Sandy Spring Bank Cuts Ribbon at New Bethesda Branch
Olney-based Sandy Spring Bank held a formal ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning at its new Bethesda branch location at 7550 Wisconsin Ave. The new branch features an open layout, without the usual glass wall that separates tellers from customers at many bank branches.
“We want to take that barrier down,” Denise Stokes, Sandy Spring’s senior vice president for marketing, said at the ceremony.
The new branch also offers complimentary meeting spaces and free Wi-Fi. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat, was on hand for the ceremony. He gave a “Comptroller’s medallion” to Sandy Spring’s Chief Financial Officer Philip Mantua, thanked them for their service to the community and then decried what he described as the “cold, dead hand of regulatory excess” that has been impacting community banks.
At the event, Sandy Spring officials provided a $1,000 check to Kids in Need Distributors, a Montgomery County volunteer organization that provides weekend food supplies every Friday to 1,200 county students participating in the Free and Reduced Price Meals program.
Hadlee Opens in Bethesda
Grand opening photos courtesy of Hadlee.
The new fashion boutique Hadlee celebrated its grand opening last week at the Shops at Wildwood on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. Just Perfect Collection, a retailer that also owns Wear it Well at Bethesda Row and Sequel at Wildwood, operates the store. The new shop carries fashion lines such as Art of Cloth, Boho Chic and Katherine Barclay. It replaces the former clothing store Madeline, which closed in December after operating for 24 years in the space next to Balducci’s.
New Gaithersburg Trampoline Park to Open in April
Photo via Rockin' Jump
Rockin’ Jump, a trampoline park similar to the Sky Zone franchises that have been springing up nationwide, plans to open April 10 in a 25,000-square-foot space at 18620 Woodfield Road in Gaithersburg, according to the Montgomery Gazette. The facility will include two dodgeball arenas, basketball hoops, a jousting balance beam and an obstacle course. Steuart Martens and his wife, Kathleen, who formerly operated D.C.’s Martens Volvo-Volkswagen, are behind the business.
URBNMarket to Host Open-Air Market at Metro Plaza
An outdoor crafts market thought up by two Bethesda residents—Debbie Sonnenreich and Julie Greenstein—will take place this summer at the Bethesda Metro plaza. The market will be held July 17 and 18. Items such as home decorations, pet accessories, jewelry, toys, clothes and beauty products will be on sale. Last year, the market set up shop at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad on Battery Lane.
