Downtown Silver Spring’s indoor mall is poised to pull in at least one big retailer, with hopes that a new anchor will polish its lackluster image.
Steve and Barry’s, a New York-based clothier, has already posted “coming soon” signs in City Place Mall’s windows along Fenton Street. Aurelia Martin, spokesperson for the mall’s management, expects the store to open before the winter holiday season.
Martin also said a grand-opening ceremony could include a teen celebrity. Steve and Barry’s is the exclusive retailer of “Dear”, a clothing line by actress Amanda Bynes.
According to the company’s website, each Steve and Barry’s store occupies 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of real estate, about the size of a supermarket. Its clothing prices undercut larger retailers, including Wal-Mart and Tar-zhey, BusinessWeek reported last year.
Steve and Barry’s manages to keep prices low by negotiating cut-rate leases with landlords, BusinessWeek wrote. Most stores are in middle-market malls, which have been losing tenants to department-store consolidation and out-of-mall retailers.
“Some of these [mall owners] are desperate,” Deutsche Bank real estate analyst Louis Taylor told BusinessWeek.
As Steve and Barry’s popularity increases, the company has been able to negotiate rents that are at least 50 percent lower than what most mall tenants pay, co-CEO Barry Prevor told BusinessWeek.
City Place could score another anchor before the year’s end. However, negotiations with the unnamed entity are still in the works, Martin said Thursday during an area marketing meeting.
“We’ve had a long, downhill beat,” Martin said. The addition of Steve and Barry’s, and the possibility of another anchor, would “blend in and be what the community has asked for,” she said.
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Good responses by everyone. Back to original subject. Steve and Berry’s. Let’s see…a low-end clothing store that will hire customer service staff at $7.50 per hour with no benefits. Clothing made from child labor in Bangladesh at .03 cents per item. I wonder if I can find any sweatshop violations with this company? Yes, capitalism is greeeat!
Capitalism has its obvious faults but would we be having this discussion without it? On our own computers?
Amen to “Dee” “hufflepants” and “Jo”! I’m actually wearing a pair of S&B jeans right now that I purchased from their Baltimore store. :) They are my favorite considering I paid only $8 for them! I’m very petite and don’t think I should have to pay more than 50 bucks for quality jeans, etc. Btw, I was planning to drive to Bmore just for S&B since I’ve only been there once. While searching for the address I stumbled upon this site.
For all who haven’t visited S&B, it’s nothing like Marshalls and better than H&M in my opinion. Marshalls is always a mess with their damaged goods for less and H&M’s prices have gone up so high in the past few yrs that I refuse to shop there since half the clothes are just too cheaply made…
I’ve been following this discussion for days, and I finally have to jump in:
I’m not sure where IHY *ever* got the idea that “They want a 100 percent makeover of Silver Spring from a progressive, middle-class, racially diverse community into a more politically conservative (Republican), predominately white, cookie-cutter version of Bethesda.” Who in the heck are “THEY”? I certainly don’t know “them”.
A) I moved to SS in part because of its almost total lack of Republicans. The only Republicans I’ve *ever* met in SS were my old neighbors who had lived in the Carroll Knolls neighborhood for fifty years.
B) Nearly all of my neighbors who own houses work for the Federal Government or socially progressive nonprofits, so it’s not as though we’re developing a community of lobbyists and high-powered lawyers. While expensive, houses in SS are, for the moment, still much more “affordable” than Bethesda or Chevy Chase– or even some other parts of MoCo.
C) Almost everyone I have met in SS in the last five years has conveyed similar reasons to mine for moving to the area: to raise their families in a walkable, socially and ethnically diverse neighborhood that combines the best of urban and suburban life. (Although some might argue that the lack of Republicans means that the area isn’t *truly* diverse, I’m willing to make that sacrifice!) Our friends come from a wide range of ethnic and national backgrounds, and have varying levels of income, and we love it that way. We love that we can walk to restaurants serving food from all over the world, and hear dozens of languages spoken along the way. That’s what makes this neighborhood special, and we’ll fight tooth and nail to keep it that way.
D) Perhaps IHY is reacting to one or two people he/she has met, and hasn’t really taken the time to speak with some of the “yuppies” he’s constantly maligning on this blog. I’m not quite sure of his (her?) definition of the term “yuppie”, but I can honestly say I’ve never met *anyone* in SS who fits his description of “THEY”– even my old Republican neighbors didn’t want to live in another version of Bethesda. I just can’t begin to fathom who “these people” IHY is always ranting about could be.
E) Just because I’d like to enjoy a movie in peace once in a while doesn’t mean I’m a “yuppie” who hates poor people and wants them to move out of my neighborhood. I think it’s fabulous that kids are able to hang out in the Ellsworth area– most of them are just hanging with their friends, as teenagers have always done and will always do, and if they’re in public they’re usually staying out of trouble (there are much, much worse things a teenager could be doing these days!). But simple manners are not an unreasonable expectation for any economic or ethnic group. There are plenty of rude, obnoxious rich kids, and I’d like them to shut up and let me watch the movie, too.
But we really shouldn’t make this the huge, divisive issue it’s become, because teenagers have always seemed rude to adults– they’re just self-absorbed. It’s an age-old problem, and we’re not going to solve it by adding racial or economic overtones to the problem. Heck, back the in ’50s, people were complaining about rude teenagers hanging out downtown and being obnoxious at the drive-in.
F) Can’t wait to check out S&B, after everything I’ve read. Hard to believe that’s where all this started!
Steve and Barry’s is already open! According to its website, they were open on December 24th. I happened to go down to the City Place mall food court for a walk and I was quite surprised. No huge grand opening signs outside Ellsworth. Anyways, the place looked organized and had a lot of stuff. I probably will something in the future…
I like steve& berry and i fill that it has brought more customers to the mall and the price is perfect for those who cant aford those high as jeans and nice cotton wear all i can say is keep up the good work and godbless and may you put one of your stores in the washington area were you all w ill be appriciated thankyou and keep up the good work.
Editor’s note: Thanks for your comments, Nehru. I was in that store just the other day, and while they could learn a thing or two about presentation (keep those tee shirts folded, people!), they had some fun stuff there. You know where I’m shopping for March Madness! — JD (Feb 27, 2008)
Just an FYI …
Steve and Barry’s is opening a store in the Wheaton Mall this summer, according to the Washington Business Journal.
Great, more mediocre clothing options for the Silver Spring area.
Businesses, there are people in Silver Spring that like high end. Heck, give me even mid-range clothing options.
S&B doesn’t cut it. Even the existing stores are disappointing.
I went into Ann Taylor over the weekend to buy a quick gift for a birthday present and had to drive to Bethesda/Rockville. The clothing material is uncomfortable, majority synthetic. And who buys a faux sweater/button down shirt combo?
And now we have New York & Company to look forward to. Crap.
Steve and Barry’s is better than all the other stores! I was skeptical at first too but then when my sister took me there it was heaven! I like like 15 minutes away from it and there really wasn’t a nice cheap store until it came. The jeans are like heaven. lol
Looks like we’re getting another snack joint at City Place! Auntie Anne’s Pretzels has put “now hiring” banners on the walls.
City Place is horrible, we don’t need another discount retailer like Steve and wild Berries or whatever its called. But more importantly, why is it in the middle of the food court, or food basement as I call it. It’s comical to see the older mall patrons get lost down there trying to figure out where the UP escalator is. That mall wasn’t designed well, its too small to have that Pentagon City escalator/elevator layout.
Anyone know what’s going on with the Fillmore? And whats the deal with that rumored Civic Center? That land is an eyesore, and would they do something about that green space where all those juvenile delinquents attack people with skateboards! My friend visiting from out of town thought something was wrong when we left Fuddruckers, he was scared for his life!
Editor’s note: Thanks for your comments, Isayaah. News on the Fillmore and the civic center/Turf drop this week. — JD (Jun 23, 2008)
[...] the company to set up shop. But Aurelia Martin, spokesperson for the mall’s management, admitted in October that the shopping center had been in “a long, downhill [...]