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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I have no idea what this store is… but the description sounds suspiciously similar to Marshall’s and Burlington Coat…. I hope I’m wrong. Not that there’s anything wrong with those stores (aside from the fact that the ones in city place happen to be unorganized pits of chaos with stuff thrown all over the place.. but conceptually, there exist descent versions of both in the world) but they clearly haven’t done anything to bring customers to city place.
Paul, I agree with you. To borrow from myself on a different thread:
Steve & Barry’s looks like another craptastic City Place Store. This comes directly from their website: “By delivering on our promise to provide premium apparel at impossibly low prices, Steve & Barry’s is single-handedly changing the retail landscape…We currently operate more than 200 super-stores in 33 states and plan to open approximately 70 stores in 2007.”
Isn’t one Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) eyesore enough for DTSS? Jeebus!
Cheaper than Walmart?!?! Where the hell are these clothes made, Burundi?
Perhaps City Place management is targeting certain retailers with an eye toward future commercial jingle potential. Dig this irresistible first line…
“Ben and Jerry’s, Steve and Barry’s….”
They just need to get themselves a Crazy Larry’s and they’ve got themselves jingle gold!!
Go for it City Place! http://www.crazylarrys.com
Steve and Barry’s started as an outlet of mostly left over college apparel (like University of Michigan Dental School shirts). Many years ago I bought an awesome throwback Fightin’ Illini shirt at an S&B. I know of at least one Steve and Barry’s which has recently opened in a mall in New Jersey which also has a Nordstrom’s, Apple Store, and Cheesecake Factory. So, I don’t think the store will be a detriment to the future of City Place.
Dude, I’ve gotta get a University of Michigan Dental School tee shirt!
Steve and Barry’s is also the exclusive retailer of Sarah Jessica Parker’s line “Bitten.” I’ve never been to one of their stores, but I’d be interested in checking SJP’s line out.
“Dude, I’ve gotta get a University of Michigan Dental School tee shirt!”
Forget that! Get me a Dermatology or Proctology tee.
I consider this a good thing. I got a $6 long sleeve Maryland t-shirt at the Steve & Barry’s at Potomac Mills and I’ve been wearing it for years.
Note that this is a store I will actually go into City Place for.
This is an excellent choice of anchor. For those of you unfamiliar, the store is lots of collegiate apparel at cut rates, affordable sneaker lines by Stephon Marbury and Ben Wallace, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Bitten line, the Amanda Bynes collection, seven by Venus Williams, etc. Most of the items are under $15, but there is a wide enough array of designs/lines to suit everyone. Think of it as a poor man’s Old Navy moreso than a Marshall’s.
Great move.
Let’s face it, CityPlace won’t be turning into Wheaton/Montgomery Mall anytime soon, and I’m not sure it should be. This is just the sort of niche store that will lure me back into the mall.
Low prices aside, I’m “afraid” that the clientele that so many of The SSS readers have been seeking for City Place will not be any different with the addition of Steve & Bary’s. We’ll still see the same crowd walking to/from City Place & the Metro and hanging out on the corner of Fenton & Colesville.
Woodsider, I agree with your assessment. It sounds like just another crappy discount store for a crappy discount mall. Still, if they run it in a nice way (unlike the Marshall’s disaster area that we have now), it could attract other stores and start to clean up the joint.
Like everything else in DTSS, it’s a wait and see game.
“Think of it as a poor man’s Old Navy”…
Holy crap, does clothing from a poor man’s Old Navy shrink and lose it’s color before they’re washed?
Shouldn’t Petrie Ross Ventures hold a community meeting of what residents in the area would like to see in City Place? I know that is what the owner of the shopping center that is off 29 (The one with the Trader Joes and California Tortilla) did. Seemed to work well.
I respectfully disagree with AverageBro et. al.
Anyone who has ever been into a Dave and Barry’s knows it’s a low end clothing barn and little else. That’s not what a “niche store” is; D&B will not serve a unique and loyal customer base. This move will add yet another useless store (Michigan Dental School shirts?) to what is an already jaw dropping collection of worthless retailers.
Of all of the possibilities, Dave and Barry’s represents the next level of City Place deterioration, and not a sign of new things to come. I mean, come on, a “poor man’s Old Navy”, “cheaper than Walmart”; I don’t want to pretend like this is Bethesda, but let’s not sugar code it: we’re getting an d-level anchor.
Editor’s note: Thanks for your comments, John. Somehow, you’ve managed to successfully mash Steve and Barry’s clothier with Dave and Buster’s arcade. Not a bad idea. ;-) — JD (Oct 16, 2007)
@editor: you’re right, I have managed to combine the two. Thanks for catching that. Perhaps I had Dave and Buster’s on the mind because that would represent the only option worse than Steve and Barry’s.
In any event, my apologies for the confusion, but I still think I’ve got a point.
Don’t feel bad John…on my post I thought I was on the Silver Spring Scene blog and not the Penguin.
Editor’s note: I wondered what you meant by “SSS readers”. Thought you were alluding to South Silver Spring. Go figure. — JD (Oct 17, 2007)
“I’m “afraid” that the clientele”
“clean up the joint”
“I don’t want to pretend like this is Bethesda”
I’ll be honest, the comments I read on this site scare the hell outta me sometimes. Do you guys think before you type this stuff?
Question (editor, maybe this is a better idea for another post): what do you guys want/expect SS to look like? To me, judging by the tone of many comments I read here, I wonder if you would indeed like SS to be Bethesdacized. I would hope that people appreciate the diversity of ethnic groups, ages, and points of view that make this unincorporated city so unique and special.
Economics (in my narrow understanding) don’t support CityPlace ever becoming a Westfield Montgomery. At best, you can hope for a servicable collection of stores where you can pickup a pair of decent jeans and a tie.
Why would you even WANT CityPlace to be another Westfield RandomSuburbanEnclave? Another enclosed mall that lures people indoors and effectively kills the street level synergy that makes Downtown SS so unique? What’s so special about that?
Thanks for your comments, Average Bro.
I think Silver Spring is at a crossroads. Some residents are in favor of gentrification (Bethesdafication?). Others want economic vitality without drastically altering the area’s demographics. Both parties want the same thing: a vibrant urban environment.
So allow me to pose this question to everyone:
Holler back if anyone’s got thoughts on this. Thanks!
If gentrification means restaurants other than Austin Grill, Red Lobster, Macaroni Grill, etc., and a store with something other than “Discount” in the name doing brisk business, then I’m all for it. Unfortunately, I doubt it will never happen. There’s either not enough money in Silver Spring or people aren’t willing to spend money on something higher end, be it dinner or a pair of shoes.
Look at Ray’s. It started with a bang but on a typical Friday night the place is dead. And there isn’t enough business for them to open at lunch. Did poor food/service lead to fewer and fewer customers? My guess is that it was the other way around. Even Taste of Jerusalem is empty on a Friday night. They’re both good restaurants but does anyone think the kids going to a show a Live Nation will support them? Not a chance. But they’ll be knocking down the door to buy a $4 Texas A&M Math Department t-shirt.
Silver Spring may never gentrify because the people who come here or live here will only patronize discount stores and chain restaurants, but it will be an economic success because those establishments will do a ton of business.
Tony says: “Silver Spring may never gentrify because the people who come here or live here will only patronize discount stores and chain restaurants, but it will be an economic success because those establishments will do a ton of business.”
Translation: Silver Spring doesn’t need to GENTRIFY because there are enough middle and working class people who spend money at affordable restaurants and shops.
The over-priced condos for the YAPS (young affluent professionals) look pretty empty in Silver Spring. The cool, trendy high-price restaurants look dead. Oh that’s right…young affluent professionals prefer to shop and to dine in places like Bethesda where there are tons of people just like THEM.
Editor’s note: This comment has been edited for content. — JD (Oct 18, 2007)
Responding to IHateYuppies:
Translation: You don’t want Montgomery County to be good enough for attracting Arlington (Pentagon City) and Fairfax County (Tysons Corner, Fair Oaks, Reston, and Springfield) style of upscale development.
Editor’s note: This comment was edited for content, and another comment from the same poster was deleted. Too much vitriol, not enough constructive criticism. However, I chose to leave this bit of Alex’s comment in the thread only to offer one vote in favor of gentrification.
I’ll give Alex an opportunity to explain his viewpoint, but angry lashing — from anyone — will not be tolerated on this site. Let’s play nice. — JD (Oct 18, 2007)
With time, Silver Spring can become more like Bethesda, and to me that’s a good thing. What will make us different is that we have a vibrant bedroom community all around DTSS, meaning people who live in the area and don’t, like Bethesda, come in only for food and entertainment. That means that you’ll have people of all ages, income brackets, and backgrounds, and that will keep Silver Spring unique.
We have too many crappy restaurants. I hope that as Georgia Avenue picks up, and the condos fill up (which they will), the newer and nicer restaurants will do well.
We get tons of kids from P.G. and the District who come into DTSS to hang out at night; they don’t need to do their shopping at that lousy mall. On the other hand, we have many people who live here and would love to do their shopping locally if the Mall offered better selections. Why should people need to go to the District or Bethesda/Rockville to buy some decent clothes or housewares? Put a Nordstroms in the City Place Mall, and people will happily go to it.
Too many comments here remind me of George Pelecanos-type reverse snobbism.
Isn’t there a happy medium between craptitude (old Silver Spring, from what I hear) and generification (i.e., developer-ruled festival of chains)? I’m glad City Place is getting something new, but it sounds like it fits right in with the current tenants, and if S+B’s negotiated a cut-rate rent, that doesn’t say much for demand there, it sounds like City Place took what they could get.
Gentrification? I have lived near DTSS for 17 years. We used to have black families, blue-collar workers living here. The price of housing has gone up so much, some of them have been forced out.
If only people who can afford $600k houses and over are part of “gentrification” something is seriously wrong.
Gentrification is good, and I’m sure things will pick in the business district outside of Ellsworth. It’s true, Silver Spring will never be like Bethesda or Arlington, and I don’t think it should. I also believe it will not lose it’s diverse population, but will become more diverse. I’ve lived here all my life. My classmates in school (and college currently) came from all sorts of backgrounds, and that isn’t changing anytime soon. A population consisting only of “black families and blue-collar workers” is not diverse. It’s a ghetto.
“A population consisting only of ‘black families and blue-collar workers’ is not diverse. It’s a ghetto.”
Wow, I am officially speechless.
Hey, I was just responding to LBJ. Working class people are generally on the lower end of the income bracket, and if you’re going to throw a specific race into the mix, does that not make it ghetto?
Can put lipstick on a pig – still a pig. At least your calling it like it is batman.
I definitely question the motives of some of the pro-gentrification posters, but regretfully I end up agreeing with them.
That mall is not being demolished anytime soon. It’s gonna be there for a long while. So, ultimately, the question is whether you want a mall that’s an empty, dilapidated ghost town, or a place where the community is actually interested in shopping.
Right now, the selection of stores is weak. How do I know? Because of the sparse crowd I see every time I go in there. Whether you are high-income, low-income, old-time silver springer, or a gentrifying recent home buyer, I think you have to prefer having retailers in the mall that local residents are interested in doing business with. Right now that is not the case.
I think Batman’s use of the loaded word “ghetto” should not overlook what that term means: a rundown neighborhood populated by a poor, marginalized group. Call it a slum or barrio, populate it with poor German Jews or poor Columbian Indians or poor American blacks, but it’s still the same thing: a rundown area with poor services, high crime, and few amenities for the people who live there.
Let’s also not romanticize working class neighborhoods. My parents grew up in working class neighborhoods (my grandparents grew up in Jewish ghettos in New York). I spents years in Buffalo living in a working class neighborhood. Working class neighborhoods ain’t so great. Like Michael Moore once said, being working class sucks. The working class want to get the hell out of the working class.
Turning a shabby neighborhood into a thriving, attractive neighborhood requires people with disposable income. There’s no way around it. That brings in the better stores and restaurants, creates a larger tax base which leads to better services for everyone, rich and poor, and in general creates momentum for the neighborhood to improve.
That’s what happened to Silver Spring. Which do you prefer, the Silver Spring of today, or that of 10 years ago? I know I prefer what we have today, and I hope it keeps getting better.
I think the terms “ghetto” and “gentrification” have connotations that extend beyond their literal meanings.
“Gentrification” often conjures images of affluent, mostly white urban neighborhoods. On the other hand, “ghetto” makes one think of low-income urban neighborhoods composed of residents who are not white (or as Springvale Roader mentioned, marginalized groups).
With that said, let me toss out these questions:
As always, I appreciate your comments, especially when you play nice. :-)
Sorry Jennifer, this is an emotional issue for a lot of people. Just read the reaction from AverageBro in reply post # 27.
Silver Spring is at a crossroads. We have a racial, cultural, and socio-economic diverse community here. Because of this, there is going to be tension. Like I stated before, I have no problem with upscale shops and pricey real estate along some blocks in Silver Spring. Spending by affluent residents can definitely kick-start new business development and more tax revenue. Some gentrification enhances the economic vitality of Silver Spring.
But this is not enough for the pro-gentrification crowd. They want wholesale “socio-economic” cleansing of Silver Spring. They complain about the number of hair salons. They complain about the low-budget ethnic restaurants. They complain about poor, urban kids hanging out along Ellsworth or in The Majestic. 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.
The Gentrifiers have no regard for the well-being of people with limited income. Economic development catered to the affluent section of the population is the primary goal for revitalizing a community. If you can no longer afford to live in Silver Spring…”tough luck”. You had people living in Silver Spring for many years; paying taxes, shopping at local retail stores, dining at local restaurants, volunteering with churches and non-profit groups in the communities. People who invested in Silver Spring. “Tough luck, if you can no longer afford to live in SS”, say The Gentrifiers.
The Gentrifiers will roll out the red carpet for the newcomers with big incomes though. They hail young affluent professionals as Saviors: freeing the community from crime, blight, and developing a community-action spirit. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Do you really think young affluent professionals will take the time to form neighborhood crime-watch groups? Do you really think the YAPs will take the time to organize whole neighborhoods regarding public policy issues? They spend money at local restaurants and shops. That’s their only visible contribution to the local community. Sorry but this is the truth.
IHY, name one person here who has advocated all the things you are accusing people of. It’s all a straw man argument.
Wow, it is amazing that an announcement regarding the opening of a Steve and Barry’s has morphed into a discussion regarding public policy and socio-economic strife.
I have some issue with IHY’s statements regarding re-gentrifiers and young urban professionals. My husband and I bought a house in DTSS in 1999 and we have watched this area flourish. Call us re-gentrifiers or young urban professionals, but we support both the big chain restuarants because they welcome families, and we partronize the smaller restaurants when we go on “dates”. We are clearly not republicans, as we enjoy exposing our children to the rich diversity this area has to offer, and we are active members in our civic association addressing those issues that impact our neighborhoods. And I am looking forward to Steve and Barry’s coming, so I can check out SJP’s line of clothing. I commute/drive an hour during the week, so if I can walk to do some shopping, I am all for it.
Please do not lump us into one category or another. My husband and I are just parents trying to keep our family safe, and raise happy, well-adjusted, and socially minded children.
Jennifer, my wife and I are the same way. We too bought our house in 1999. We are members of SOECA and raging liberals. We appreciate the diversity of Silver Spring, and will go to both the downscale/chain restaurants on occasion, though for both political and aesthetic reasons we prefer independent and more upscale restaurants.
We support gentrication that also has safeguards in place to help people and shopowners with lower incomes, i.e., rent control or rent assistance.
As far as I can tell, our neighbors are the same way, despite being, in the scheme of things, much better off financially than many people. As I’ve said before, income levels do not predict political and social philosophies.
Let me jump in here …
A good part of reality is based on our personal experiences. IHY’s argument against gentrification, whether factually accurate or not, is probably based on accumulated experience.
At the same time, Batman’s description of a ghetto as consisting of “black families and blue-collar workers” is also probably based on his accumulated experience.
We all have perceptions, none of which are wrong, no matter how many facts to the contrary. My only hope is that through constructive discussion, we can realize how our perceptions affect others.
I’m not saying we have to agree. (That would be boring.) But if we can appreciate where the other guy is coming from, then maybe Silver Spring’s transition towards greatness can continue with few bumps.
There are many positives to the new DTSS, but Bethesda does not have the roaming bands of teenagers and gang violence that we have here. When I go to Bethesda at night I don’t see major police presence, I see people eating ice cream. And to be perfectly honest it feels a lot safer. No one is going to shop in ANY stores including Nordstrom’s if they don’t feel safe. People with disposible income will take their business elsewhere.
Actually, I do think there are too many hair salons in Silver Spring. Why so many? The way I see it, there could be better use for all that space.
Wow batman and P Gallery — I didn’t realize that I lived in what was once a Ghetto! You need a reality check on who the working class and black families are. I only can hope that you are not the supervisor of any ethnic or class group different than your own!
Black does not equal low-income and working class does not equal uncivilized.
I am thrilled that S&B’s is coming to Silver Spring! I absolutely love this place! Think Old Navy meets H&M!
Silver Spring was never a ghetto, you just described the characteristics of a typical ghetto you’d find in the area. Let’s see how S&B turns out, then we can predict what’s in store for the area.
I’m really psyched for Steve & Barry’s to hit Silver Spring. I shopped at their Baltimore store last summer when I was housesitting for a friend, and got several shirts, t-shirts and pants; about 10 pieces all told for about 100 bucks total. And they’re all nicely tailored pieces made from nice fabrics. The tailoring on some stuff — like the coats — is a little shaky, but I stuck with the staple pieces from Sarah Jessica Parker’s Bitten line. The Dear stuff looks really cool too. I’m really happy that S&B’s is moing closer to DC for those of us who want decently made stuff that we can actually afford.
Back to the original discussion here…Steve & Barry’s is a fabulous store! They have been featured on Oprah a few times because of their quality products at affordable prices. Stephon Marbury has a line of basketball shoes sold here for $14.98 because he was so disturbed by the growing trend of $100+ shoes for young kids and the violent means they would go to obtain them. SJP paired up with them because she grew up in a very poor family and doesn’t believe that a family should have to choose between groceries or new clothes.
They have come under fire in teh past for accusations on sweatshop practices but have denied any involvement and state that they don not support such practices.
The store is nothing like Marshall’s, the ones I have been in are always clean, well run and classy. And I can guarantee that it will bring some of those Bethesda residents over (for better or worse) who are eager to see SJP and Amanda Bynes’ clothing lines. DTSS is a perfect location for a new store.
How does Steve & Barry’s compare with H&M?
Steve & Barry’s is less trendy, less loud maybe less trendy than H&M. Also generally less expensive.
IHY continually lumps together all Silver Springers and others who have more means than he or the “working class” do. It’s sad, because these people of means, most of whom are liberal democrats (in Moco) are the ones who contribute the most to the causes he supports. If only he’d take the time to get to know these people, rather than vilifying them for wanting better development in Silver Spring.
Editor’s note: This comment has been edited for content. — JD (Oct 20, 2007)
Bingo! In fact, Maryland (in the counties between Washington and Baltimore) is home to the country’s highest concentration of middle-class blacks. Look it up.
And, while you’re at it, some of you holier-than-thou Yuppie-haters should really stop lamenting the “working-class and black families” who no longer live here. I bought my house here in DTSS in 2002 from a old black couple who’d lived here for 30-something years, raised kids, sent them to college, paid off their mortgage… Nice, regular folks. Were they “displaced” because they could no longer “afford it here” as some of you contend? Nope. They left Silver Spring with close to $450k, and are happily retired and living in North Carolina. And more power to them!
Thanks for all your comments. Please play nice. :-)
50th comment, woot. Yuppies aren’t so bad. In fact, my friends met one (on the Green Line) who works for Obamas campaign or w/e and he invited them to a party he was throwing at his condo near U street. One of them lost their virginity there so I’m told. They said he changed their outlook on yuppies (for being an all around cool guy). Silver Spring could probably use guys like this.