Five Below to move up Rockville Pike

Five Below, the $5-or-less discount store located at Federal Plaza on Rockville Pike, is planning to move "just up the Pike." Their new space will be at the Congressional North shopping center, right next to the new Aldi grocery store. 

Teel Construction is the contractor for the fit-out of the new store, and work is now underway. 1503 Rockville Pike will be the store's new address.

More Montgomery County news:

Cabin John Village redevelopment before Planning Board

Boba tea becoming more popular in Bethesda

Vacant Discovery HQ slouches toward dim future in Silver Spring

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Mattress Warehouse to move at Metro Pike Center in Rockville

Metro Pike Center has finally found a tenant for the long-vacant Jennifer Convertibles space at 11520-A Rockville Pike. Mattress Warehouse has signed a lease with property owner Saul Centers for the space. Construction is just getting underway inside the future mattress showroom. Mattress Warehouse currently has a larger existing store at Metro Pike Center, at 11550 Rockville Pike.

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Crave closed at Montgomery Mall, Cinnabon opens

Crave American Kitchen & Sushi Bar has closed at Westfield Montgomery Mall. The closure leaves a large dining space vacant, which could be turned into a winning opportunity by Westfield if they can attract another big name on the level of next-door neighbor The Cheesecake Factory. With the planned addition of Olive Garden at Westfield's Wheaton Plaza clearly having fallen through, I would strongly urge them to pursue an Olive Garden here.

Is the Crave spot a bad location? No, because Cheesecake Factory has been tremendously successful in the adjacent space. While Crave had a wide-ranging menu with mass appeal for the mall-going crowd, other issues appear to have done them in. The restaurant rarely appeared crowded when I passed it.

Packing crates inside Crave Sunday

Last call at the bar

Would you like to see an
Olive Garden in this space?

In other mall news, as I reported Friday, Cinnabon opened this weekend in the Dining Terrace. And the long painful exit of Gymboree has finally come to an end. They have closed, and their space is being cleared out.

Cinnabon to open this weekend at Montgomery Mall

The return of Cinnabon is upon us. I've been seeing increased construction activity at their space in recent weeks. Now Westfield Montgomery Mall reports that the bakery no real mall can be without will be opening this weekend. Look for Cinnabon in the Dining Terrace next to Urban Plates, by the escalator.

Rockville chosen for microtransit pilot program

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation is launching a pilot program to test microtransit in Rockville, Wheaton, and Glenmont. Riders would be able to request a small shuttle bus from designated pickup and drop-off points using an app on their phones. They would receive an estimated time of arrival for the bus.

A public hearing on the pilot will be held on Thursday, April 25, 2019, at 6:30 PM at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School, which is located at 12701 Goodhill Road off Weller Road in Silver Spring. Attendees will have the opportunity to speak, and to learn more about the pilot program.

MCDOT has released these two (very blurry) maps showing the zones for the pilot. In Rockville, the pilot zone appears to include Rockville Town Center, Hungerford and part of Rockville Pike near those areas.

Story House bookmobile opens bricks-and-mortar bookstore in Rockville

The Story House, a trolley bookmobile marketing books to children and families in Rockville for the last two years, has just opened a bricks-and-mortar location at Rockville Town Square. It is located inside of Dawson's Market at 225 N. Washington Street. Books also remain for sale aboard the trolley. The Story House at Dawson's Market is open from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

Rockville construction update: Main Street apartments (Photos)

Here's a look at the progress at the construction site of the future Main Street apartments at 50 Monroe Place. This is a very unique project in Rockville, and in the region. 25% of the units will be set aside for the disabled, and 75% will be affordable.

The development is on the former site of the historic IBM office building, and was previously going to be redeveloped as senior housing before that project fell through. That opened up the opportunity for Main Street, and the non-profit quickly moved on it.