Don't sweat it. A couple of local supermarkets are open today for your last-minute shopping needs.
Giant Foods (1280 East-West Hwy) closes at 6:00 p.m.
Safeway (909 Thayer Ave) quits at 4:00 p.m.
Whole Foods Market (833 Wayne Ave) calls it a day at 3:00 p.m.
Snider's Super Foods (1936 Seminary Rd) is closed all day, so don't bother.
Now go out there and score some pie!
Image courtesy of the Australian Broadcasting Company.
Happy feet of the human kind will be shuffling over Ellsworth Drive early next year.
The Maryland Youth Ballet (right), known for its holiday performances of "The Nutcracker," is opening a studio in downtown Silver Spring, the dance company announced recently. The studio--a second-floor space above furniture retailer Bombay Company--is scheduled to open in January.
"The renaissance of downtown Silver Spring ... is well underway," proclaimed Mel Tull, administrator of Silver Spring's arts and entertainment district.
The custom-built studio will overlook the Ellsworth Drive fountain and will be the dance company's fifth studio in the Washington area. The space is designed to hold classes for children and adults, and can accommodate students with disabilities, the dance company said in a press release.
Thanks to the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts for the photo.
The chef who rewrote the Quarry House's menu is ditching town, leaving the pub's Bonifant Street kitchen in anarchy, the Washington City Paper reports.
Toure Stoney, who introduced barflies to organic, hormone-free hamburgers, has returned home to California for "personal reasons," Quarry House management says. Cooks from Jackie's, the tavern's sister restaurant on Georgia Avenue, are pulling double duty to keep both kitchens going.
So far, the chef swap isn't exactly working, says the City Paper's Tim Carman. The bacon-cheddar burgers are overcooked, he writes, and the chipotle burrito is "a tortilla log of black beans, cheese and zipless chicken."
Even the side orders aren't immune from disaster.
"The Old Bay tater tots came with the seasoning served in a little plastic cup on the side, not incorporated into the cylinders," Carman writes. "Most puzzling."
Thanks to Silver Spring Singular for the lead, and to Hunt Emerson for the art.
"News Bites" (Washington City Paper)
Greyhound is pimping its rides and tricking out its bus stations, including one in Silver Spring, the company announced.
The favored fleet of spring breakers now rolls with movable armrests, automatic footrests and magazine straps. Greyhound also says the buses are cleaner, inside and out. Nearly 75% of the pimped-out fleet is already on the road.
Stations, like the one on Fenton Street, will have plasma screen televisions, renovated bathrooms and new food service. Personnel in fine new threads will greet passengers at the station door to answer any questions, the company said.
Greyhound buses have made headlines recently in two unrelated incidents. Last week in Utah, one passenger jacked an Arizona-bound bus as it tore down a highway at 65 m.p.h. The bus crashed into a cable barrier, but no one was injured. The bus jacker was later busted by the cops.
Also last week, an Ohio family filed a lawsuit against Greyhound for a high-speed stink bomb detonated two years ago. The suit claims that a Greyhound bus dumped its sewage tank as the family drove its SUV--with the sunroof wide open--behind it.
Thanks to Greyhound Pets, Inc. for the image.
"Greyhound Improves Customer Travel Experience in the Northeast and California/Southwest" (Press Release)
"Greyhound Bus Passenger Forces Dangerous Detour" (Salt Lake Tribune)
"Family Suing Greyhound After Flying Fecal Matter Covers SUV on I-75" (WSFA-TV Montgomery, Ala.)
Ever shop at the Silver Plaza mall on Colesville and Fenton? You just might get the chance, if web surfers have their way.
According to an unofficial poll conducted by Silver Spring Singular, 37% of participants want to change the name of City Place mall to Silver Plaza. A new identity might invigorate foot traffic through the mall, the blog's moderator suggests.
"City Place rhymes with 'shitty place.' Enough said," writes the moderator, who uses the pseudonym Sligo.
One hundred and five visitors chose among ten names, including The Shoppes at the Turf, MoCrap for MoCo and Hecht's Center. The second most popular name was Bling in the Spring, which caught a distant 13% of the vote.
The name Silver Plaza is already used by downtown Silver Spring's fountain plaza on Ellsworth Drive, though Sligo is undeterred.
"They should surrender the name to the mall for the good of the neighborhood," Sligo writes. "It's not like anyone calls that area by that name, anyway."
Congrats to Silver Spring Singular on a fun survey. And thanks for the pic.
"The Results Are In!" (Silver Spring Singular)
The Dutch company that owns Giant supermarkets has decided to focus on more store-brand merchandise, less variety and fewer discounts, the Baltimore Sun reports.
The strategy may allow Royal Ahold, Giant's parent company, to retain its supermarket business in the United States. It has already decided to sell its wholesale food business, says the Sun.
Giant's market share in the Washington-Baltimore area has been spanked into submission by big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Costco, and by high rollers like Whole Foods Market. Giant runs one market in The Blairs along East-West Highway (above).
Jeff Metzger, editor of a food industry mag, tells the Sun that Giant also must deal with complaints of poor customer service and limited product selection.
"If they can improve the quality and offer better prices, that's all going to help," Metzger says. "But there are other pieces they need to address and execute better."
Other analysts remain hopeful of Giant's prospects, the Sun writes, citing prime locations and 70 years of name recognition.
"Giant's Parent Selling Unit" (Baltimore Sun)
CVS Pharmacies have agreed to merge with pharmacy-benefit manager Caremark Rx, creating a drug-dispensing juggernaut that can lean on pharmaceutical companies for lower prices, the Washington Post writes.
CVS has two locations below the Beltway in Silver Spring--in Montgomery Hills and at The Blairs, with another outside the Beltway at Four Corners. Caremark manages the county's drug discount program for residents who lack complete pharmaceutical coverage.
The merger gives CVS and Caremark more leverage over pharmaceutical companies, one bean counter tells the Post. "It's likely to lead to more transparent pricing and keeping prices down," says Mitchell Corwin, an equity analyst with Morningstar.
However, Helen Darling, of the nonprofit National Business Group on Health, worries that CVS and Caremark may not pass along the savings to consumers. She tells the Post that the newly merged companies may choose to pocket the spare change instead.
This merger comes one month after Wal-Mart announced its $4 generic drug giveaway. Target says it will also reduce prices for generics at its pharmacies.
Photo courtesy of Reuters.
"CVS, Drug Benefit Manager to Merge" (Washington Post)
The Austin Grill may take its Tex-Mex menu nationwide.
The local restaurant chain will be acquired by Thompson Hospitality, which hopes to plant Austin Grill franchises in cities like the ATL, Chi Town and L.A., the Washington Business Journal reported Friday.
Expansion plans also include smaller versions of the Austin Grill on college campuses and in airports, Thompson announced on its website. The Virginia-based food service company already has contracts with a dozen colleges, including Prince George's Community College in Largo.
The seven existing restaurants, including one on Ellsworth Drive in downtown Silver Spring, will continue as company-owned joints.
Photo courtesy of The Blairs.
"Austin Grill Being Acquired by Thompson Hospitality" (Washington Business Journal)
Storehouse, the posh furniture shop on Georgia Avenue at Ellsworth Street, is calling it quits, the Washington Post reports. Its parent company filed for bankrupcy last month and couldn't find another company to take over the business. Everything is marked at a 30% discount and must be sold before the lights go out for good in December. There's no mention of what will occupy the soon-to-be-vacant retail space.
Can you say Krispy Kreme?
"Rowe Plans to Close Storehouse Outlets" (Washington Post)
Bagged spinach returns today to Giant Foods, reports the Washington Post. The supermarket chain, which has a market at The Blairs, got the green light to sell Canadian and Colorado-grown spinach after US health officials pinned the E. coli outbreak on stash from California. Whole Foods Market, which has a store in downtown Silver Spring, will resume sales of bunched spinach sometime next week. Safeway markets, like the one in Fenton Villiage, are also working to get spinach back on the shelves.
And I was just getting used to eating Krispy Kremes in lieu of salad. Damn you, spinach!
"Bagged Spinach Back on Shelves at Giant Today" (Washington Post)
The Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Department says it's in no rush to sell its 92-year-old former firehouse on Georgia Avenue. According to the Washington Post, the department will decide in late October who gets to cough up $2.5 million to develop the 6,000-square-foot property. Ideas for the firehouse include a restaurant, brewery, art gallery and office space.
Given the lack of serious nightlife in downtown Silver Spring, I'm praying for a bar. Preferably leather. With a stage. And please, God, let them keep the fire pole!
"Fire Department Waits For the Right Buyer" (Washington Post)
