A locally-owned chain of high-end shoe stores is moving to a new Bethesda location.
Comfort One Shoes, the Virginia-based company with 21 locations around the region, will move a few blocks from its location in the Connor Building at 7720 Wisconsin Ave. to the long-vacant space at 7920 Norfolk Ave.
Matt Michael, manager of the Bethesda location, said the Wisconsin Avenue store will remain open into the summer, meaning both Bethesda stores will operate simultaneously. Michael said the Wisconsin Avenue store must close by July 30 ahead of a planned redevelopment project for the building.
The Connor Building site is slated for redevelopment into an office building by The Bernstein Companies. The website for the Washington, D.C.-based developer says groundbreaking for the first phase of the project, an adjacent hotel, is set for 2017. The Planning Board approved the project in 2013.
The Norfolk Avenue space was last home to a pop-up furniture store that closed in early 2015. A frozen yogurt shop there closed in early 2014. The 2,200-square-foot space is owned by Douglas Development in the ground floor of an 11-story office building next door to the Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery.