Business Notes: No Auction for Dave & Buster’s Stuff; Woodmont Triangle Vacancies

Plus: Amazon to add sales tax in Maryland; Urban Country to hold month-long anniversary sale

September 23, 2014 10:31 a.m.

Lerner not auctioning Dave & Buster's stuff – Although Rasmus Auctions has a webpage featuring an auction for Dave & Buster’s at White Flint Mall, Lerner Enterprises, which owns the mall, says no auction is planned. Francine Waters, a Lerner spokeswoman, said in an email the auction website is “an error by Rasmus apparently based on assumptions that they made simply because [Dave & Buster’s] closed and vacated.” The Washington Business Journal reported Monday that an auction was scheduled.

The arcade and restaurant closed on Aug. 13 after being ordered to vacate the premises by a federal judge. Lerner Enterprises is planning to demolish the aging mall to build a new mixed-use development on the site.

Two businesses vacate Woodmont Triangle – A salon and barbershop at 7813 Old Georgetown Road and a plumbing and heating store at 4916 Cordell Ave. posted “for lease” signs over the weekend, reports Bethesda blogger Robert Dyer. Both sites are leased by Conley Management Inc. The former Leahy Plumbing store on Cordell is located in a heavily traveled pedestrian area of downtown Bethesda, near popular restaurants including Gringos & Mariachis and Caddies on Cordell; while the barber shop is between Cordell and St. Elmo avenues on Old Georgetown Road.

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Montgomery tourism launches new website and announces new name – The independent nonprofit tasked with promoting tourism in Montgomery County is ditching its former name—Conference and Visitors Bureau of Montgomery County—in favor of a new moniker, Visit Montgomery, and has launched a new website. Updates to the website include suggested itineraries to guide tourists to county destinations, an updated events calendar and a trip-building application, designed to help visitors plan their trip day by day. The new website is also designed to be more responsive on tablets and mobile phones.

Kelly Groff, president and CEO of Visit Montgomery, said in a statement the bureau’s name was changed to align with a trend in tourism promotion organizations to have more active-sounding names such as “Visit Baltimore” and “Stay Arlington.” The nonprofit is funded through a portion of the hotel tax.

Amazon to begin taxing Maryland purchases – Expect to start paying sales tax on your Amazon purchases soon. Starting Oct. 1, the web giant will begin collecting Maryland’s 6 percent sales tax on online orders made in the state. The company must begin collecting the tax because it’s constructing two massive warehouses in South Baltimore. A retailer is required to collect sales tax if it has a physical presence in the state, according to a blog post by Michael Colavito of Aronson LLC, a tax consulting firm.

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Urban Country to hold month-long anniversary sale – If you’ve been waiting to buy something from Urban Country you might want to get it next month. The home store at 7117 Arlington Road will offer 30 percent to 40 percent off all furniture and 20 percent off all gifts and decorative accessories, including bedding, lighting, rugs, dinnerware and baby merchandise. The 23rd-anniversary sale starts Oct. 3 and runs until Nov. 2.

Photo via Urban Country

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