Pop 2000 Tour landing at Montgomery Mall in Bethesda June 23, 2024

Bring me up, Carson! Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda is once again allowing you to relive your - or your parents' - MTV TRL afterschool Y2K memories with the Pop 2000 Tour event tomorrow, Sunday, June 23, 2024 from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM on Level 1 of the mall in the Nordstrom wing. Hosted by Chris Kirkpatrick of NSYNC, the event will feature live performances by Kirkpatrick, O-Town, BBMAK, Ryan Cabrera, and LFO.

The standing-room-only concert will take place from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM near Nordstrom on Level 1. But the festivities will get underway at noon with spin-the-wheel prize giveaways, airbrush tattoos, rhinestone gem art, and a 2000 Photo Moments station. Create a 2024 photo moment by purchasing a selfie with your favorite boy band after the concert. Merchandise for the participating artists will also be on sale.

Look for Pop 2000 Tour activities on Level 1 near Kiehl's. HOT 99.5 will be broadcasting live from the event. The radio station will be hosting its own activities and giveaways. Pop 2000 is free to attend, but you need to RSVP online.

"The Pop 2000 Tour will bring the energy and excitement of 2000s pop music to Westfield Montgomery, giving our community the chance to relive that era in music," Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SVP of Shopping Center Management Leah Heil said in a statement Friday. "We look forward to watching the audience transport back in time and sing along to hits they’ll never forget, while creating new memories with friends and family.”

Top two images courtesy Westfield
Bottom image: AI

Peter Chang signage removed at Rockville Town Square

The final trace of local celebrity chef Peter Chang has been removed from his former restaurant at 20-A Maryland Avenue at Rockville Town Square. Kungfu Kitchen abruptly took over the space when Chang made his unexpected exit from the struggling Town Center property in April. Chang's eponymous restaurant operated at Rockville Town Square for ten years. His exit stings all the more as the Montgomery County-averse dining critic of The Washington Post just wrote rave reviews of Chang's newest restaurants in Gaithersburg and Arlington. 

Chang's status among celebrity chefs and prolific restaurateurs is remarkable in that his fame derives entirely from the products of his kitchens. He is rarely seen or heard in the media via interviews or public relations efforts, and doesn't belittle aspiring chefs on competitive cooking TV shows, or engage in publicity stunts. Chang is known for one thing: his cooking. Rockville Town Square is increasingly known for...empty storefronts.

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.

Man wounded in Rockville shooting

Rockville City police responded to a report of a shooting around 8:30 PM last night, June 20, 2024, near the intersection of E. Argyle Street and Blandford Street. Officers arriving at the scene found an adult male suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. They provided first aid until an ambulance transported the victim to a local hospital. Police say he is currently in stable condition.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Cpl. Renae McEvoy at 240-314-8983 or via email at RMcEvoy@RockvilleMD.Gov.

Could a Netflix House be coming to Montgomery Mall in Bethesda?

Is Montgomery County ready for Netflix IRL? The leading streaming service announced the planned opening of two Netflix House "experiential entertainment venues" at malls in Dallas and King of Prussia, with potential plans for more in cities yet to be identified. Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda seems like a logical choice to join the list. Netflix Houses are described as being "over 100,000-square-feet" in size. Montgomery Mall's vacant former Sears store is 150,000-square-feet, is currently mothballed, and is generating zero revenue for Westfield beyond whatever tax break can be claimed for the vacancy.

Westfield holds an approval from Montgomery County for an urban-style, mixed-use expansion of the mall, including a demolition of the empty Sears building, but has not taken any visible steps to immediately proceed with that development. A Netflix House would be a good short-term use to generate revenue until Westfield is ready to move forward with the expansion.

"Imagine waltzing with your partner to an orchestral cover of a Taylor Swift song on a replica of the Bridgerton set –– and then walking around the corner to compete in the Glass Bridge challenge from Squid Game," Netflix said in its Netflix House announcement Tuesday. "After pretending to fight for your life, you’ve worked up an appetite and want to get a bite. You see a nearby restaurant with food inspired by Netflix shows from around the world; the meal is memorable, but you still want to buy some Stranger Things merch. Luckily, there’s a shop that sells that Hellfire Club T-shirt you’ve always wanted." 

There are other malls in the region, but Montgomery Mall has the ideal vacant building space that Netflix requires for a Netflix House immediately available. Its loss of Sears as an anchor would be its gain in this case. A Netflix House would generate significant additional foot traffic for other tenants of the mall.

On the other hand, the timeline for opening of the first two Netflix Houses suggests significant construction is required. The Galleria Dallas and King of Prussia Mall Netflix Houses are expected to open in 2025. By the time a Netflix House would open in 2026 or later, who knows if Netflix will still be the entertainment giant it is today? Two years is an eternity in Hollywood, and Westfield might want to proceed with its redevelopment of the Sears building and adjacent parking lot before, or by, that time.

Rendering courtesy Netflix
Photos by Robert Dyer

Criminals steal golf cart, force entry to apartment during 35-min. crime spree on Rockville street

Something attracted between eight and eleven alleged criminals to a quiet residential street in Rockville on the afternoon of June 13, 2024. Rockville City police report that two suspects stole a golf cart parked at an apartment complex in the 400 block of College Parkway at 3:45 PM. Exactly thirty-five minutes later, police allege, eight to nine suspects forced their way into a vacant apartment a block away in the 500 block of College Parkway. 

The apartment burglars are only identified as "8-9 juveniles." No physical description or ages of the two suspected of grand theft golf cart has been released. It is unknown if the two sets of suspects are part of the same group as of this writing. Both crimes were committed in broad daylight. If you have any information about either incident, or any of the suspects involved, you are asked to call police at 240-314-8900.

Losing to Virginia on another factory, is Montgomery County in the hunt for IKEA manufacturing site?

Montgomery County and Maryland were beaten in the economic development game again by Virginia yesterday. Will they be players in the next big manufacturing competition, for an IKEA factory on American soil? Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's office announced Tuesday that his state had won the competition for a 400,000-square-foot Condair Group AG manufacturing facility. The press release indicated that Virginia and South Carolina were the two finalists. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported this past weekend that IKEA is scouting for factory locations in the United States, due to increasing disruptions in international shipping lanes.

Virginia could already have a [LÖVBACKEN table] leg up in the IKEA race, as the Swedish furniture giant previously operated its only U.S. factory in Danville, Virginia from 2008 to 2019. It ultimately closed that plant, shipping its 300 jobs back to Europe. Montgomery County has plenty of room for an IKEA plant in the I-270 corridor, where there is also potential direct rail access to the CSX Metropolitan Subdivision for domestic or port shipping purposes. Of course, Baltimore, Hagerstown and Cumberland are among the struggling Maryland cities that could use an IKEA plant to help revive their once-mighty industrial areas.

There's no indication of Montgomery County or Maryland having been in the hunt for the Condair plant. The $57.2 million investment by Condair in Chesterfield County, Virginia will create 180 good-paying industrial jobs with full benefits. Instead of Condair products being exported out of the Port of Baltimore, they'll be headed out of Richmond Marine Terminal in Virginia, according to the press release.

"When an international brand like Condair makes the decision to locate in Virginia, the positive ripple-effects of economic investment, job creation and cargo growth are felt throughout the Commonwealth," Virginia Port Authority CEO Stephen A. Edwards said in a statement. "The Port of Virginia will be among the beneficiaries of Condair’s location in Chesterfield County, which is not far from Richmond Marine Terminal. We are ready to collaborate with Condair to help it leverage the assets of this port — America’s most modern gateway — to ensure it has access to world markets." 

"Virginia is the perfect location for the international company Condair to establish its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility," Youngkin said in a statement Tuesday. "We applaud the 21st century manufacturing jobs that this project will bring to Chesterfield County."