Miniso closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda (Photos)

Miniso has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. It turns out that even popular concepts from rapidly-growing companies are not immune to the moribund Montgomery County economy. Miniso's revenue grew 9.1% in mainland China, and 30.3% overseas during the first quarter of this year, the Chinese company announced in May. Employees are boxing up the contents of the store. The anti-business Montgomery County Council never met a slim profit margin it couldn't shrink even further. Heckuva job, Brownie!

GAP closes at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

GAP has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. Strange things have been afoot at the store in recent weeks, namely the store frequently - if not nightly - closing early, and posting a sign stating that it was due to the air-conditioning being out. The floor inventory had also been dwindling. Now the reason for all this is clear, as the clothing chain announced in an email to customers yesterday that "Gap Montgomery Mall has closed." Customers are being directed to the GAP at 11820 Grand Park Avenue at Pike & Rose in Rockville. The Montgomery Mall GAP is the latest victim of the moribund Montgomery County economy, as its parent company's downsizing plan of closing 350 GAP and Banana Republic stores shuttered those locations between 2023 and early 2024, and the Montgomery Mall store was spared the axe in that culling.

Hollister claims its space at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda

We knew Hollister was returning to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, and now we know where. It is moving into the space just vacated by Foot Locker on Level 1, next to American Eagle, in the Old Navy/Cheesecake Factory wing of the mall. "Coming soon" signage has been installed across the storefront, and it confirms the fall opening date of my original breaking news report. Hollister is a tremendous addition, as it is one of those tenants every self-respecting mall needs, much like Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's, Panda Express, Sephora, Urban Outfitters, and Hollister's sister brand, Abercrombie & Fitch - to name a few.

Dolan Uyghur Restaurant opening in Rockville

Dolan Uyghur Restaurant will hold a "soft opening soon" at 20-A Maryland Avenue at The Square in Rockville. According to Google, the Central Asian restaurant will open this Sunday, July 27, 2025. Owner Hamid Kerim, originally from East Turkistan is working to preserve "the food and flavor of Uyghur culture." To that end, he has three existing locations, in Washington, D.C., Chantilly, and Falls Church. Dolan will replace the very-short-lived Kung Fu Kitchen, which replaced the high profile Peter Chang.

Virginia wins AstraZeneca megafactory over Maryland

"There's going to be so much losing, you'll get tired of losing." We're definitely tired of losing in Montgomery County and Maryland, but Virginia just handed us another big L. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has announced it plans to build its largest global drug manufacturing facility yet in Virginia. The loss is even harder to take when you consider that AstraZeneca already has a substantial presence here in Montgomery County. How did we lose this one?

AstraZeneca's announcement is the latest victory for President Donald Trump's trade strategy, which is in part designed to bring jobs back to America. GE Appliances recently announced it would relocate some of its China manufacturing footprint to the massive factory complex at Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky. AstraZeneca's move is to avoid high tariffs Trump proposed for drug imports. 

Montgomery County isn't a total loser in the $50 billion investment AstraZeneca plans to make in the U.S. over the next five years: the company said it also plans to expand its Gaithersburg manufacturing facility, and to add a cell therapy manufacturing facility in Rockville. But it's simply cheaper to do business in Virginia, and the Commonwealth is quickly catching up in the regional biotech race, which has been the sole bright spot in Montgomery County's otherwise-moribund economy.

“I want to thank AstraZeneca for choosing Virginia as the cornerstone for this transformational investment in the United States,” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “This project will set the standard for the latest technological advancements in pharmaceutical manufacturing, creating hundreds of highly skilled jobs and helping further strengthen the nation's domestic supply chain. Advanced manufacturing is at the heart of Virginia's dynamic economy, so I am thrilled that AstraZeneca, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, plans to make their largest global manufacturing investment here in the Commonwealth.”  

“Today’s announcement underpins our belief in America’s innovation in biopharmaceuticals and our commitment to the millions of patients who need our medicines in America and globally,” AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said. “It will also support our ambition to reach $80 billion in revenue by 2030. I look forward to partnering with Governor Youngkin and his team to work on our largest single manufacturing investment ever. It reflects the Commonwealth of Virginia’s desire to create highly skilled jobs in science and technology, and will strengthen the country’s domestic supply chain for medicines.” 

Lavande Patisserie to close in Rockville

Montgomery County's moribund economy has claimed yet another victim. Lavande Patisserie at 275-B N. Washington Street in Rockville announced on Facebook that it will be closing. In the post, the bakery said it will close at the end of this month. Those holding gift cards for the business are being encouraged to use them before that time, or to receive a refund for the remaining balance on the card(s). Lavande opened here in 2015.

Montgomery County Council rams through ZTA to upzone SFH neighborhoods

The Montgomery County Council took the first major step toward realization of its radical, warmed-over Reaganomics "Thrive 2050" plan yesterday, by approving construction of duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and apartment buildings up to four stories tall on lots currently restricted to single-family homes along multiple commuter corridors. True to its form of recent years, the Council simply blew off community opposition, and a crowded hearing room of angry residents. Taunting the crowd at times, the Council's sense of invincibility was hard to hide in both their microexpressions and tone of voice. The "More Housing N.O.W." zoning text amendment - like Thrive 2050 - had no grassroots support, and overwhelming opposition among residents.

Steamrolling ahead, the Council's willingness to outright lie about the intention of the ZTA was astonishing. From the beginning, they have attempted to sell Thrive and this ZTA as addressing housing affordability issues. Councilmember Andrew Friedson specifically cited middle-income "teachers, firefighters, police officers and nurses" as being able to afford the $2 million duplexes and $1 million apartments that the ZTA will produce. This is nothing more than pure, unadulterated malarkey. Incredibly, the reporter from The Washington Post accepted this farcical statement at face value, declining to fact check Friedson, ask tough follow-up questions, or outright declare Friedson's statements as false, as the paper regularly does for Donald Trump. The Post even used the term "missing middle," which doesn't remotely apply to the multimillion-dollar units that will be constructed under this ZTA. 

Eligible properties (in pink and yellow) in
Aspen Hill, Glenmont, and Wheaton

All this ZTA will do is increase the cost of housing in Montgomery County. If the townhome right next to the parking garage with no backyard at Westbard Square is $1.x million, then the future duplex with half a backyard and half a front yard in Springfield has to go for $2.x million. Now the colonial with the full front yard and backyard and Whitman school district is suddenly $3.x million, and the new-construction McMansion is $4.x million. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Urbanization of the suburbs is the primary goal of the ZTA. For example, the map of eligible properties shows how this ZTA is advancing the plan to urbanize River Road between the D.C. line and the Capital Beltway, which I have warned you about for many years. You can see the many churches, schools, country clubs, and other large properties the Council and their developer sugar daddies imagine will be demolished in the coming years. The speed limit on River Road has already been improperly reduced to 35 MPH, the exact opposite of sound traffic engineering, as the road is designed for speeds up to 55 MPH. Eventually, under the urbanization plan, River Road will be reduced to one lane in each direction, with bus/bike-only lanes seizing the other travel lanes heading east and west. A Purple Line extension to Westbard will be planned to juice density even further. As tall apartment buildings rise along the sides of River Road, the speed limit will drop to 25 MPH. Similar plans are in the works for Georgia Avenue between Olney and downtown Silver Spring, Old Georgetown Road, Veirs Mill Road, Route 29, MD 355, and other major commuter routes countywide.

Here is how each Councilmember voted on the ZTA yesterday. The names under "YES" are the people you will be voting AGAINST on your 2026 ballot, and the names under "NO" are the people you will be voting FOR in the 2026 Democratic primary election.

YES - to approve the ZTA

Gabe Albornoz

Marilyn Balcombe

Natali Fani-Gonzalez

Andrew Friedson

Evan Glass

Dawn Luedtke

Laurie-Anne Sayles

Kate Stewart

NO - to oppose the ZTA

Will Jawando

Sidney Katz

Kristin Mink