As much as it’s The Penguin’s duty to report breaking news, even our staff gets tired of writing about parking at the new library.
To that end, we’ve compiled tidbits of information to bring you this Watercooler story: (more…)
By Jennifer Deseo | May 13, 2009
By Jennifer Deseo | May 8, 2009
Thursday’s break in the deluge allowed Penguin staffers to stroll the town on coffee break. Thankfully, they had their camera phones in hand:
Coming soon: The Slurpee
One can almost smell the hot dogs rolling on the grill at downtown Silver Spring’s latest 7-11 store, going into the former Noble Roman pizza shop on Colesville Road near Second Avenue. Now, post-office patrons will have a choice between the Big Gulp and a Big Mac from the nearby McDonald’s restaurant.
The soon-to-open convenience store will be the fourth 7-11 store in Silver Spring’s central business district. (There’s one on Georgia Avenue in South Silver Spring, one in The Georgian apartment building on Fenwick Lane and First Avenue, and another on Fenton Street and Sligo Avenue.) Compare that with the ubiquitous Starbucks, which has two full stores — near the Silver Spring Metro station, and on Ellsworth Drive — and a small counter inside the Giant Foods at The Blairs.
Coming soon: Pizza by the slice
If late-night beer and condom runs to 7-11 aren’t your thing, there’s Flippin’ Pizza. The growing chain, which touts its product as “in your face” New York-style pizza, already has stores in California and Virginia. (Because that’s where New York-style pizza is really from.) And now it’s setting up shop on Colesville Road near Ramsey Avenue, between a Qdoba Mexican restaurant and an M&T Bank.
The retail space originally was to be occupied by a Dunkin Donuts franchise, according to several sources. But that deal imploded last year before the dough could hit the fryer.
Going down: High-voltage law enforcement
Late last month, Penguin Twitter buddy @DCDebbie captured this sequence of photos on the north side of Ellsworth Drive, next to the civic center construction site on Fenton Street.
According to Debbie, a group of boys (exact age unknown) began fighting on the corner, across the street from the Chick-Fil-A restaurant. That’s when a police officer drew his taser (below left) and zapped one of the brawlers. It’s unclear whether the cop was responding to a 911 call, or if he had spotted the scuffle by chance.
In the next pic, the boys are shown eating pavement after being tased. It’s unknown if anyone was charged with a crime, or if the tasing resulted in any injuries.
According to one taser vendor, the electro-gun throws out between 11,000 and 50,000 volts of juice (depending on the model) to take down a dude.
Store photos by J. Deseo for The Penguin. Taser shots courtesy of Twitter user @DCDebbie.
Updated to include one more 7-11 store in the central business district, and to pimp out the taser pics. — JD (May 8, 2009)
By Jennifer Deseo | Mar 17, 2009
Now that our Penguin intern is comfortable with being walked on a leash, newsroom staffers have been pounding the pavement (or hitting the bricks) more and more. And they’ve spotted a few signs of — well, they’re just signs:
Coming soon: Pupusas
Moving into the former Pinto Thai space on Georgia Avenue near Mayor’s Promenade, this joint will be downtown’s sole shop for scoring your Salvadoran corn cake fix. Compare that slim number with the zillions of pupuserias in Wheaton and a couple of trucks in Long Branch.
There’s no word on when Pupuseria El Oasis will open. However, Pinto Thai left behind a turnkey operation. Grilling up the corn cakes shouldn’t take too much longer.
Under new management (already?)
This hand-scrawled sign was posted on the front door of a very dark Pomegranate Cafe at The Bennington, South Silver Spring. That kind of language usually means the place is done, but Penguin operative Southside Evan said he did spot workers inside the sushi joint a day before this photo was taken.
It’s unknown when (or if) the Pomegranate will reopen.
UPDATE: According to reliable source and Penguin operative Southside Evan, the Pomegranate Cafe is once again open for business. — JD (Mar 17, 2009)
Pay close attention. There will be a quiz.
This screaming sign covered up a storefront window along a small brick plaza near the Metro station’s south entrance. Our Penguin intern watched this space, and watched it some more, but he couldn’t figure out the puzzle.
So what gives? The space just off East-West Highway near Colesville Road will serve as a welcome center of sorts for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Cheryl Oliver, a NOAA spokesperson, told The Penguin a while back. Once this joint opens, NOAA will be able to turn the lights out at its science center further up the block.
Don’t expect big gigs at this joint, though. Oliver said it’ll serve as an information kiosk, not as an exhibit space. Meanwhile, the science center will open its meeting space and auditorium for private affairs only.
Photos by J. Deseo/SSP.
Updated Mar 17, 2009.
By Jennifer Deseo | Dec 11, 2008
It’s been a while since any noteworthy business news has popped on the Penguin radar. (We’ve left the thing radiating subatomic particles off the roof of Penguin corporate headquarters despite this recession. Don’t worry, it runs on solar power.)
But just this morning, the newsroom’s diligent radar technician detected three blips of note:
Coordinates 38.9953869, -77.0270788
The Fractured Prune Donut Shoppe is on a direct course for Fenton Street, to a retail space between The Men’s Warehouse clothing store and a rear exit for the Majestic movie theater.
According to Laurie Yankowski, spokesperson for the Downtown Silver Spring shopping center, the Ocean City-based bakery recently signed a lease to fatten pedestrians from 8512 Fenton St. Expect a March 2009 opening, she said.
Earlier discussion placed the donut shop at the former MotoPhoto shop, parked in a driveway leading from Fenton to the Whole Foods Market parking lot. That spot also has been used to temporarily house the Pyramid Atlantic community-arts store, now located on Ellsworth Drive.
Coordinates 38.991330, -77.030393
Cool technology is headed for Giant Foods at The Blairs, in the form of handheld price scanners. The scanners allow shoppers to (what else) scan bar codes as they drop their goodies directly into shopping bags. Shoppers then return the scanners at the cash register, where they settle the tab.
At the Giant on Rockville Pike, where scanners are already in use, bar-coded signs in the bakery department allowed shoppers to register individual Krispy Kremes on their supermarket joysticks. In the produce aisle, electronic scales weighed fruits and veggies, then spat out bar-coded stickers for shoppers to scan.
On the insidious side of cool, the scanners also recognize which aisle shoppers are in, and will beep and display advertisements for goodies in that aisle.
The scanners go live at The Blairs market on Saturday.
Coordinates 38.993216, -77.026495
The central business district’s guide to locally owned shops drops neighborhood-wide this month. The guide (a map, actually) points out about 200 retailers and services in the downtown area, and spells out the benefits of shopping at locally owned businesses.
According to Emily Adelman, who pulled together the guide for the nonprofit LEDC, it pays to buy local. For every $10 spent at a locally owned business, almost $7 of that stays in the hood. Compare that with $4 for every $10 spent at a national chain.
Copies of the guide were unleashed during a launch party Wednesday night at Jackie’s Restaurant. Didn’t score a copy? Local businesses should have them on display by next week, and it’s available as a PDF on the “Buy Local” program’s website.
Disclaimer: The Silver Spring Penguin is the local online media partner for Silver Spring’s “Buy Local” guide. Holler!
Photos by R. Pace/SSP.
By Jennifer Deseo | Apr 8, 2008
Silver Spring’s official dining guide is on the street, with a few interesting items added to its listings. (more…)
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