Maryland Stores

Nordstrom Rack will open its planned store in Columbia today at 9 a.m. The discount format of upscale department store Nordstrom Inc. celebrates the opening of a 41,000-square-foot space with "Rally at the Rack. " The retailer promises music, breakfast treats and gift card prizes. When the store opens, the first 1,000 shoppers to buy something will get a free tote bag. (While supplies last.) The Columbia store , in the former Room Store space, will be the fourth Rack in the state, joining others in Annapolis, Gaithersburg and Towson.

Nordstrom Rack will open its planned store in Columbia today at 9 a.m. The discount format of upscale department store Nordstrom Inc. celebrates the opening of a 41,000-square-foot space with "Rally at the Rack. " The retailer promises music, breakfast treats and gift card prizes. When the store opens, the first 1,000 shoppers to buy something will get a free tote bag. (While supplies last.) The Columbia store , in the former Room Store space, will be the fourth Rack in the state, joining others in Annapolis, Gaithersburg and Towson.

Shoppers Food & Pharmacy will close two unprofitable stores in Maryland on Friday. The stores to be closed are at 11120 Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills and 2430 Broad Ave. in Timonium. The grocery chain is also closing three stores in Virginia. The closings come shortly after SuperFresh, whose parent company is operating under bankruptcy, also closed stores in Maryland. "Given the competitive markets we operate in, and today's difficult economic environment, it is occasionally necessary to close those stores that are not profitable," Shoppers said in a statement.

Retailers have had a difficult few years, especially the small shops that make up the bulk of the Maryland Retailers Association's membership. As the trade group's president since June 2010, Patrick Donoho has seen the effects of the recession as many longtime members were forced to close shop. Now with about 250 members, including hardware stores and other independent merchants, grocers, department stores and national chains representing 1,200 locations, the trade group is rebuilding.

At least 3,700 record stores have closed around the country since 2003, according to market research firm Almighty Music Marketing. Illegal file-sharing, MySpace, band camp, social media outlets, and the overall digitalization of the music industry have displaced the traditional record store as the place where Americans get their music. To remind people of the stores' continued relevance and importance, a few music fans conceived Record Store Day about five years ago. It will be celebrated again Saturday at some 700 independent record stores around the country, including 20 stores in Maryland, according to the "holiday's" official website.

In a move that could signal the end of the Superfresh grocery store franchise in Maryland, the chain's parent company, which operates more than two dozen stores in the state, said Wednesday it wants to sell most of its local outlets as part of a plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. of Montvale, N.J., said it plans to seek bankruptcy court approval to sell 22 stores in Maryland, two stores in Delaware and one in Washington. The sales, if approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, are expected to be completed by mid-June, the company said.

Shoppers Food & Pharmacy workers at some Maryland and Virginia stores ratified a new, two-year contract Thursday that increases wages, maintains pension benefits and funds health benefits without raising workers' costs, the union local representing the workers said Thursday. The collective bargaining agreement between United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 and Shoppers, a division of Minneapolis-based Supervalu, applies to 2,500 grocery workers at Shoppers in Northern Virginia and in Montgomery, Prince Georges, Calvert, St. Mary's and Charles counties.

London Fog Industries Inc., founded in Baltimore more than 75 years ago and now headquartered in Eldersburg, filed for bankruptcy yesterday and said it will close 115 of its 140 stores nationwide.Company officials said the Chapter 11 filing is an attempt to restructure operations and redefine the company's mission and should not be seen as the beginning of the end of one of the world's best-known clothing labels.The company narrowly escaped a bankruptcy filing in 1995 by restructuring debt and streamlining operations.

The kerfuffle over the proposed wine store in Wegmans' newest location in Columbia heralds the next looming battle in consumers' fight to modernize Maryland's alcohol policy. The recent Howard County liquor board hearing demonstrated the intensity of both sides' arguments. The local retailers, backed by the alcohol distributors, fear increased competition — while consumer groups clamor for greater convenience and selection, and lower prices. The alcohol industry in Maryland has traditionally dictated its own regulations.

Value City Department Stores will close all but one of its eight Maryland stores in the next several weeks as part of a restructuring that includes shedding 30 stores across the country. Seven stores have begun liquidation sales and will close when everything is sold, which company officials estimated would take about six weeks. Value City's store on Solomons Island Road in Annapolis is the only one that will remain open in the state. The Glen Burnie store on Ritchie Highway will be converted to a Burlington Coat Factory as part of a deal announced in October by Value City's former owner, Retail Ventures Inc., to sell the leases of up to 24 of its stores.

Shoppers Food & Pharmacy workers at some Maryland and Virginia stores ratified a new, two-year contract Thursday that increases wages, maintains pension benefits and funds health benefits without raising workers' costs, the union local representing the workers said Thursday. The collective bargaining agreement between United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 and Shoppers, a division of Minneapolis-based Supervalu, applies to 2,500 grocery workers at Shoppers in Northern Virginia and in Montgomery, Prince Georges, Calvert, St. Mary's and Charles counties.

The kerfuffle over the proposed wine store in Wegmans' newest location in Columbia heralds the next looming battle in consumers' fight to modernize Maryland's alcohol policy. The recent Howard County liquor board hearing demonstrated the intensity of both sides' arguments. The local retailers, backed by the alcohol distributors, fear increased competition — while consumer groups clamor for greater convenience and selection, and lower prices. The alcohol industry in Maryland has traditionally dictated its own regulations.

A New York company that makes vanilla rugelach sold in Maryland stores is recalling the product because it contains undeclared eggs, which may cause a life-threatening illness if consumed by anyone with an allergy or severe sensitivity to eggs. Bloch's Best Inc., doing business as Laromme of Monsey, N.Y., is pulling its Laromme brand vanilla rugelach because the 14-oz. round containers do not list eggs among the ingredients. The product was distributed in stores in Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey, according to the release posted on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website.

John Minutella rushed through the doors of Ace Hardware in Waverly on Friday evening, his shirt dampened with sweat and face flushed red. "Please tell me you have batteries and flashlights," he pleaded to anyone who would listen. "Please tell me yes. " The response: blank stares. Then a salesman, Anthony Williams, spoke up, looking toward an empty shelf. "I can tell you where they used to be. " As people crowded stores across the Baltimore region looking for storm necessities in preparation for Hurricane Irene, the demand for batteries reached a fever pitch and seemed to outpace the clamoring for bread and bottled water.

At least 3,700 record stores have closed around the country since 2003, according to market research firm Almighty Music Marketing. Illegal file-sharing, MySpace, band camp, social media outlets, and the overall digitalization of the music industry have displaced the traditional record store as the place where Americans get their music. To remind people of the stores' continued relevance and importance, a few music fans conceived Record Store Day about five years ago. It will be celebrated again Saturday at some 700 independent record stores around the country, including 20 stores in Maryland, according to the "holiday's" official website.

In a move that could signal the end of the Superfresh grocery store franchise in Maryland, the chain's parent company, which operates more than two dozen stores in the state, said Wednesday it wants to sell most of its local outlets as part of a plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. of Montvale, N.J., said it plans to seek bankruptcy court approval to sell 22 stores in Maryland, two stores in Delaware and one in Washington.The sales, if approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, are expected to be completed by mid-June, the company said.

Ames Department Stores Inc. said yesterday that it will close 10 of its 35 stores in Maryland at a cost of 620 jobs, as part of a bankruptcy reorganization that has cut the size of the embattled discounter in half.The Rocky Hill, Conn.-based company said the Maryland closings were part of a new round of cuts that will shutter 60 of the 369 Ames stores that remain after a series of earlier closings. The company will also close its three remaining freestanding crafts stores.Five of the 10 Maryland stores to be closed next spring are in the Baltimore area: in Odenton, Annapolis, Hampstead, Westminster and Reisterstown Road Plaza.

Shoppers Food & Pharmacy will close two unprofitable stores in Maryland on Friday. The stores to be closed are at 11120 Reisterstown Road in Owings Mills and 2430 Broad Ave. in Timonium. The grocery chain is also closing three stores in Virginia. The closings come shortly after SuperFresh, whose parent company is operating under bankruptcy, also closed stores in Maryland. "Given the competitive markets we operate in, and today's difficult economic environment, it is occasionally necessary to close those stores that are not profitable," Shoppers said in a statement.