Depressing State of the Boulevard at the Capital Centre (Bowie: salon, 2014)

[eyendis]

On the evening of January 29, 2014, I drove through the Boulevard at the Capital Centre while waiting to pick up someone from the Largo Town Center Metro. Even though I live in the Largo-Kettering area of Prince George's County, I rarely, if ever, go to that shopping center. There aren't any stores to my liking for clothing, the movie theater is rarely enjoyable with all the rowdy teens and the quality of the food and service at the recently opened Friday's and Longhorn Steakhouse leaves a lot to be desired. What I saw yesterday was A LOT dark and shuttered store fronts . I was saddened by the amount of store closures there over the past couple of months:




Recent Openings:

• Longhorn Steak House
• Golds Gym
• A vitamin shop recently opened in the original Sprint Store location (Not GNC)

Recent Closures:

• Yankee Candle
• Nine West
• Lens Crafters
• Harold Pener - Man of Fashion
• Technicolor Salon & Spa
• Qdoba Mexican Grill
• The Big Screen Store
• I'm sure many others in the near future

When I drove through the shopping center last night, it looked like there were more store vacancies than actual open establishments. The closure of Yankee Candle and Harold Pener left the sidewalks in that area dark with an unsafe feeling because there was no store lighting being projected onto the adjacent sidewalk. I know it was cold outside, but there were literally no one walking around at 6:30pm. And there were abundant parking along Capital Centre Boulevard.

With the recent opening of Tanger Outlets National Harbor and soon to be opened Laurel Towne Center, the Boulevard at the Capital Centre is a forgotten place. The Golds Gym has brought additional traffic to the shopping center, but I believe it is too little too late.

Residents of Prince George's County always requested to have these "upscale" retailers and to stay in the county to shop, be it seems like we are not supporting these retail establishments when they do decide to come here. Hopefully these store closures at the Boulevard will find a new home at nearby Woodmore Towne Centre, similar to the Men's Warehouse relocation.

The new hospital is being constructed adjacent to the Boulevard and the Metro with a proposed opening date of 2017, but the Boulevard at the Capital Centre may not last that long.........

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by eyendis

With the recent opening of Tanger Outlets National Harbor and soon to be opened Laurel Towne Center, the Boulevard at the Capital Centre is a forgotten place. The Golds Gym has brought additional traffic to the shopping center, but I believe it is too little too late.

The outlets and Laurel are outside of the market area for the BLVD. They would have little to no impact at all on people's decision to shop at the BLVD. As you stated, Woodmoore is close enough to capture some of that market share from the BLVD. Otherwise, people have always had options outside of that market area before there was Tanger and Laurel. Namely Bowie, PG Plaza, DC, VA, and Moco. Which is why the demise started before National Harbor came on the scene. Tanger and National Harbor just makes shopping elsewhere more convenient now.

The new hospital is being constructed adjacent to the Boulevard and the Metro with a proposed opening date of 2017, but the Boulevard at the Capital Centre may not last that long.........

The new hospital could potentially revive the BLVD. Look for new lease deals to come through when construction starts on the hospital complex. All is not lost just yet.

Sometimes I think developers sense a market or hedge their bets on what the market will look like. That never materialized for the BLVD. There was no momentum for dense development to increase the foot traffic. Things around the BLVD just stagnated. The development of Woodmoore didn't help either. Now you have Westphalia coming online in addition to the New Carrollton Metro initiative. Those are pretty heavy competitors. But again, I think the hospital will be the BLVD's saving grace.

[bowian]

Interesting. I went with my boyfriend to see a movie there recently. It was our first time going, and it was as loud as I as heard about, with rude young people behind me. I am not keen on returning. It wasn't the worst experience but definitely not the best. The only reason we went was because that was the only theatre that was showing the movie we wanted to see. I have braved the Golden Corral many times, and it was pretty similar. I even saw a guard in there one day. There's not much left at the Boulevard these days.

[Optimistic20744]

Don't forget starbucks, bugaboo creek, circuit city, borders, bed bath n beyond, unos, gladys knights and qudoba have all left

[MD84]

I used to live in the area but have relocated to another county with my husband. I was apart of the last graduating class to graduate at the Arena, I remember when they first dynamited the building and bulldozed. They had such high hopes for the place. It was once very vibrant and upscale place to go shopping, date night, dinner and a movie. The celebrities tied to the restaurants and other businesses, the upscale boutiques, with custom shoes and tailored clothing. It was featured a few times on segments of BET. There were such high hopes for this place. It's really sad to see what it has turned out to be.

We recently went there last weekend, to attend a Chuck E. Cheese party for a family member. Worst CEC I've been to! Many of the games were broken or not working. The staff walks around but they aren't uniformed, you can't tell who works there to flag them down. Walked past quite a few video games where the screens were just off. I couldn't wait to leave. I seriously think that the CEC would be better off relocating to Bowie Town Center. When we first entered the parking lot I was surprised but not surprised by how many retailers had closed and left. The replacements are terrible and resemble Capitol Plaza type retailers before that place was closed and dozed, I mean what the hell is a Shopper's World!? I think that's where the Bed Bath and Beyond used to be. Depressing indeed.

The real problem, is that PG County Gov't is so stuck on opportunities to get the money first, that they fail to clean up the surrounding areas that the retail projects will fall victim to! And if not clean them up come up with some better security and strategic plans to fight the crime that may destroy the place. The National Harbor is next if they don't clean up the surrounding areas, esp once that casino moves in. No one believes it can happen to The Harbor though similar things have happened to other retail ventures, the fact that this one has higher stakes involved (more money) makes no difference. They thought it could not happen to the Boulevard which was also geared towards tourists and had celebrity ties and investors. They thought it couldn't happen because Woodmore and other upscale neighborhoods were so close by, the place had so much going for it, national celebrities had invested, but it still happened! I guess they forgot about crime infested areas of Palmer Park, Dodge Park, and Glenarden etc 5-10 mins down the road who no longer had any place else to go to shop (Landover Mall gone for years). You just can't build an upscale retail place surrounded by ghetto and crime filled areas and not expect the place to be vulnerable or affected. The National Harbor will have the spillover from crime infested Rivertown, East Over, Livingston Road Southeast corridor among other areas to combat and deal with especially once that casino comes. Bottom line everyone wants somewhere nice to go, some take care of it, are peaceful, civil. Others bring drama with them and tear it down.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by Optimistic20744

Don't forget starbucks, bugaboo creek, circuit city, borders, bed bath n beyond, unos, gladys knights and qudoba have all left

To be honest, Circuit City went out of business nationwide as well as Borders.

[eyendis]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

To be honest, Circuit City went out of business nationwide as well as Borders.

And to add to that list, Linens 'n Things is another national retailer that had a store at the Boulevard and went out of business nationwide. Shopper's World is currently at that former store's location. If I can remember correctly, Linens 'n Things initially shuttered underperforming stores in the first round of store closures in 2008 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the Boulevard store was one of them. Then the chain finally closed down all of their stores and went out of business later that year.

And the restaurants, Stonefish Grill and The Sideline (LaVar Arrington's former restaurant) closed over the years. Even before The Sideline, a Chicago-based restaurant called Red Star Tavern was at that location.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by bowian

Interesting. I went with my boyfriend to see a movie there recently. It was our first time going, and it was as loud as I as heard about, with rude young people behind me. I am not keen on returning. It wasn't the worst experience but definitely not the best. The only reason we went was because that was the only theatre that was showing the movie we wanted to see. I have braved the Golden Corral many times, and it was pretty similar. I even saw a guard in there one day. There's not much left at the Boulevard these days.

Yikes, really? I haven't been to the Golden Corral in years and I remember it being a decent joint. And I think the last time I went to the Magic Johnson theater was back in 2006 when I was still in junior high. It was cool back then but I don't know about now, especially with what I've heard about it. I prefer going to the movies at Hoffman's, Gallery Place, Brandywine Crossing, and recently St. Charles again (Until last month with my best friend, I haven't been to the St. Charles theater since 2008 because my fellow teens at the time were rowdy and loud as hell in the back of the theater room that it was a little difficult to enjoy the movie. That theater has improved considerably in my opinion. The service has improved, the new reclined seating is similar to the Xscape Theater at Brandywine X, and the audiences were all civil and there were hardly any rowdiness either. And this was on a Friday night!!! The only thing I don't like about the new changes is that people are automatically assigned to designated seats. Other than that, things seem to have changed for the better. Hopefully Magic Johnson will follow through too). I stopped shopping at the BLVD ever since me and my family moved to the Clinton/Brandywine area in southern PG and with the Borders and Men's Warehouse gone, I don't even bother anymore. All of my shopping is normally done at St. Charles Town Center, Bowie Town Center, Brandywine Crossing, Pentagon City, and the Annapolis Mall.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by Optimistic20744

Don't forget starbucks, bugaboo creek, circuit city, borders, bed bath n beyond, unos, gladys knights and qudoba have all left

It's still crazy about what used to happen inside that Uno's....I remember going there once before it went downhill.

And I used to love Bugaboo Creek!! May it rest in peace

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by tcave360

It's still crazy about what used to happen inside that Uno's....I remember going there once before it went downhill.

And I used to love Bugaboo Creek!! May it rest in peace

There was an UNO's? Dang! Love that place. Didn't know PG had one. It must've had a short lifespan there. I remember I went to Bugaboo Creek on a date. SErvice was absolutely horrid. Never went back. Food was good though. And that's the ONLY time I've been to BLVD. It's weird. It's like it is in some weird Bermuda Triangle where it seems to be out of peoples' minds as a place to shop and eat. I've never even considered going there and that was before I even heard about the crime, etc.