K-Mobile Tech has opened on Level 2 at Wheaton Plaza. In addition to sales and accessories, the store also offers cell phone repairs.
In other Wheaton Plaza news,
Charlotte Russe is now hiring for its store. The apparel and footwear chain has reversed its store closure plan, and is
now reopening 100 of its stores that closed, USA Today reported this past spring.
This mall is declining. 7-8 years ago Wheaton mall was on the ascent, after grabbing Costco, H&M, Dick's...now you go and lots of spots are closed and a ton of no name ripoff stores "K-Mobile" instead of "T-Mobile"...this is how a mall dies. The owners need to redevelop all the open space around the mall, similar to what has been done in Columbia, Tysons, Montgomery Mall...
ReplyDelete9:59AM They already have T-Mobile.
DeleteWheaton Plaza doesn't seem to be declining at all. Having Target & Costco means it will always be a draw. The food court is still bringing in quality- Dyer just broke the story on Moe's Southwest Grill a few weeks ago.
The movie theater is basically brand new with recliners- you could argue it's better than Arclight.
The movie theater opening was 2016. The mall was on a roll then, I agree with you. It has fallen since then, and I don't think people are paying attention. I was just there last week, and there are more empty storefronts than I've ever seen. Having target and Costco there will mean that Target and Costco will be a draw...the rest of the mall, not so much unless something changes.
DeleteSome truth to both. Plenty of small businesses in the mall, plenty of turnover and transitional storefronts. Not all businesses succeed. A lot of them would have failed anywhere. Target and Costco (Dick's and Giant) are doing well. Costco, even without a gas station, is one of the busiest on the East coast. The mall is nowhere near where it was before Target came in. AMC is part of the Wheaton South renovation with Bar Louis, new crosswalks and curbs, a cool space with the pass-through and stairway down to AMC, is vastly underutilized, Olive Garden would've been nice. Walkability-wise, Wheaton South will always be estranged by the big parking garage. Why isn't Solaire better connected to it? Tilted Kilt would have enlivened the other dead zone, but Forever 21 is still inside-facing, and it still faced a big parking garage. Food Court is decent, and Moe's will help. Not a spectacle like Montgomery Mall. At least Wheaton still HAS Macy's and JcPenny's, worst case they could be empty shells by now. My bet is on the mall's role in the larger Wheaton picture, of the new triangle - the offices, the open space, and the new residential buildings over the last 10 years. Chuck Levins' new facade, The Ambassador demolition. A few more walkability projects - as you say, linking together the satellite buildings, minimizing the "mall ring road" which is like a pedestrian death trap. Still, parking garage stairways smell like urine and weed, the Sears outlet seems like it only opens if someone happens to wander in, too many "dead zones" - like the Titled Kilt Side, the Restaurant Row side, and the lower level outside of Forever 21.
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