Comments on: Super Fresh Pulls Out Of Rockville Town Square

By: Trapper Martin

Trapper Martin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:58:53 +0000

Interesting to read through all the comments and certainly about the same things that I have been hearing. FRIT is scheduled to be at the Town Center Action Team meeting on Thursday 4/8 at 7pm in the Mayor and Council Chambers. This meeting is open to the public and we would welcome some new faces and perspectives. This will be a great way to kick off discussion not only of what we want in this space but begin the discussion of Phase II. At our next meeting I am trying to get a representative of JBG to attend to discuss where they are in the planning process and get some timelines. If you are interested in coming to the meeting please just shoot me a quick line at tmartin@noodles.com. Thanks……Trapper

By: Deb Stahl

Deb Stahl — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:31:11 +0000

If we’re talking higher-end in that space, maybe Rodman’s? They might have more success getting the beer/wine license since they already sell them in their other Maryland locations, or at least the one in White Flint.Would still prefer MOM’s tho. Or Trader Joe’s. I shop at both relatively frequently and would be happy to walk to them if they were downtown. Would be pretty much happy with any place I can get decent quality groceries without paying through the nose, and would totally support an indoor Farmer’s Market.And I find it hard to believe that both FTC and Giant don’t seem to be in any hurry to make some money on their empty spaces, the SuperFresh site and the old Giant building which could easily accommodate whatever hardware store (not a full-on home center, but hardware store) wanted the spot.On the topic of the Giant, I also had a couple words with the manager about the arrangement. Actually, I think I like the idea of the health foods by the produce; manager indicated it was expanding to a full aisle, not just half a section, and to me it’s be nice to have the foods I purchase the most all in one section of the store. (With food sensitivities in the family, most of our cooking is from-scratch by necessity.)I remember before the changeover they had all the nuts in packages, no bulk nuts, due to allergy concerns, but that was one of the first things that went away after the changeover; I am not happy with where they seem to be headed. It took them nearly 4 years to get the “Family Parking” spaces put in, so I’m not hopeful about the speed with which customer concerns *might* be implemented. But I could bypass them almost completely with a proper grocery downtown!

By: Nick D'Augustino

Nick D'Augustino — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:20:37 +0000

Bring back Hagan’s Four Courts! That was the most promising restaurant in the old Courthouse Square “Mall”.

By: Herb Winkler

Herb Winkler — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:15:52 +0000

Ruth, good luck lobbying Sniders. I had no success on that front (they’re happy with their one store), but they would be a great fit, and already have their suppliers lined up, and run an add in the paper. The only difference is the rent, but maybe FRIT can ease off a bit for the sake of increasing foot traffic for the rest of their tenants. The hardware store could turn a tidy profit because there in no competition since Mack’s and Wire closed down. Mack left cuz he didn’t want to use the new ACE supply system. Wire has been gone since 1990, but maybe Peerless could put something together for us. It could serve as a revenue source for them, and serve us. Better than letting it sit idle.

By: Ruth Hanessian

Ruth Hanessian — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:52:13 +0000

Sniders would be my choice! I’m going there for my Easter lamb and wine this week and will show them this discussion. The hardware store in Ashton has been interested in the area but has received no help from the city.

By: Laura Morella

Laura Morella — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:13:02 +0000

“Trader Joes” would be a great fit! Grocery store definitely!!!

By: Herb Winkler

Herb Winkler — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:58:56 +0000

I talked to the Magruders, and they won’t move back to town center. They moved up the street to the former Shopper’s, and the space is more affordable for them. Federal Reality can charge higher rents, but that keeps many merchants out of town center. A hardware store probably won’t have the revenue to make it in town center, but maybe we can lobby one to locate in closer in, like the industrial area on Stonestreet Ave. Notice the way that Del Ray (north Alexandria) developed, and attracted a nice mix of stores. It started with a coffee shop, and then other shops opened up that were not in direct competition, making the street a shopping destination with a butcher shop, cheese boutique, and art studios. We’re stuck with chain stores because the rents are too high for mom and pops to open here.While I wouldn’t kill for a Trader Joe’s, an organic market like the Bethesda Coop would be nice. Bulk food shops reduce the packaging that supermarkets require, benefitting our pocketbooks and landfills alike. It would be easier to refill jars if we had a coop nearby. Year round farmers market has been talked about, causing locavores to salivate. Perhaps we can lobby FRIT to adjust the rent and open the space for an Eastern Market type of operation that would appeal to a variety of merchants. Its better than letting the space sit vacant. And they promised us a food store would open there in November of 2008. Maybe if they put an off switch on their escalator and dimmed some lights after hours, they could afford to adjust their rental expectations and we won’t have to bike up the Pike as much.

By: Mark Bober

Mark Bober — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:47:25 +0000

Organic Market, preferably with a deli/sandwich bar and seating for the lunch crowd.

By: Eric Raynor

Eric Raynor — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:31:23 +0000

When I moved to east rockville many years ago I was attracted to the neighborhood because of location, which to me meant 1) I could walk to metro and MARC rail, 2) I could walk to the former Magruder’s and Giant supermarkets in town center, and 3) I could walk to May’s Hardware in town center – these are the three types of places I most need to go so my thinking was that I would hardly ever need to drive. In the intervening years, we’ve lost the hardware store and the supermarkets and now I’ve got to drive MORE than I used to. We’re going backwards in terms of livability and automobile dependence, especially when I have to leave town by car to get to a hardware store. If we want to attract people to rockville in general and to downtown in particualr, we’ve simply got to offer people at least one mostly car-free living alternative downtown and get a supermarket and a hardware store somewhere in or near town center that people can walk to. This will enable seniors who don’t drive or don’t wish to drive often to stay in downtown or move to downtown, and there’s also a trend a foot among younger people to not own cars, and they are flocking to older cities where they can live car free; if we want seniors and our youth to stay in our city, we’ve got to make it workable for them as pedestrians. Since the supermarket space is not extremely large, we’ve got to try to get one of the companies that will work within the size retail space we have – some options include: MOM’s (My Organic Market) – their current white flint location is cramped and they could use a bigger space; Balducci’s; Yes Organic Markets (they recently opened a nice new smaller shop in the Columbia Heights section of DC); Ukrop’s; Snyder’s Magruder’s — I hope the city and FRIT will explore possibilities with all these merchants???

By: Nancy Williams

Nancy Williams — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:40:23 +0000

A Cooperative Farmers Market that operates on a yearly basis is something that might work. Maybe it could be an open air design that’s capable of being climate controlled. Magruders anyone?

By: Frank Anastasi

Frank Anastasi — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:09:19 +0000

My son and I and his friends have often wished there was more to do for kids in Town Square. We think an ARCADE would be great. There is one over near Reston that hosts birthday parties – it’s in a small industrial kind of strip center but man, when you go inside, it’s like the Buzz Light Year ride at Disney – all bright and lots of lights. Loads of games and stuff, Very large screen on several walls for games like Wi, X-box. Except for eating and running around jumping from rock to rock, there isn’t really much for the pre-teen kids to do in Town Square. How about an ARCADE!?!Of course, a nice specialized food market would be great. We really need one. Seems to me a high-end one like Dean & Deluca would thrive here (is that still down in Georgetown?

By: Lyda Astrove

Lyda Astrove — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 01:46:58 +0000

I would definately like to see a Trader Joe’s.

By: Julia Nguyen

Julia Nguyen — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 22:53:10 +0000

I would kill to have a Trader Joe’s so close by. Sadly, I think the space is too small for Wegman’s to consider.

By: Brad Rourke

Brad Rourke — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:20:12 +0000

My guess is that there is a lot of momentum behind a high end grocery store, and I certainly think that seems like it could work. I do not have access to market research so I don’t know what the viability of that is.Just as a thought experiment, I thought I might spin out some other scenarios, trying to fit my thinking in with 1) the idea of being a destination; and 2) an understanding of the current mix of shops. And I tried to push myself to be crazy.So, what about some of these ideas:A) A Lego StoreB) An Apple StoreC) A skate shop with small rampD) High end jewelry storeE) Farmer’s market (like Eastern Market)F) J.Crew or Banana RepublicG) Irish pub with music (Laura Berthiaume’s idea from an email)H) Restoration HardwareI) American ApparelOkay, I ran out of ideas. I can see good points and bad points about all of these, so don’t think I am pitching them, necessarily . . . just putting them out there.

By: George L. Roman

George L. Roman — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:59:31 +0000

I believe that Federal Realty, RD Rockville, and the city have been selling RTS with a grocery store since its inception. While some other type of retail store might work (Houstons? They just left the Pike), I think the game plan still calls for a grocery store.If I can dream, I’d want 1) a Wegman’s; and 2) the complete rescinding of the neanderthal protectionist beer and wine policy Montgomery County embraces.On that last point: California, which allows all grocery stores to sell beer, wine, and liquor, still has over 13,000 liquor stores in the state. The claim that liquor stores would be driven out of business if grocery stores could sell beer and wine is complete nonsense.