Montgomery County, Maryland miss target again as Virginia wins Kongsberg missile facility

Montgomery County and Maryland hit the snooze button again, and Virginia picked up another economic development victory while their rivals across the Potomac slept. Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace announced this week that it has chosen Virginia as the location for a new cruise missile production facility. The 150,000-square-foot complex will be constructed in James City County, and will manufacture Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles. Both are anticipated to remain in high demand, and the Norwegian firm believes it is likely to win another contract from the U.S. Department of Defense soon.

A press release from the office of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Virginia beat out two unidentified states in the competition for the Kongsberg facility. Youngkin made his winning case to Kongsberg during his trade mission to Europe this past April. While Youngkin was sealing the deal in Europe, the Montgomery County Council was passing legislation regulating hours for hookah lounges.

The factory will create more than 180 high-wage jobs. And this is actually the second Kongsberg production facility Maryland has lost out on; Pennsylvania won the first one in 2008, and the firm announced it will be expanding its Johnstown operation to handle the increased demand. It seems Kongsberg factories are dropping out of the sky everywhere around us, but landing everywhere but here. Such high-wage job creation is desperately needed not only in Montgomery County, but across Maryland from Cumberland and Hagerstown to Baltimore and Salisbury.

"Kongsberg's decision to establish its first U.S. defense assembly facility in Virginia reaffirms our status as America's top state for business," Youngkin said in a statement Tuesday. In contrast, a January report from the Maryland Comptroller's Office "found that Maryland is behind neighboring states and the nation in gross domestic product, personal income, real wages and population growth," the Associated Press reported. 

Photo courtesy Kongsberg

Boston Market to Chase Bank transformation advances in Gaithersburg (Photos)

Signage has been installed for Chase Bank at 494-B N. Frederick Avenue at Gaithersburg Square. In addition to the logos attached to the future bank, wayfaring signage directing customers to the entrance and ATM machine has been erected at ground level. Most of the wide white strip that ran around the building just below the roofline has now been painted gray, but retains the white borders. Rotisserie chicken fanatics in Gaithersburg will warmly remember this as the former home of Boston Market, which closed here over a year ago.

Break-in at Germantown grocery store

Montgomery County police responded to a burglary at a grocery store in Germantown early Monday morning, September 16, 2024. Officers were dispatched to the supermarket in the 18300 block of Leaman Farm Road at 4:28 AM Monday. Officers responding to the scene found evidence of forced entry at the store. There is a Giant grocery store on that block in the Kingsview Village Center.

Charleys Cheesesteaks now open at Fox Chapel Center in Germantown

Charleys Cheesesteaks has opened at 19701 Frederick Road at the Fox Chapel Center. This part of Montgomery County may soon be annexed by Philadelphia, as this is the third Charleys to open in Germantown. You can find the other two at Century Station and inside Walmart. The new location is celebrating its grand opening today.

Best Buy Gaithersburg closing

Best Buy is closing at 15750 Shady Grove Road at the 270 Center, on the border of Gaithersburg and Rockville. The home electronics and entertainment chain has set a closing date of October 26, 2024. Their space has been marketed for lease for several months, but the store's lease does not end until February 1, 2025. 

Best Buy announced on a corporate earnings call that it planned to close 10 to 15 stores in 2025. Gaithersburg Best Buy customers are being redirected after October 26 to the big box chain's stores located at 1200 Rockville Pike in Rockville, and at 20914 Frederick Road in Germantown. The latter store is open, but is currently undergoing renovations.

Lois P. Rockwell ES burglarized in Damascus

Four intruders entered Lois P. Rockwell Elementary School after hours on September 7, 2024, Montgomery County police report. The four suspects entered the building at 9:24 PM that evening, but did not steal anything, police say. There was no sign of forced entry at the school, which is located at 24555 Cutsail Drive in Damascus. Police describe the suspects only as "4 males."

Don Jorge's closed in Gaithersburg

Don Jorge's is closed at 108 E. Diamond Avenue in Gaithersburg. A sign in the window states that the restaurant is closed for "critical repairs." There are also signs in the window offering the restaurant building itself for sale. Readers may recall that I reported the building was being marketed for lease in February 2022, and that the Don Jorge's lease was stated at that time to be expiring this year.

StretchLab opens in Gaithersburg

StretchLab has opened at 113 Market Street at Kentlands Market Square in Gaithersburg. The one-on-one stretching studio is the chain's latest in Montgomery County, and can be found between Kentlands Dentistry and Bath & Floor Stiles. They are offering 15-minute demo stretches for a limited time. Founding member rates are still available before they rise to normal pricing.

Bowl America becomes Bowlero in Gaithersburg

The last Bowl America bowling alley at 1101 Clopper Road in Gaithersburg has become a Bowlero. It's the end of an era, as the bowling centers "where thousands cheer" fade into history with a final crash of the pins. A permanent Bowlero logo has been attached to the exterior of the building, but the sign out front has simply been covered with a Bowlero drape for now. "New name, same epic fun," the company said in announcing the change. The bowling alley was renovated before reopening as Bowlero.

Bowlero has largely cornered the market on bowling in the region. The global company started as Bowlmor in New York in 1997. An original Bowl America on Westbard Avenue in Bethesda was acquired by Bowlmor, and then became a Bowlero when the brand changed its name in 2014. The AMF Bowling on Shady Grove Road is a Bowlero today, as a result of Bowlmor's 2013 acquisition of AMF. If you're still looking for the Bowl America experience in 2024, locations remain in Northern Virginia in Alexandria, Bull Run, Burke, Fairfax, Falls Church, and Woodbridge.

Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan's 100th tour stop is Montgomery County

Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan (R) notched the 100th stop on his Strong Independent Leadership tour in Montgomery County yesterday. His choice for the campaign milestone was Silver Spring. Hogan attended the Saints Constantine & Helen Church Greek Fest at 721 Norwood Road. "We enjoyed some great food and had the chance to meet so many members of our Greek community," Hogan tweeted last night. 

The former Maryland governor ended last week with a strong endorsement by U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, after a Gonzales poll showed his Democratic opponent Angela Alsobrooks moving 5 points ahead of him following a well-received speech at the Democratic National Convention last month. Hogan is leading Alsobrooks by ten points among independent voters, the poll showed, and eleven percent of those surveyed told pollsters that they are still undecided on the race.

Photos courtesy Hogan for Maryland, Inc.

Attempted armed robbery at CVS in Poolesville

Montgomery County police responded to an attempted armed robbery in Poolesville on August 23, 2024. A male suspect entered the CVS Pharmacy at 19594 Fisher Avenue at 10:02 PM. He displayed a firearm and attempted to steal money, but was unsuccessful and fled. 

Police describe the suspect only as a Black male in his mid-30s. No images of the suspect from the store's surveillance video have been released. If you have any information about this suspect or incident, call police at (301) 279-8000. 

Buffalo Wild Wings GO coming soon to Gaithersburg

Buffalo Wild Wings GO is coming soon to Gaithersburg. It will be located at 16256 Frederick Road at the Rock Grove shopping center, at the southwest corner of MD 355 and Shady Grove Road. Buffalo Wild Wings' "GO" concept took off during the pandemic, when the chicken wings chain sought to capitalize on an explosion in demand for takeout orders, as well as a chance to muscle in on carryout-focused competitors like Wingstop. Rockville and Gaithersburg both have traditional, full-scale Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants, which are more like sports bars, competing with sit-down competitors like Hooters.

You'll find a slimmed-down menu at Buffalo Wild Wings GO, comprised of some of BWW's customer favorites. An "innovative cooking process" is able to churn out the same crispy wings you find at a regular BWW at a speedier pace, the company says. The interior set-up is designed to get customers in and out of the smaller-scale GO store as quickly as possible, especially when ordering ahead. GO also has some exclusive flavors not found at the full-size BWW.

One of the exclusive flavors at GO locations

Watching Wingstop's tremendous success surely has BWW concentrating even more on growing the number of GO locations around the country. CNBC reported just last week that the preference of sports television viewers for wings while watching the game has allowed Wingstop to avoid the recent sales downturn experienced by McDonald's and Starbucks. Sports fans don't favor the latter two for their game day smorgasboards, the network found, and Wingstop has kept its prices relatively low while McDonald's customers have been ravaged by the Hamburglar's inflation-jacked price hikes.

It's interesting that Rock Grove also has a Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins store, as those brands are also in BWW parent company Inspire Brands' portfolio. That might have played a role in the development scoring another popular brand. Buffalo Wild Wings GO will be next to Qdoba Mexican Eats at the property. Construction on the Rock Grove location is expected to begin early this fall, so we might expect a winter opening. Just in time for the Super Bowl!

Photo 1 & 3 courtesy Inspire Brands

Larry Hogan is the "un-Trump Republican," his 1st Maryland U.S. Senate TV ad of fall declares

"Never Backs Down" isn't the most original slogan to be employed by former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in his current campaign for U.S. Senate, as Ron DeSantis would likely agree. But Hogan's first TV spot for the fall campaign season does manage to come up with a more unique qualifier for an anti-Trump candidate like himself: "The un-Trump Republican." It's not all that new or original, either (the ad cites The Washington Post, and the phrase has been employed by outlets as diverse as Al Jazeera and The New York Times, among others), but is far less often invoked than "Never-Trump Republican." The latter term has failed to convert many mega-MAGA "irredeemables" back to the Bush Republican fold so far.

Using the phrase makes clear that voters in Hillary Clinton's fabled basket of deplorables are not the target audience for this ad. The spot plays up examples of "Hogan's radically normal model for the GOP," such as blocking tax increases every year he was the executive of Maryland, lowering tolls on state bridges, and leaving a large budget surplus for his successor Wes Moore. Major challenges Hogan faced while in office are also highlighted, ranging from the pandemic and Baltimore riots that followed the death of Freddy Gray, to his own personal cancer diagnosis and recovery.

"Now more than ever, we need strong independent leadership in Washington who will never back down to the extremes and the party bosses," Hogan tweeted in introducing the ad Tuesday. "That’s exactly what I did as your Governor, and that is exactly what I will do in the United States Senate." 

Hogan's Democratic opponent, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, has already begun an ad blitz worthy of the deep-pocketed primary opponent she vanquished earlier this year. Prior to his defeat, David Trone was an inescapable presence not only on TV screens, but in his relentless, un-skippable YouTube ads. Alsobrooks' ad focuses on her central message to juice turnout in a majority-Democrat state: that the winner of the Alsobrooks-Hogan contest may determine which party controls the U.S. Senate this coming January.

Is Best Buy planning an exit in Gaithersburg?

Is Best Buy's future at 15750 Shady Grove Road at the 270 Center in doubt? It sure looks like it from an online listing for the 270 Center. The big box store's "big box" is available for lease, according to the KLNB listing. Whoever the lucky next tenant is will be able to move into the 46,155-square-foot space on February 1, 2025. 

Best Buy announced on a corporate earnings call that it planned to close 10 to 15 stores in 2025. This one on the border of Rockville and Gaithersburg now appears to be one of them. Rockville has a venerable Best Buy store located at 1200 Rockville Pike. Living in the 90s!

Drag Story Hour returns to Montgomery County Public Libraries this Saturday

Drag Story Hour is returning to Montgomery County Public Libraries this Saturday, September 7, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the Marilyn J. Praisner Library at 14910 Old Columbia Pike in Burtonsville. According to the official Montgomery County Public Libraries event announcement, the story hour is for an audience of "preschool and kindergarten, elementary school age, babies and toddlers." MCPL states that the event is "appropriate for all ages, especially for children ages 18 months to 10 years with their families."

"Story hour just got a lot more glamorous!" the MCPL event description says. "Drag Story Hour (DSH) is just what it sounds like! Storytellers using the art of drag to read books to kids in libraries, schools, and bookstores. DSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models." MCPL tags the event as one that facilitates the goal of "Kindergarten Readiness."

The events have not been without controversy, reflecting a nationwide political divide on the issue. Montgomery County police, as well as volunteer citizen groups like Parasol Patrol and Rainbow Defense Coalition, have deployed to separate attendees from protesters at past story hours.