Thursday, January 26, 2017

Icebreaker, Wetzel's Pretzels close in Bethesda (Photo)

An empty Wetzel's Pretzels
kiosk yesterday
Icebreaker Touchlab has closed at Bethesda Row. The store had been holding a 50% off sale over the last couple of weeks. The apparel chain's website has deleted the Bethesda Avenue location from its "Find a Store" database.

Meanwhile, Westfield Montgomery Mall continues to be rocked by business closures. Just days after I broke the story that Dining Terrace anchor Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria will shutter Saturday night, Wetzel's Pretzels has cleared out. The pretzel kiosk was empty during regular business hours at the mall on Wednesday.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Anonymous said...

People go to the food court for quick food. They don't go there for sit-down means (Naples, MET) or generally wander the rest of the mall looking for a snack (pretzels). Some notable exceptions--ice cream seems to do OK out of the food court--but in general, placement is everything.

Robert Dyer said...

6:08: I didn't go to the food court that often until Burger King closed.

Anonymous said...

That wing of the mall is not ideally situated. You can even see in the photo to the right, where American Classic Clothes is -- they just shut down too. That's the wing of the mall with the shady convenience store and the massage place. Rub and a tug, anyone?

Anonymous said...

This is really bad news for Montgomery Mall if they can't attract more business. We tried a lot of the different options at this mall. We actually went to Naples within the last month or two. I can't remember if I made it to Met but I definitely liked LobsterMe. Arclight does attract me to this mall but if the options pretty much end up being Cava or Chipotle (not really feeling the concept for Beefsteak) then it's definitely going to have a hard time competing for my foot traffic compared to Tysons or other parts of the area with more dining variety. I'll still go sometimes but probably not as much without more options.

I'm just saying that because I'm someone who will happily dine at the mall and who likes the move away from greasy/cheap fast food. I hope they are able to do something to attract more choices.

Barryrock said...

Amzingly, Tysons Corner Mall has a lot of restaurants at the mall, Seasons 2 and many other bigger names. On a saturday night, the place is packed. You need more than one restaurant to make it work...But, Montgomery Mall isnt Tysons.

Anonymous said...

Re: LobsterMe I knew from the start that they would not last long. My first encounter with this chain was in Las Vegas where everything is a mall attached to a casino, attached to a hotel. LobsterMe was located at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. It is in the center of the food court with all the foot traffic you could ask for, yet very few customers. I tried the lobster roll there and was not impressed, especially for the price of $18. When the MM location opened, I knew they were over priced for the locale.

Anonymous said...

Barry is right...the Tysons restaurants are packed on weekends- there's usually quite a wait to get a table at Coastal Flats and the other restaurants.

Anonymous said...

Will be interesting to see what they can do with the Cabin John redevelopment to try to beat what has gone on here at Monty Mall.

Any predictions, Robert?

Anonymous said...

@3:20 I think Cabin John has some potential, but it's more difficult to get to. It's not right off any major roadways like 270 and Old Georgetown, and the roads leading in are only 2 lanes wide maximum.

Anonymous said...

I think they need to provide better security so people feel safe.