The recession has begun to be felt among Harford businesses, as several companies have closed or announced closings recently. Local, regional, and national companies have all suffered, with a growing list determining that they will no longer be conducting business. Some have been bought out, but most are simply leaving vacant storefront.
Among those being bought ought are Hecht’s (now Macy’s) and Klein’s. The Klein’s in the town of Bel Air, much like the stores in Aberdeen and Whiteford, has already changed the storefront sign to read “ShopRite,” and the Klein’s name is no longer on the receipts. The machines and merchandise have likewise changed. The branch in the Festival at Bel Air has posters announcing the coming changes.
Stay tuned to The Dagger for a rolling update on announced, or sudden, closings. As always, comment with what you’re hearing!
Stores that have closed include:
C-Mart in Forest Hill
Crackpot in Bel Air
Standard Carpet in Bel Air
Lone Star Steakhouse in Abingdon
Tweeter in Bel Air
Stores that have announced their closing include:
Superfresh in Bel Air
Circuit City in Bel Air
* An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Bel Air Carpet as the business that was closing
I can’t see any improvement in klein’s price’s. as a matter of fact it look’s as tho they raised them.
Going against the trend, Wegman’s has announced that they will be opening an Abingdon location in January 2011. It will be located behind the WaWa on 924/ Woodsdale.
Wegmans’ birth likely portends the death of another business. There are already 3 other grocery stores within eyeshot of the Wegman’s site, which will prove to be the weakest link – Weis, Giant or BJs?
I think weis’s will hang in there. they produce some decent sale’s & then theres Mar’s
Weis will probably be next on the list in Abington, IF Wegmans comes… Don’t forget the Walmart being built in Fallston.
I actually like shopping at Klein’s now. The one in Whiteford is so much nicer. I think they had to add onto the store because of the brand new Saubel’s that just opened. I think the prices are reasonable.
i agree kliens prices have gone up and their meat selection has gone down in quality, look at the ground beef it can come from the US Canada or mexico
CED your right’ the wife won’t buy meat there. Charlene there is still a big stink’ about wegman’s treatment of there chicken’s. being tortured. just ate one. never thought about the miserable conditions, it may have suffered before it’s demise.
ShopRite is Wakefern foods. The are based in New Jersey.
Go Dagger!
Whats the big deal with businesses failing and getting shut down? I can’t speak for the rest of the county but here in Aberdeen we are against everything commercial, retail or business. If you dont believe me step up to the bar at the permit department and ask for some help.
Feeless Groper
Welcome to Aberdeen.
SuperFresh is closing? I didn’t hear that. I know the store by Target is never busy. I go to Safeway or Weis.
I miss Hecht’s, I hate Macy’s and never find anything in there.
Hello Vet. I always enjoy your posts. You seem to be a man with his hand on the pulse of whats happenning in the area.
I learned along time ago to be aware of my surrounding’s & those who in habit such place’s in doing so…. my work carried me in to some strange & not so nice area’s.
It is amazeing’ the intell that is on the street. none the less gossip, some bull some plain out lie’s. but….. as and observer I must say’ we do have some excellent police officers in aberdeen. among other office’s. that statement being from simple observation’s.
But your right’ the zoneing & permit’s is something else.
Rumor has it that the Bed Bath and Beyond, next door to the Superfresh that is closing in Bel Air, is also closing.
Help me out here Vet. I’m new to blogging but I have read this blog since inception. Isn’t this the time when we blame someone? Don’t we now single somebody out and blame this whole situation on him or her?
Yep somebody’ is responsible. but no body want’s to accept the blame. there’s mover’s & shaker’s in town who seem to know the ”Right” people. there does not seem to be a problem getting what they want.
what is more interesting’ they as a marjority do not live in town.
I like this. Like maybe a once upon a time Senator turned adaptive reuse developer who lives out in Churchville and votes out of a PO Box and a Perryman friend east side slumlord who carries his message for him?
Vet- you are good at this.
Feeless Groper
We wound’nt want to blame or point any finger’s. in ” that” direction. let’s blame Darnell he is the code inforcement officer. I did see a large Rat at festival park. I was adding to his diet.
till it took off. for the”new” town office building. I was expecting to hear some very loud scream’s. but none were forth comeing.
Vet- I’ve worked with Darnell and I can tell you that his work load is one of the toughest in the City. Lets blame someone else. You didn’t like my suggestion to lay this problem at the feet of the can’t get elected or even get his wife elected ex senator and his coffee clatch butt buddy so lets keep thinking.
There is always that old stand by; that person that we can always blame when no one else will do. C’mon Vet say the name.
I was teaseing’ Darnell. I know he is a hard worker. when spring break’s I will be opening my ”Snake” farm. I will need some good help. let us ask how Harford national bank became almost the largest Building & bank in Aberdeen.
Old money’ s fred wanted to move the city’s, account’s to a nother branch. would’nt have fazed Harford National. Old money’ also lived out of town but there holding’s in town were very large in asset’s.
trade’s were being made’ Property” variance’s were being approved for ”old money” can’t put the finger on just a few.
This is just sad…
…so, moving on, how many of the 600 jobs Wegman’s claims to be creating in Harford County will come at the expense of one of the other 3 grocery stores in the same Abingdon neighborhood?
And will Verizon FiOS really make a dent in the Comcast monopoly?
Vet- you almost said the entire name. Kind of like that bad wizards name in the Mayors favorite book….Valdamort….that name you can blame for everything
I’m interested in FIOS if it’s truely cheaper than comcast and has more HiDef options. The internet is supposed to be faster, or as fast, as well.
As for Wegmans, no chance Weis lasts very long. Giant may be fine, since there are bound to be people that don;t like the size and unfamiliarity with Wegmans.
The real question is whether people from Bel Air will continually bypass Kleins, er, Shoprite and Safeway to come further south to go to Wegmans regularly. And Wegmans thrives on prepared foods, which is great for quick lunches for businesspeople. Will the local area support that?
I have shopped at Kleins for at least the last 12 yrs. and yesterday is my last trip there. There are longtime employees that are gone who made the store a great place to shop, and many of the brand name products I was used to finding at Kleins are gone. I was so aggravated yesterday and after being treated very rudely at Customer Service I’ve decided that was my last shopping trip there. I even said this to the person working CS and she couldn’t have cared less….oh by the way she was a new face…..I guess they have lost the people with personalities…probably reduced their pay or something no doubt.
I don’t think I’ll be exploring the FiOS option. I did away with Verizon home phone service and internet in December after three extended outages in a year. Each time it was WEEKS before service calls were available, and the problem was never fully fixed. One tech told Mrs Dell that squirrels had eaten through our phone line during one of the outages.
If our squirrels like phone line, I can’t imagine how much they’re gonna love tasty fiber optic cables.
Thanks Dell for that info. I was thinking about switching to verizon
Looks like you can add the Festival Bel Air Play It Again Sports to the list of stores closing soon.
Also, The Pretzel Factory in Aberdeen closed, if anyone noticed they were ever open…
Add Drayer’s Florist and Cheeseburger Cheeseburger in the Festival to the list.
My predictions: Weis will survive as the poor man’s answer to Weg’s coming in; Giant will suffer, although Steve is right on little local support for lunches – – this ain’t Hunt Vly.
FiOS will make a measurable dent into the area, enough to make Comcast feel it, but the service is just as poor. Expect a small sign-up deals war, but don’t get too excited
And Mr. Geppi is coming back; good news to the underrepresented. This guy would ratchet up the professionalism and biz savvy in local pols.
stinks about Cheeseburger Cheeseburger; where will I get my cool trays from?!
I know a lot of people who drive past other stores to go to that Giant. They lure people in with drink sales, and it always seems crowded. I think Giant will be fine. Wegman’s will do great, but the location won’t have their lunch sales up to par with Hunt Valley and other locations.
Dell, We switched to comcast phone serviceand it is terrible, we have no phone service every time the internet goes out, Comcasts answer is yes there is a problem but we will be out in 5-7 days, Oh, they also publish what was an unlisted phone number and when asked about it they say they have no unlisted numbers??
I welcome fios, verizon phone always worked!!
THOR- It may just be a local anomaly, but the Verizon outages on my street were the stuff of legends. It just took me a year to figure it out.
I had Verizon phone and internet at my old house for 10 years and never had a hiccup.
If I thought the problems wouldn’t follow the new service, I’d give it a shot.
Maybe after a few of my neighbors give it a test run, and don’t experience the traditional interruptions we’ve had in the past, I’ll be a convert…
Verizon is giveing my sister a hard time with interruptions I think I will wait a while.comcast has some kink’s in there phone service too.
dang ill miss them onion rings from cheeburger cheeburger
also i think ill just drive the extra 6 or 7 miles to renders in hickory and give them a try sorry andy klein and klein brothers but you lost another customer.
Carried Away Gourmet is changing owners. Their catering has been really good, better than the food served in store; hopefully that will continue.
Regarding ShopRite: it is a cooperative and the Klein family becomes part owners by joining. They bring economy of scale and different approaches to marketing in a difficult economy. There probably will be numerous misteps as they assess the local market, and, hopefully, adjust to local needs. Give them a break while they try to compete. The Klein family has been a generous contributor to the community; their support for the public schools and Upper Cheseapeake Health has no equal.