White Flint: Night of the Living Dead Mall?

[Anonymous]

White Flint was never needed in my opinion. I'm a Montgomery Mall girl.

[Anonymous]

Now THIS is a mall.

http://www.simon.com/mall/king-of-prussia-mall

worth a road trip

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White Flint was never needed in my opinion. I'm a Montgomery Mall girl.

For years at one point White Flint was the second-largest generator of sales tax in all of Maryland - behind only Montgomery Mall. I'm a lifelong MoCo resident and always thought both were complimentary. It's a big, wealthy area - we can't have two malls miles from each other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is like shopping mall in Russia.

NO we have family in Russia. Their shopping is much better.

Is just like shopping mall in Minsk, then. Moscow mall not typical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White Flint was never needed in my opinion. I'm a Montgomery Mall girl.

I have lived in 20852 for 8 years, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've shopped at White Flint. Montgomery Mall has always seemed more manageable and convenient to me. Plus I like Macy's.

[Anonymous]

I've been following this for a while. The mall was the hot stuff when it opened in the 70s. People drove from as far as Baltimore just to visit. Then other malls opened up, and WF did not adapt to the times (neither did LakeForest).

I do agree the layout was a poor use of space -- too much space devoted to parking (better to do a 6-level garage like Tysons added). So instead of updating, they're just rolling the dice on the town center concept... which is already has been done directly across the street, as well as up the road (Rockville Town Center). So the mall you see today will be demolished in the near future. Nearly all tenants are out, and those that are still there have been given free rent to stay.

They claim the day of the mall is over, but I question that. Tysons and Montgomery Mall have both doubled down and expanded extensively, and they show no signs of failure. They've updated with the times, offer the right mix of stores, etc. WF's management just didn't do that.

Also Lord & Taylor has a lawsuit against WF as they were the anchor tenant when the place opened, and some clause in that lease basically says WF can't change drastically.. though I think the way it's written, WF will win or they'll just settle out of court.

This blogger has been following the demise of WF, and has more explanation and photos:
http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/search/label/White%20Flint%20Mall

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Pottery Barn is still open. They will be knocking the mall down and replacing it with an outdoor mall (probably another strip mall, like all of VA is) in the near future. Not sure of the timeline.

It's actually being replaced with a town center like downtown Bethesda. Should actually be nice.

But I don't think anyone actually likes the town center concept, do they?

i love bethesda - lots of cute shops, lots of good food, a playground and library near by, nice faster options (cava instead of mcdonalds, for example), who doesn't love the town center concept?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:White Flint was never needed in my opinion. I'm a Montgomery Mall girl.

it had a GREAT bloomingdales, loved that place. much better than friendhsip hts, which pretty much only carries the highest end of the each line.

[Anonymous]

To the PP who says she is too cold or too hot or frankly, lazy to park and walk in Bethesda Town Center: guess what, you're not the target demographic. When you get a babysitter for the evening like the rest of us, you'll enjoy strolling around and eating outdoors at sidewalk cafés again, if you ever did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:White Flint was never needed in my opinion. I'm a Montgomery Mall girl.

it had a GREAT bloomingdales, loved that place. much better than friendship hts, which pretty much only carries the highest end of the each line.

Agree, it's the Bloomies that I registered at when I got married almost 20 years ago, ffs.

[Anonymous]

What are wooden neutral gendered toys?

Soldiers without penises and dolls without vaginas.

What is wrong with you PP. How will your kids learn to play doctor? And the splinters, think of the splinters!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are wooden neutral gendered toys?

Soldiers without penises and dolls without vaginas.

What is wrong with you PP. How will your kids learn to play doctor? And the splinters, think of the splinters!

am I missing something here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now THIS is a mall.

http://www.simon.com/mall/king-of-prussia-mall

worth a road trip

Amen. I grew up shopping there, back when it was 2 separate malls, side by side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now THIS is a mall.

http://www.simon.com/mall/king-of-prussia-mall

worth a road trip

Amen. I grew up shopping there, back when it was 2 separate malls, side by side.

Oops. Apparently they're still separate. I'd heard they'd joined them. It's been a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of the stores closed already including the pottery barns and I believe Banana Republic. They were staying open only through the holidays. Below is a link to the website that covers all the planning development for the entire White Flint Plan.
http://www.whiteflint.org

That's a very interesting site; thanks for the link.

I loved going to White Flint because it was so uncrowded but, duh, that's why they couldn't survive. We will keep going to the movie theater until the walls come down. I remember being in high school when White Flint opened, and it was a big deal, especially the Eatery, which was a new concept then. Nothing makes you feel older than watching the entire lifespan of something like a shopping mall!

Totally! I remember how in awe we were of the glass elevators... It was THE place back in the day.