Town Square. The latter was improved in recent years by finally allowing free parking for 2 hours. But the dungeon-like garages, paid parking and validation memories of the past persist in the minds of many, and there is a Giant and a Food Lion with free, hassle-free surface parking only a short distance from Rockville Town Square. 

Signage installed at future Amazon Fresh on Shady Grove Road (Photos)

The sign is (back) up at Amazon Fresh, opening soon at 15790 Shady Grove Road at the 270 Center on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg. It's exactly the same logo sign that was vandalized, and ultimately removed, when Amazon paused - and then "canceled" - the opening of this store last year. The reversal of that decision became apparent earlier this month. There's still nothing on the bare shelves inside the store, but more signage has been added inside over the last few days, including a large banana image and other promotional images in the produce department.

We should soon see the grocery cart return out front in the parking lot. It was erected, and then dismantled, during Amazon's period of indecision in 2023. One wonders if anyone in Amazon's grocery division was fired as a result of the faux cancellation of this location. Nothing has changed over the last year, and Amazon only lost money over this period that the store didn't operate. If anything, the market is worse, as Americans have reduced their grocery purchases due to runaway inflation of prices, and price-gouging by greedy corporations.

Amazon Fresh Shady Grove Road store opening soon in reversal of plans by retail giant (Photos)

Amazon will open its Amazon Fresh grocery store at 15790 Shady Grove Road at the 270 Center on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg after all, according to signage posted at the property. This saga began when I broke the story about Amazon leasing the space way back on September 1, 2020. The retail giant completed the interior fit-out of the store by the late summer of 2022, and spent months installing its Just Walk Out system electronics. It then postponed the grand opening to 2023, only to abruptly remove all signage from the building in April of 2023. Many other Amazon Fresh stores - some of them fully-constructed like the Shady Grove location - were also "paused" or canceled around the same time.

But after 14 months of abandonment of the project, Amazon suddenly posted help wanted ads for the Shady Grove Road store at the start of this month. Was this a glitch in Amazon's job site? On June 5, I emailed all three leasing representatives for 270 Center to ask if Amazon had reversed its decision. All three declined to reply to my inquiries. 

The secret can no longer be contained, however. On Sunday, a large banner was posted on the blank storefront with the familiar Amazon logo. Inside the store, more Amazon signage is visible. Parking space reservation signs for curbside pickup and Amazon Flex drivers are massed in the store's vestibule. And self-checkout machines are not only in place, but are activated with lit screens. 

Amazon's decision to go forward with the store is a triple win for the community. It will greatly increase foot traffic to 270 Center and its other tenants, a benefit the property owner has had to wait for nearly four years to realize. Second, Amazon Fresh delivery will now be extended to parts of the area where it has been unavailable. Finally, along with the new Aldi at the Walnut Hill Shopping Center, south Gaithersburg, Derwood, and upper Rockville residents will now have two grocery stores whose business models are centered around competitive pricing. Aldi is expected to open in July; Amazon has not announced the opening date for the Amazon Fresh as of this writing.

Aldi opening in July at Walnut Hill in Gaithersburg (Photos)

Construction has accelerated in the final phase at the Aldi grocery store opening soon at 737 S. Frederick Avenue at the Walnut Hill Shopping Center in Gaithersburg. The store, which is the center's new anchor tenant, is now expected to open on July 24, 2024, according to Google. Signage is up on the storefront, and checkout counters and shelving are in place inside. Operating hours have been posted on the door. This Aldi is likely to draw many customers from communities like King Farm and Upper Rock in Rockville, as well as from Derwood, as it will be more convenient than the 1501 Rockville Pike location.

Assault at Rockville grocery store

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault at a grocery store Wednesday afternoon, June 5, 2024. The assault was reported at the Safeway store at 403 Redland Boulevard at the King Farm Village Center at 3:30 PM. At least one individual was also accused of trespassing in the incident.

Dawson's Market closing at Rockville Town Square

Dawson's Market is closing at 225 N. Washington Street at Rockville Town Square. The grocery store, which threatened to shutter before until the City of Rockville (a.k.a. you, the taxpayer) stepped in to provide a financial subsidy, will close at the end of June, owner Bart Yablonsky told The MoCo Show in a statement yesterday. I noticed the store was selling off a lot of kitchen equipment and cafe seating back in February (in fact, the auction listing remains online). When I messaged Dawson's Market on February 7 about the reason for liquidating so many items, the store declined to respond. The auction went forward on February 12, and the store remained open. No closure announcement has been posted on the Dawson's Market website or social media accounts as of this writing.

The departure of Dawson's is yet another blow to the struggling Rockville Town Square and Town Center, though the grocery store part of the development was troubled from the beginning. Major supermarket chains balked at the space that the original developer had built on spec with a grocery tenant in mind, finding it too small and hidden at the back of the property. Perhaps now that chains like Aldi, Lidl and Trader Joe's are in major expansion mode, and utilize smaller store footprints than Giant or Safeway, a bigger-drawing brand name will be willing to take another look at this opportunity. The typical Aldi is 22,000-square-feet, while a Trader Joe's can be only 10,000-15,000 SF.

Despite the fact that Dawson's wasn't what the original developer had in mind for this space, the unique selection of products and prepared foods, and events like wine tastings, helped it build a loyal-if-not-financially-sustainable customer base. Morguard, the new property owner of Rockville Town Square, now has the grocery store space and the long-vacant and large former American Tap Room, CVS Pharmacy, and Gordon Biersch spaces to fill. The company having its base in Canada probably isn't doing a Maryland property any favors, but Morguard doesn't even list the vacant RTS storefronts on its Leasing page.

Police called after assault at Rockville grocery store

Rockville City police were called to a grocery store in the King Farm community on Friday afternoon, May 3, 2024, after someone reported having been the victim of a 2nd-degree assault there. The assault was reported at 4:00 PM Friday at the Safeway store at 403 Redland Boulevard. That is in the King Farm Village Center.

Police respond to assault at Rockville grocery store

Rockville City police responded to a report of a 2nd-degree assault at a grocery store Monday afternoon, April 22, 2024. The assault was reported at a store in the 200 block of N. Washington Street at 2:09 PM Monday. Dawson's Market is located on that block, at 225 N. Washington Street, at Rockville Town Square.

Assault at Rockville grocery store

Rockville City police were called to a grocery store after someone reported having been the victim of a 2nd-degree assault there. The assault was reported at a store in the 200 block of N. Washington Street on March 15, 2024 at 11:22 AM. Dawson's Market at Rockville Town Square is located on that block. 

Police respond after assault at Rockville grocery store

Montgomery County police were called to a grocery store in Rockville Saturday afternoon, March 2, 2024, after someone reported having been the victim of a 2nd-degree assault there. The assault was reported at a supermarket in the 12000 block of Rockville Pike at 4:34 PM Saturday. There is a Giant grocery store on that block of Rockville Pike.

Aldi construction begins at Walnut Hill Shopping Center in Gaithersburg

Excitement is in the air at the venerable Walnut Hill Shopping Center at 16529 S. Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg. Contractor HBW Construction of Rockville has begun work converting the former Weis Markets space for new anchor tenant Aldi. Renovations to update the shopping center's appearance are also underway at the property, as you can see below. 

Continue to patronize your favorite businesses at the center, as despite the tarps and scaffolding, all tenants remain open during the renovations. A second Gaithersburg location of Sheetz will add to the buzz at the shopping center in the future. The City of Gaithersburg recently approved the annexation of Walnut Hill into the city, in large part to secure the agreement with Sheetz. That Sheetz deal became a critical linchpin in Walnut Hill's plan to revitalize the property. Walnut Hill's ownership said the revenue from the Sheetz would finance the renovations to the center, property upgrades that Aldi had required as a condition of its lease. Sheetz opened its first Gaithersburg store last year, and shortly thereafter declared it was "highly-impressed with the performance" of the location.

Rockville Giant store to add electric vehicle chargers

The Giant at 9719 Traville Gateway Drive will soon add two electric vehicle charging stations outside the store, which is located at the Traville Village Center in Rockville. Giant began a partnership with Volta Charging to provide EV charging stations at its stores in 2020. The alliance was expected to eventually deliver more than 200 charging stations at the Ahold-owned supermarket chain's locations.  

“Providing our shoppers and communities free electric charging services is part of Giant’s larger sustainability efforts,” Giant Food President Ira Kress said in a statement. “We are excited to offer our customers who opt for electric cars the satisfaction of quick and free charging while they shop. It’s a value for our shoppers that also benefits the environment.”

Disorderly conduct at Rockville grocery store

Rockville City police responded to a report of disorderly conduct at a supermarket Friday afternoon, November 24, 2023. The incident was reported at a grocery store in the 15100 block of Frederick Road at 2:41 PM Friday. New York Mart at the College Plaza shopping center is on that block.

Strong-arm robbery at Rockville grocery store

A Rockville grocery store that has recently made news for the wrong reasons is back in the headlines again. Rockville City police responded to a report of a strong-arm robbery at a supermarket in the 600 block of Hungerford Drive Thursday morning, September 28, 2023. The robbery was reported at the store at 10:00 AM Thursday. There is a Giant store on that block of Hungerford Drive, where 3 people have been assaulted since August 11 of this year.