development : Development News

More luxury brand names are coming to Towson Town Center, including one of the most iconic high-end shops � Tiffany & Co. Known for its trademarked turquoise boxes, the jeweler will open the 3,500-square-foot store Sept. 3.

"It's a wonderful magnet tenant that we hope will attract other tenants and many more shoppers," says Towson Town Center General Manager Chuck Crerand. It will be Tiffany's second Maryland store. The other is located in Chevy Chase. 

Michael Kors and True Religion Jeans will join Tiffany in Towson Town Center's luxury wing in September.  

The 1,700-square-foot store will be sportswear apparel firm Michael Kors' first standalone Maryland shop. It is also True Religion's first foray into Maryland, with its 1,500-square-foot store. The closest True Religion standalone store is in Washington, D.C.'s tony Georgetown neighborhood. The Los Angeles-based designer jean company 's denim can set you back about $200.

Though retailers have curtailed their expansions during the last couple of years due to the recession, Crerand is now seeing more interest in new store openings.

"I think it's starting to come back," Crerand says. "I think more retailers are interested in expanding again."

The mall expanded nearly two years ago, with an additional 110,000 square feet. The expansion included a luxury wing whose shops include Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Lacoste, Bose and Lush. After analyzing the area's demographics, mall management decided that the area could support high-end stores.

The average household income within a three-mile radius of Towson is $93,000, according to the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development. The area contains nearly 93,000 residents, about half of whom hold a college degree.

"It's exciting cachet for that mall," says David S. Iannucci, executive director of the Baltimore County Office of Economic Development, of the Tiffany store.

"The Greater Towson area has a strong buying public that would make national retailers identify the site for stores," Iannucci says. Towson residents have a "great appreciation for the finer things in life."

Tiffany's new store is one of 16 stores the company is opening this year.  The company pulled in $2.7 billion in sales in its most recent fiscal year.


Source: Chuck Crerand, Towson Town Center
Writer: Julekha Dash

Greg Brown has always been into eating healthful foods and working out. He eventually became a vegetarian, cooking meatless meals that became part of the catering company he formed in 2004.

Now, Brown and fhis ianc� Naijha Wright are taking the soy rib tips, collard greens seasoned with smoked tofu and soy curry chicken to a new restaurant called Land of Kush. The 1,200-square-foot business will open at 840 N. Eutaw Street Aug. 1.

The pair spent about $55,000 to start the 20-seat restaurant.

Brown began selling vegetarian food when a friend was searching for a caterer to serve meatless meals at Jazzy Summer Nights, the downtown music event formerly held on the first Thursday of each month.

Though it ended last year, the event gave Brown a small but loyal following of fans. He says he would often sell out of food there and at another summer event, Artscape.

Land of Kush will serve a mix of Southern soul-style cooking and ethnic foods, the tofu and soy mimicking Vietnamese, Indian and West Indian flavors. "I have friends from different cultural backgrounds and that's the kind of restaurant I want to open," Brown says. 

He chose the Mount Vernon neighborhood for his new restaurant because the area's diverse mix of residents."I like just walking in that area," Brown says.

The neighborhood is also home to Maryland General Hospital and various state office buildings, whose workers will hopefully patronize the Land of Kush, he says.

Brown expects area residents and students from the University of Baltimore and the Maryland Institute College of Art to become customers, given the restaurant's low prices. Sandwiches will cost around $5 while dinner entrees will cost about $10.

Read more about what's happening in Mt. Vernon.


Source: Greg Brown, Land of Kush
Writer: Julekha Dash

Following their retirement, business partners Irene Baum and Kathy Fleming got the itch to start a new venture, but they didn't want to get into something too time consuming or demanding.

So the pair came up with the perfect business: ice cream.

Baum and Fleming opened Screwballs Frozen Delights in Locust Point over Memorial Day weekend. The spot at 1400 Towson St. sells 30 flavors of snowballs and 13 flavors of hand-dipped ultra-premium ice cream, or ice cream with at least 17 percent milkfat.

The ice cream, which is free of growth hormones, comes from Moorenko's Ice Cream Caf� in Silver Spring. Their flavors include salted caramel with pralines, orange chocolate chip, cotton candy gummy bear and cookie dough.

Screwballs, outfitted like a 1950s-style ice cream parlor, also sells milk shakes, floats and banana splits. Baum could not say how much the partners spent to open the business, located on the first floor of a 1,220-square-foot rowhouse.
 
"We found a lovely spot in Locust Point that's perfect or an ice cream parlor," says Baum, a former division manager of a tobacco company.

The shop owners were not interested in, say, starting a full-service restaurant that would require around-the-clock hours and supervising a number of employees.

"We wanted something that just the two of us could handle on our own," Baum says. "It gives us flexibility on time, " says Baum, who plans to close the shop three months during winter.

Though Baum lives in Anne Arundel County's Glen Burnie, she decided Locust Point would be the best fit for the business.

"It's a very close-knit community with lots of kids and families," Baum says. "We've gotten great feedback and support from the neighbors. I grew up in the city and this reminds me of the city I grew up in where everyone knew everyone else."

And how did the business owners come up with the name? It's a joke between Baum and Fleming.
"We used to call each other screwballs. We're just two goofy people," Baum says.

To read more about Locust Point, click here.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source; Irene Baum, Screwballs

The smell of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella will soon be wafting in the building that once held popular neighborhood Eastern Avenue bar Kelly's.

Richard Pugh and business partners Steve Ball will open Johnny Rad's Pizzeria Tavern at 2108 Eastern Ave. within the next month. And at the request of community members, Pugh promises that the Upper Fells Point restaurant will feature karaoke just as Kelly's did.

The 2,000-square-foot restaurant will serve Neapolitan-style pizza with fresh, crushed tomatoes and herbs. Pugh has put his own twist to the Neapolitan crust � pizza with a thin center but with thick edges.

In addition to vegetarian options, pizza toppings will include cured meats such as prosciutto, sopressata, and, hopefully, Italian sausage from Di Pasquale's Italian Marketplace in Highlandtown.

The business partners spent more than $60,000 to renovate the 60-seat restaurant.

How did they come up with the name? Johnny Rad's is the name of a lounge singer in the 1987 movie "The Search for Animal Chin." As you might have guessed, the owners are big skateboarding fans and their love for the recreation will be reflected in the d�cor, with skateboarding murals.

In addition to pizza, the restaurant will serve entr�e salads, burgers and unusual bar bites, including edamame with sea salt, hush puppies and black bean hummus.

Pizzas will cost between $8 and $20, depending on the toppings.

Pugh says he chose the neighborhood because it has been lacking a pizza joint and the location is in between the two bustling neighborhoods of Fells Point and Canton.

Victor Corbin, president of the Fells Prospect Community Association, agrees that the area could use a pizza place.

"We're looking forward to him opening up," Corbin says. "It's added activity in that section of the community."

For more information on Fells Point, click here.
Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Richard Pugh, Johnny Rad's

Getting designer duds at a discount will be easier for Annapolis residents next year.

Seattle-based Nordstrom is opening a Nordstrom Rack store at Annapolis Harbour Center spring 2011, with plans to hire about 70 to man the store.

The 32,230-square-foot store will be Nordstrom's second shop in Anne Arundel County. It has had a regular department store at Westfield Annapolis since 1994. A second Maryland store will open in Friendship Heights, just outside of Washington, D.C., next spring.

"We wanted to grow our Rack presence in the Greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas," Nordstrom spokesman Colin Johnson says.

The opening of a discount store is not fueled by the sputtering economy, Johnson says. Rather, company leaders talked about growing its Rack presence in markets where Nordstrom has a lot of customers prior to the recession.

The shop will carry adult and shoes clothes, accessories, shoes, bed and bath products and home accents.

The company chose Annapolis Harbor Center because it liked the retail mix at the shopping center, Johnson says. The shops include an Old Navy, Office Depot and Barnes & Noble.

Nordstrom also likes to put its Rack stores close to its full-service department stores and the customers who shop there, Johnson says.

There are currently 76 Nordstrom Racks and 114 full-line Nordstrom stores throughout the country. Rack store merchandise are sold at a discount of between 20 and 70 percent.

"Our customers are anyone who loves fashion and we want to better serve them," Johnson says.

Nordstrom does not break out how much it spends to open each store. Last year, the company invested $360 million to open new stores, remodel existing ones and make technology improvements.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Colin Johnson, Nordstrom

Smiths Detection, a Harford County firm that made headlines earlier this year for its controversial full-body airport scanners, is expanding its Edgewood headquarters this month as it wins new contracts.

The company, which designs sensors to identify explosives, narcotics and contraband, is adding 15,000 square feet to its warehouse. The 130,000-square-foot facility has added 70 employees in the last 18 months to a total of 215.

The expansion will give it the space it needs to supply the U.S. military with a chemical agent detector and manufacture X-ray scanners for the Transportation Security Administration, says Tim Picciotti, Smiths Detection's vice president, military & emergency responders .

Picciotti says the company likes Harford County because it is close to Aberdeen Proving Ground, the site of a Department of Defense testing facility for chemical and biological detectors.

It's also a good location because Aberdeen is expected to get as many as 20,000 jobs due to the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC.
"BRAC will bring more of a high-tech workforce to Harford County," Picciotti says. "It's a fantastic location for us."

Earlier this year, the TSA expanded its use of full-body scanners, touching off a firestorm of complaints from privacy advocates who say the scanners are too invasive. Advocates say the full-body scanners can detect concealed weapons that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Picciotti says that in the future, Smiths plans to make X-Ray systems so advanced that passengers wouldn't have to remove their shoes or dump their bottled water.

Smiths Detection's other U.S. offices are in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia. It employs 800 in the U.S. The company is part of the global Smiths Group which employs more than 9,000 people in the U.S.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source; Tim Picciotti, Smiths Detection

In the Middle Ages, alchemists sought to transform ordinary metals into gold. Now, a couple from Harford County hopes to conjure the same spell to bring in business at their new Hampden restaurant Alchemy.

Debi Bell-Matassa and Michael Matassa expect the eatery at 1011 W. 36th St. to open the first week of August. "We want to create something magical on the plate," Bell-Matassa says.

Dishes include house-smoked trout crepe, snapper with pancetta and butternut squash soup. Bell-Matassa will bake all the pastries and desserts in house. Brunch items will include cinnamon rolls with cream cheese Limoncello frosting and a breakfast souffl�.

A graduate of Napa's Culinary Institute of America, Bell-Matassa caters a lot of weddings and bah mitzvahs and her corporate clients include Boordy Vineyards and Northrup Grumman.

The couple are investing $225,000 to open the restaurant, the bulk of which was spent to purchase kitchen equipment and redo the heating system. 

Restaurant owner Alan Suissa wants to take you on a trip to North Africa.
And you won't need your passport.

Suissa and business partner Kenny Mahil opened French-Moroccan restaurant Tangiers Bistro Bar and Martini Lounge earlier this month in the Canton neighborhood.

Born in Casablanca, Suissa wanted to recreate the cuisine of his French Moroccan Jewish heritage. What makes it distinct from traditional Morrocan fare is that that is spicier and relies heavily on cumin and less on dried fruits like apricots and prunes.

The small plates, or mezze, dishes include fried spicy eggplant, grilled lamb and beef sausage and salmon tagine. The dishes cost between $5 and $11. Suissa's grandmother, who was born in Tangiers, is the inspiration for the food, along with his mom and aunt who work in the kitchen.

Suissa and Mahil spent about $100,000 to renovate the 200-seat Canton spot at 845 S. Montford Ave.  Suissa declined to say how much the partners paid for the property, formerly Red Fish restaurant. The 5,000-square-foot building is valued at about $474,000, according to state property records.

Having worked for the World Bank and the Washington Post Co.'s food and beverage divisions, Suissa is now making his first foray into the Baltimore market.

He liked the heavily trafficked location, facing Boston Street and in between Fells Point and Canton Square. He also likes the waterfront location.

"I fell in love with the building and location," Suissa says. "I heard from many people that the area is up and coming."

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Alan Suissa, Tangier's

Dick's Last Resort, � known for its irreverent waitresses, semi-tropical setting and wacky d�cor � will open its eighth restaurant in Baltimore's Inner Harbor June 28.

About one-third of the 9,000-square-foot restaurant will be used for outdoor seating on a dock to be built on the Inner Harbor pier, says Ralph McCracken, president and chief operating officer of Nashville, Tenn.,-based DLR Restaurants LLC.

Open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., the Inner Harbor restaurant will serve lunch and dinner, with live, classic rock music every night.

Servers have to "audition" for the position, to make sure they are wisecracking and sassy enough to work for Dick's, McCracken says. They also have to know how to make a paper hat to give diners while they eat.

While at most restaurant,s the average table holds three to four persons, Dick's attracts parties between six and eight. Groups are the restaurant's prime market, including bachelorette parties, families on vacation, convention attendees and sports fans. The Inner Harbor location was ideal for the restaurant chain since it attracts tourists and is convenient to the convention center and baseball stadium, McCracken says.

Located next to Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Hard Rock Caf� at the Cordish Co.'s Power Plant development, the restaurant will employ 130.

The Baltimore restaurant will be outfitted with motorcycles hanging from the ceiling and a mural painted by a local artist of the namesake mascot "Dick" in a boat fishing with a keg of beer.

Dick's Last Resort's other restaurants are located in Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas and Myrtle Beach, S.C.
A 9th restaurant will open this year in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

McCracken declined to say how much the company is investing in the new restaurant.

Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Ralph McCracken

An Ohio restaurant chain that bills itself as an all American bar and grill opened June 10 at Annapolis Towne Centre. The 10,000-square-foot Cadillac Ranch features a mechanical bull and piped in classic and modern rock.

Situated on the second floor, between 24 Hour Fitness and Ziki Japanese Steakhouse, the location ought to get plenty of mall traffic, says Eric Schilder, director of operations and marketing for Cadillac Ranch.

Schilder likes the fact that the outdoor mall holds a variety of restaurants, from Chinese, to seafood to Italian. "People want to go where there is variety," he says. The outdoor mall is also close to several hotels, which will hopefully bring tourists and business travelers to the restaurant, he says.

The restaurant's main attraction -- aside from the food, of course -- are the bull rides that take place at 9 p.m. nightly. The unusual spectacle attracts office parties and reunions, according to the company.

Located at 2505 Riva Road., Annapolis Towne Centre is a $500 million retail, office and residential complex that houses a Main Street-style town center. Developed by Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp., its other stores include Whole Foods Market, Bed Bath & Beyond, Brio Tuscan Grill and Target.

Annapolis marks the 11th location for Cadillac Ranch. Other cities include Miami, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh. Its spot at National Harbor prompted Cadillac Ranch officials to consider opening another Maryland spot, Schilder says.

Schilder declined to say how much the company spent to open the 400-seat restaurant, but add that restaurant officials hope to open another Cadillac Ranch in Maryland and Washington, D.C, but do not know yet when and where that would be."We're looking aggressively but there's no time frame," Schilder says.

The restaurant houses 30 plasma TVs, attracting the spots crowd. Cadillac Ranch serves pasta, fish and steaks that cost anywhere between $7 and $28. The restaurant employs 110.


Source: Eric Schilder, Cadillac Ranch
Writer: Julekha Dash

Erica Russo is no stranger to the restaurant business.

Her parents have worked in the industry and currently own Edie's Deli & Grill in downtown Baltimore. Russo herself has managed several restaurants, including the Greene Turtle and Carrabba's Italian Grill. She also spent two years working in the finance department of a marketing firm.

But now Russo finally thinks it's time to strike out on her own -- just not from an office. She and her parents, Eva and Jimmy Chin, opened the Point in Fells May 28  (where Miss Irene's was once located) at 1738 Thames Street with a staff of 30. "It's more rewarding when it's your place," Russo says.

Serving both small and large plates, the Point is a gastro pub and bistro that has a bar with TV screens downstairs for sports fans and a white tablecloth restaurant upstairs. The eclectic menu includes tuna ceviche, a mushroom salad with udon noodles, duck breast and arctic char. Large plates cost between $18 and $24 while small plates cost between $10 and $14.

Russo relies on local purveyors including Martin Seafood Co., Fells Point Wholesale Meat and Fig Leaf Farm to supply the 200-seat restaurant. Russo says she is not concerned that the previous restaurant closed in less than a year.

"That was a different restaurant with different ownership. You just have to have the right concepts and the right people to do it," Russo says.

She is getting help in the areas of customer service and payroll from her mom and dad. The restaurateur hopes she can attract a mix of tourists and businessmen and women to the waterfront locale. "I just fell in love with the spot. It overlooks the water and gets lot of foot traffic," Russo says. 

Source: Erica Russo, the Point in Fells Point
Writer: Julekha Dash

Three months after opening in downtown Bel Air, Ed Sheet already has his eye on an expansion.

Sheet, the owner of Chesapeake Cycle & Sport, hopes to move into a 2,500-square-foot store within two years. His current store in Bel Air is 1,100 square feet.

It's the second bike store for Sheet, who opened his Havre de Grace location in 2008. The expansion to Bel Air was intended to make it more convenient for customers who live in Fallston or Forest Hill who don't want to make the trek to Havre de Grace.

The two stores will pull in $1 million in sales this year, he says.

Sheet chose the spot at 116 S. Main Street because it is close to another sports shop, Charm City Run. Owners of the two shops can rely on one another's mailing lists and host joint promotional events. He's also excited about the Main Street revitalization efforts. 

The inventory focuses mainly on road bikes and triathlon bikes, with 30 to 40 bikes in stock at any one time. After he moves into a bigger store, Sheet hopes to house more than 200 bikes, including hybrid, cruiser and kids' cycles, like his Havre de Grace. He also hopes to house more accessories, apparel, and a larger service department.

"Bike service is important to the reputation and longevity of the store," Sheet says.

The business owners says he preferred to open in the 208-year-old historic building over a strip mall because the rent is about one-third the price and the property includes historic details like wood floors and a tin ceiling.

Because he also owns a property management company, Sheet's spent just $2,500 to rehab the space.


Source: Ed Sheet, Chesapeake Cycle & Sport
Writer: Julekha Dash

Leaders at the Maryland Women's Heritage Center are scouting locations in Baltimore and Annapolis for a permanent home for its exhibits that highlight the Free State's leading ladies. The site pays homage to accomplished Maryland women in a Hall of Fame display. Featured women include biotech pioneer Claire Fraser-Liggett, Harriet Tubman, environmentalist and "Silent Spring" author Rachel Carson and jazz great Billie Holiday.

Center leaders expect to open a 25,000-square-foot center within two years, and need to raise $5 million to open a permanent building, Executive Director Jill Moss Greenberg says.  

The center opens its temporary home June 19 at 39 W. Lexington St. Located in the former Baltimore Gas & Electric Building, the initial space was donated by David Hillman, CEO of Southern Management Corporation. Greenberg says the board is looking at half a dozen sites in downtown Baltimore and is zeroing in on Baltimore and Annapolis with the hope that the locales can attract conference attendees and students on school trips.

The permanent location will host more interactive exhibits, a library, women's history archive, arts and crafts display, meeting space and gift shop with books and gifts made by Maryland women.

Center officials will launch a capital campaign this year."I know it's terrible timing because of the economy but we're at the point where we need to do so," she says.

The center has an operating budget of about $100,000 and gets its funding from the state, corporations, foundations and individuals. Entrance is free.


The Maryland Women's Heritage Center is an offshoot of the Maryland Women's History Project, collaboration between the Maryland Commission for Women and the Maryland State Department of Education.


Source: Jill Moss Greenberg, Maryland Women's Heritage Center
Writer: Julekha Dash

After three years of jockeying for space in craft shows, jewelry designer Susan Morris decided the time was right to showcase her products in her own space.

Morris opened boutique Simply Charmed in downtown Bel Air June 5. In addition to selling her own bracelets and necklaces, the store displays the work of 14 other artists. Located at 138 N. Bond St., Simply Charmed sells candles, wine glasses, dresses, purses and home d�cor.

Selling at shows is tough because you have to apply and be accepted and there is typically a limit on the amount of jewelry an artist can sell, Morris says. "I've always had a dream of opening a boutique," Morris says. "Vendors shows are a hard type of environment to be in."

Morris spent about $30,000 to open the 1,700-square-foot store. She also likes the store's spot because it gets plenty of drive-by and foot traffic, thanks to the location next to Bel Air Bakery.

Downtown Bel Air has also been undergoing significant revitalization with new businesses moving in and events that promote downtown businesses. These include a Girls Night Out the third Thursday of every month, with extended shopping hours and store promotions. "I've seen so many changes on Main Street. There's a lot going on in downtown Bel Air."

The mother of three started designing jewelry after seeing her sister do the same. After friends and friends of friends started asking her to design pieces for them, Morris' hobby turned into a business that she could do while looking after her three kids at home.

Morris' own signature jewelry piece is a sterling silver chain containing variety of charms and a personalized message.

Source: Susan Morris, Simply Charmed
Writer: Julekha Dash

Owning your own winery involves more than sipping whites and reds all day. It's farming, after all, and thus, a lot of manual labor, says John Wilkerson, who, with his wife, Denise McCloskey, started DeJon Vineyards.
 
"It's hands on in the vineyard, pruning and pulling leaves," Wilkerson says.

The couple started planting grapes three years ago after spending $400,000 to convert their cattle and hay farm. The couple has converted the barn into a 2,400-square-foot tasting room.

DeJon currently bottles five wines, two whites and three reds that sell for between $14 and $20. The varietals include a merlot, chardonnay and a chambourcin.  The vintners are selling the wines at their winery at 5300 Hydes Rd., the Valley Wine Shop in Baldwyn, and at festivals.

But Wilkerson says the hard work is worth it because he enjoys talking to people about wine. DeJon joins Maryland's expanding list of wineries. The Free State currently has 41 wineries that sold $15.4 million in wine last year, according to the Maryland Wineries Association. The wineries sold 1.4 million bottles last year, a 3 percent increase over 2008.

The couple have bottled 540 cases of wine since April 3 and are promoting their grapes at wine festivals such as Howard County's Wine in the Woods and Great Grapes at Oregon Ridge.

The 45-acre Hydes winery will open to the public June 23 with a Wednesday night event, Wine Up Wednesday, that includes wine tasting, music and food from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Though it's back-breaking work, being in the wine business has its perks, Wilkerson says. He enjoys talking to fellow wine enthusiasts about his grapes and his property's location, next to a horse farm and the site of a wetland conservation area.

"We have one of the nicest views in Baltimore County. It's very nice to enjoy the scenery and bring a picnic lunch."

Source: John Wilkerson, DeJohn Vineyards
Writer: Julekha Dash