Mall In Columbia

A man who indicated that he had a gun robbed the Musicland store in The Mall in Columbia earlier this week, according to Howard County police.Police said that a man walked into the store about 8: 30 p.m. Monday, approached the sales clerk and handed her a note that said he had a gun.The man demanded cash and ordered the clerk to the rear of the store, where he confronted the store manager, according to a police report.The manager gave the man an undisclosed sum of cash from the store safe, and the robber ran from the store, police said.

Four new stores will be coming to The Mall in Columbia, including Lululemon Athletica and True Religion, mall officials said Thursday. Lululemon, a yoga-inspired athletic apparel store, and denim apparel brand True Religion are opening as part of the center's 70,000-square-foot redevelopment and expansion. The stores will flank a new entrance leading from the mall to the new open-air "lifestyle center. " Lululemon will open this summer in 3,200 square feet on the upper level across from Michael Kors.

Nine new or renovated restaurants are scheduled to open this week at The Mall in Columbia. The mall's new food court, which opens Wednesday, will stretch from the existing food court to Sears. It will include more than 356 tables and 900 seats, said Patrick Walsh, manager of the mall. McDonald's, Popeyes Chicken, China City, Paolino's Deli, Great Wraps, Mamma Ilardo's Pizza, Bistro Sensations, Cinnabon and Auntie Anne's Pretzels are either opening in the new food court or are relocating from another food court in the mall.

  Construction will start next week on a planned expansion at The Mall in Columbia. Plans call for a 70,000-square-foot Main Street-style addition featuring an open-air plaza with two restaurants, two cafes and eight to 10 stores. Mall managers plan to break ground on the project Tuesday. Mall owner General Growth Properties has not announced any retail or restaurant tenants. The Howard County Planning Board approved plans in December to demolish the mall's free-standing L.L. Bean store to make way for the expansion, which will add 40,000 square feet to the 1.6 million square-foot-center.

A 16-year-old from Harper's Choice village was robbed by another teen while walking from The Mall in Columbia's Town Center to Bennigan's restaurant about 7: 20 p.m. Saturday, Howard County police said yesterday.A teen-ager with two companions displayed a silver-colored handgun and stole about $16 from the youth before fleeing toward the Mall on a bicycle, said Sgt. T. D. Ball, a Howard County police spokeswoman.The two other boys did not participate in the crime but left with the robber, Ball said.

Drivers headed to The Mall in Columbia in coming months will not only find new stores, but better ways to get there, mall officials say.With the completion of Lord & Taylor in November and the anticipated opening of Nordstrom's on Sept. 17, mall officials are working to add parking spaces and widen an entrance by the end of summer. The mall has about 175 stores and up to 12 million visitors each year, said Jeff Sneddon, the mall's general manager.Planners will expand the entrance at Windstream Drive, which is off Gov. Warfield Parkway, adding a lane each way. Shoppers will find a new 700-space parking deck.

Howard County police are searching for two men who stole a Jeep Cherokee at gunpoint from two couples at a cinema near The Mall in Columbia Saturday.No one was injured in the car-jacking, which is the second in less than a week in Howard County, police said.Last Tuesday, Pamela Basu was dragged to her death in a car-jacking. Dr. Basu was entangled in a seat belt as two men commandeered her BMW near her Savage home. Two Washington men are being held without bail at the Howard County Detention Center on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, robbery and auto theft.

A fire that began on the roof of The Mall in Columbia yesterday forced the evacuation and temporary closing of the sprawling complex, creating confusion and fear among many of the hundreds of customers and employees inside."

A woman arrested after she allegedly ran through The Mall in Columbia while waving a large kitchen knife Thursday was taken to Springfield State Hospital Center in Sykesville for evaluation, Howard County police said yesterday.Sgt. Steven Keller, a police spokesman, said 18-year-old Stephanie Meghan Hiteshew of the 7100 block of Smooth Path in Columbia's Owen Brown village pulled a 8- to 12-inch-long knife from under her shirt when a mall security guard attempted to help her about 5: 30 p.m.Police used pepper spray to subdue the woman.

Howard County police warned yesterday of an elaborate scheme often carried out against elderly people after an 85-year-old woman was bilked out of $12,500. Police said the woman was at The Mall in Columbia on Oct. 17 when she was approached by another woman who told her the first woman's car had been hit in the parking garage. The second woman offered to walk outside with her to see the damage, police said. While in the garage, the first woman saw that her car was not damaged, but then the other woman claimed she had discovered a bag filled with money and offered to share the cash with her. They drove to a nearby office building, where the schemer claimed her "boss" would count the money and give them advice on what to do. The 85-year-old stayed in the car until the woman returned from the building and was told the bag she was carrying contained $75,000, police said.

Howard County fire fighters on Thursday extinguished an early morning fire outside the Sears store at The Mall in Columbia. According to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, emergency units responded to a call at 5:40 a.m. and found a fire in a trailer attached to a loading dock outside Sears. Crews quickly put out the fire and obtained a ventilation unit from Montgomery County to help remove smoke from inside the store. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation, according to the fire department.

The Howard Hughes Corp. moved closer this month to firming up plans for an 817-unit residential development in Columbia's town center by naming two partners who well help carry out the project. Howard Hughes announced that it will be working with Kettler, of McLean, Va., a privately held company with a strong record of multi-family housing development.. Also involved with the partnership is Orchard Development of Ellicott City, founded in 1979 by Maryland home builder Earl Armiger.

Luxury designer Michael Kors will be opening a new store in the Mall in Columbia in December, mall officials have announced. The store will be on the second floor near J. Crew.

•Edward Arthur Jewelers is the only remaining tenant that has been there since the beginning. •The food court has 266 tables. •The Ball in the Mall was held in 1972, 1977 and 1987. •The mall opened with 80 stores. Now it has more then 200, counting kiosks and eateries. •The mall has 18 jewelry stores. •There are 18 shoe stores. •The mall is 1.4 million square feet.. •There are 28 eateries and food stores. •The mall hosts four health fairs a year, in cooperation with Howard General Hospital.

•1971 — Mall opens Aug. 2 with Hochschild Kohn and Woodward & Lothrop as anchors •1972 — First poinsettia tree •1975 — Hecht Company replaces Hochschild Kohn •1981 — First expansion: Sears and 70 stores •1989 — Carousel opens •1996 — J.C. Penney replaces Woodward & Lothrop •1996 — Hecht Company adds a third floor •1998 — Lord & Taylor and parking garages added •1999 — Second expansion: Nordstrom...

If you like your facial cleansers and other beauty products free of chemicals and other impurities, you'll be happy to hear about a new store at The Mall in Columbia. LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics opened a 500-square-foot boutique at the Howard County mall today. LUSH products are made with organic fruits, vegetables, herbs, fruit, flowers and essential oils. They include items such as shampoo bars, ocean salt face and body scrubs and bath bombs that explode soothing goodness when placed in water.

The Mall in Columbia announced today that three new stores and one eatery will open this spring. The new tenants are The Children's Place, Lush, Brow Art 23 and Kabob Connection. The Children's Place will occupy roughly 4,500 square feet and will be located on the lower level near Lord & Taylor, while Lush, which makes organic beauty products, will take up 500 square feet next to Nordstrom on the lower level. Brow Art 23, which specializes in eyebrow threading, will also move in next to Lord & Taylor on the lower level and will occupy 1,600 square feet.

With an expected crowd of about 30,000 for today's Virgin Mobile FreeFest concert, motorists in the area of Merriweather Post Pavilion and The Mall in Columbia should expect delays. Police will be directing traffic on Little Patuxent Parkway, Brokenland Parkway, South Entrance Road and Hickory Ridge Road beginning at 10 a.m. Little Patuxent Parkway from Brokenland Parkway to South Entrance Road will be closed to through traffic from 8:30 a.m. to midnight. Delays are also expected on U.S. 29. Full access to The Mall in Columbia and Toby's Dinner Theatre will be available, though motorists should give themselves extra travel time.