Beltway Plaza

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Beltway Plaza
Beltway Plaza.jpg
Beltway Plaza Mall logo
Location Greenbelt, Maryland
Opening dateOctober 17, 1963
DeveloperSidney J. Brown and First National Realty
ManagementQuantum Companies
No. of stores and services100
Total retail floor area 900,000 square feet (84,000 m2)
No. of floors2 (2nd floor is small)
Public transit access Aiga bus trans.svg TheBus: 16
Aiga bus trans.svg Metrobus: C2, G14, R12
Aiga bus trans.svg RTA Central Maryland bus: 302
Website Beltway Plaza Mall

The Beltway Plaza mall is located in Greenbelt, Maryland. It was developed by Sidney J. Brown and First National Realty, opening on October 17, 1963. It was originally composed of a massive S. Klein department store separated by a large parking lot from an A&P Supermarket located in a strip shopping center along with a barbershop, single screen movie theater, and Drug Fair store. By 1972-73, a small indoor mall was created, situated between the strip shopping center and the S. Klein store, that included a 6-screen theater, steakhouse, a branch of George's appliance store chain, an ice cream shop, and in-house catalog store.

Greenbelt, Maryland City in Maryland, United States

Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C.. Greenbelt is notable for being the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New Deal Greenbelt Towns, planned and built by the Federal government of the United States. The cooperative community was conceived in 1935, by Undersecretary of Agriculture Rexford Guy Tugwell, who was perceived by some of his contemporaries as having held a collectivist ideology and was utilized as a source of opposition to the Greenbelt Towns project throughout its short duration. The project came into legal existence in the spring of 1935. On April 8, 1935, the United States Congress passed the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935. Under the authority granted to him from this legislation, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order, on May 1, 1935, establishing the United States Resettlement Administration (RA/RRA).

S. Klein

S. Klein On The Square, or simply, S. Klein, was a popular priced department store chain based in New York City that is now defunct. The flagship stores were located along Union Square in Manhattan; this location would combine with the 1920s idiomatic catch phrase "on the square" to provide the subtitle. S. Klein positioned itself as a step above regional discount stores of its time, more fashion aware than E. J. Korvette, and a more affordable option compared to traditional department stores like Macy's, or Abraham & Straus. S. Klein stores were full-line department stores, including furniture departments, fur salons, and full service pet departments.

Drug Fair

Drug Fair was the name of a chain of drugstores based in New Jersey.

Contents

Within a few years of the S. Klein closing in 1975, the mall underwent major renovations. In the course of renovations, the space occupied by S. Klein was split up to create new spaces for different stores. Small fountains were added. The renovations included an additional 8 screen cinema and a Giant supermarket that was added to one wing of the former shopping strip. [1] The renovation also enclosed the area from the original mall to the supermarket.

The mall has 115 stores and restaurants and anchors include a Giant supermarket, Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, JoAnn Fabrics, Target, Shoppers World, and TJ Maxx (opened May 2014). (Shoppers World and the former Big Lots replaced a space formerly occupied by Value City until 2010.) The Target cannot be reached from the mall without going outdoors, though it shares a common roof.

Marshalls American department store chain

Marshalls is a chain of American off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. Marshalls first expanded into Canada in March 2011. Marshalls is the U.S.'s second largest off-price family apparel and home fashion retailer, behind its sister company, TJ Maxx. Its slogans are Your Surprise Is Waiting and Never Boring, Always Surprising.

Target Corporation Retail chain in the United States

Target Corporation is the eighth-largest retailer in the United States, and is a component of the S&P 500 Index. Founded by George Dayton and headquartered in Minneapolis, the company was originally named Goodfellow Dry Goods in June 1902 before being renamed the Dayton's Dry Goods Company in 1903 and later the Dayton Company in 1910. The first Target store opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962 while the parent company was renamed the Dayton Corporation in 1967. It became the Dayton-Hudson Corporation after merging with the J.L. Hudson Company in 1969 and held ownership of several department store chains including Dayton's, Hudson's, Marshall Field's, and Mervyn's.

Shoppers World is a retail chain of discount department stores headquartered in New York, New York. It has approximately 40 locations, mostly in the eastern United States. It is operated by the SW Group, controlled by the Dushey family.

History

On July 15, 1962, The Washington Post and Times Herald published a sketch of the 320,000-square-foot (30,000 m2) department store of the S. Klein chain, to be constructed in the Beltway Plaza Regional Shopping Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. At the time the two-story and basement structure would be the largest Washington suburban department store and was expected to open the following Easter. Maryland Governor J. Millard Tawes witnessed the signing of the 30-year lease (the store would last only 13) between the plaza developer and S. Klein.

J. Millard Tawes American politician

John Millard Tawes, a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 54th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1959 to 1967. He remains the only Marylander to be elected to the three positions of State Treasurer, Comptroller, and governor.

The store opened on Oct 17, 1963. [2] The Beltway Plaza property is home to some perilous slopes that have periodically given way. During construction of the store, in December 1962, five men died and 11 were injured in a basement earth slide and the mall was forced to close for a short period in 1966. [3] S. Klein was at Beltway Plaza until 1975, when the chain decided to close the store. The Washington Post of Feb 6, 1975 (p. G14) reported:

S. Klein Department Stores, a New York retailer that was a pioneer in the discount business, is closing its two big Washington area stores within six weeks, industry sources said yesterday. Officers of the company, a subsidiary of McCrory Corp., refused to conform [ sic ] or deny the reports.

McCrory Stores

McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch counter or snack bar. They also exclusively sold Oriole Records, one of the most popular 'dime store labels' from 1921 to 1938.

The Latin adverb sic inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any erroneous, archaic, or otherwise nonstandard spelling. It also applies to any surprising assertion, faulty reasoning, or other matter that might be likely interpreted as an error of transcription.

In the weeks prior to September 11, 2001, all five of the terrorists who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and flew it into the Pentagon had frequently visited Beltway Plaza mall, including Giant Food, Gold's Gym, and Burlington Coat Factory. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "New Paint, More Space for Area Malls," by Alison O'Neill, The Washington Post, Oct 18, 1982, p. W1.
  2. ↑ "S. Klein Opens First Store in D.C. Area," Washington Post and Times Herald, Oct 18, 1963, p. D6.
  3. ↑ "County Moves to Close Store Periled by Slope," The Washington Post and Times Herald, Apr 1, 1966, p. A27.
  4. ↑ Sellin, Erik (2016). The Preparation for Flight 77. Classic CD Books. ISBN   9781935513049.

Coordinates: 38°59′57.8″N76°54′29.3″W / 38.999389°N 76.908139°W / 38.999389; -76.908139

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