Retail Outlets

Stores in outlet centers owned by Baltimore-based Prime Retail Inc. saw their sales rise 4.08 percent during the holiday season, the company said yesterday.Customer traffic at the company's 50 outlet centers nationwide also increased -- by 4.77 percent -- for the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas.Prime Retail, the world's largest developer, owner and manager of outlet centers, based its results on a preliminary sampling of sales reported by about 500 merchants in all categories."Several factors, including a growing consumer emphasis on value, the great variety and large selection of brand-name merchandise available and an additional shopping day, helped achieve these increases," said William H. Carpenter Jr., president and chief operating officer for the real estate investment trust.

Debbie Fieldhouse and her Ellicott City neighbors seemingly succeeded in scaring off a developer who wanted to build a shopping center in their residential neighborhood.Now, they are confronting another.Last night, Fieldhouse, president of the Mount Hebron/Orchards Community Association, and about 60 other Ellicott City residents gathered at Mount Hebron Presbyterian Church to meet with representatives of a developer who wants to build offices and possibly some retail outlets on 2 acres across from Hollifield Station Elementary School.

Stores in outlet centers owned by Baltimore-based Prime Retail Inc. saw their sales rise 4.08 percent during the holiday season, the company said yesterday.Customer traffic at the company's 50 outlet centers nationwide also increased -- by 4.77 percent -- for the period from Thanksgiving to Christmas.Prime Retail, the world's largest developer, owner and manager of outlet centers, based its results on a preliminary sampling of sales reported by about 500 merchants in all categories.``Several factors, including a growing consumer emphasis on value, the great variety and large selection of brand-name merchandise available and an additional shopping day, helped achieve these increases,'' said William H. Carpenter Jr., president and chief operating officer for the real estate investment trust.

It's "always Coca-Cola" that shoppers will find in the vending machines at outlet centers owned by Baltimore-based Prime Retail Inc., under an alliance announced yesterday.The agreement gives Coca-Cola USA exclusive rights to put vending machines in each of Prime's 50 outlet centers in 26 states. In return, Prime -- the world's largest owner and operator of outlet centers -- gets a cut of the soft-drink sales.Both companies said they view the partnership as a brand-building tool."Prime Retail has at its disposal 50 shopping venues that are very popular with our core consumers," said Diana Garza, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola USA in Atlanta.

Not many of us can resist a really great sale. So now, when garden centers are holding their biggest sales of the year on everything from grass seed to birdbaths, it's hard not to rush right in, cash -- or more likely, credit card -- in hand.The best buys (at least they seem like the best buys) are usually on the "perishables": greenhouse plants and nursery stock. They are priced to sell, true. But are they something you should be buying in the middle of August? Gardeners are going to have to weigh the thrill of a bargain against other considerations, like the health of the stock and the hassles of planting in hot weather.

A roundup of new products and servicesCritter GiftsThe gift-giving portion of the holidays is over and every member of your family is happy. Everyone except Dave the dog and Carl the cat, that is. You forgot to buy presents for your most faithful companions! Well, here's some help in getting back in their good graces. Reader's Digest Books has two new guides to pet pampering: "Gifts for Your Cat" and "Gifts for Your Dog." We're talking homemade presents here, items like a castle facade for a doghouse.

BJ's Wholesale Club and Hechinger Home Project Center -- linchpins of the developing Snowden Square center -- will probably receive building permits within 45 days and open in spring 1993, according to The Rouse Co.Jerry Brock, senior development director for Rouse, outlined the developments on the retail and warehouse project for the Owen Brown village board Tuesday night. The center is being developed on 65 acres south of Snowden River Parkway, the site of the former General Electric Appliance Park.

Representatives of the Price Co. of San Diego, operators of discount retail outlets known as Price Clubs, have notified Baltimore officials that they want to cancel their proposed acquisition of a 38-acre parcel within the former Baltimore Colts training camp property in Owings Mills.Shirley Summers, special projects coordinator for Baltimore's real estate office, said the city received notice last week that Price officials did not want to proceed with a previous ly negotiated agreement that would enable them to buy the property, which is off the 11000 block of Bonita Avenue.

A year ago, new federal regulations were issued that prohibit the dumping of almost anything -- plastic, paper, food, metal and glass -- into U.S. waters. The cost for violating the law includes a civil penalty of up to $25,000, a fine of up to $50,000 and a maximum of five years in prison.Regulations also require skippers of recreationalboats 26 feet and larger to prominently display a 9- by 4-inch anti-pollution placard. Over the past year, thousands of boaters have obtained the placard, but many others are still unaware of the requirement.

HELP 'SAVE OUR SEAS'A year ago, new federal regulations were issued that prohibit the dumping of almost anything -- plastic, paper, food, metal and glass -- into U.S. waters. The cost for violating the law includes a civil penalty of up to $25,000, a fine of up to $50,000 and a maximum of five years in prison.Regulations also require skippers of recreational boats 26 feet and larger to prominently display a 9- by 4-inch anti-pollution placard. Over the past year, thousands of boaters have obtained the placard, but many others are still unaware of the requirement.

By choosing to build a new arena on the west side of downtown, Baltimore is placing a $300 million bet on an area that has long struggled to come to life. One problem has been 1st Mariner Arena itself, a 46-year-old albatross with only one entrance and no street-level retail outlets - a hulk that stifles the blocks around it. Proponents of a new downtown arena call the project a shot in the arm for the west side, while critics said yesterday that a mega-project is a bad fit for that area.

The Carroll County commissioners have approved an ordinance that allows developers to have second-floor apartments above shopping center retail outlets. The ordinance, approved Thursday, limits the mixing of residential and retail uses to shopping centers with two stories. Each apartment must be on the upper level and between 600 and 1,000 square feet in size.

Officially, the calendar still declares it summertime. But this weekend, fall has arrived -- in stores, at least. It's Labor Day weekend, and that means it's time to shop for a new fall wardrobe. The prospect is thrilling for some and daunting for others. A new fall wardrobe might amount to great outfits and accessories, but it could also mean sucking the fresh-from-summer-vacation bank account dry. It doesn't have to be that way, fashion experts say. Fall shopping on a budget is not an oxymoron.

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. plans to shrink its network of U.S. dealerships because it's selling fewer vehicles and wants to reduce competition among Ford outlets. "We have more dealers than we can support profitably," spokesman Jim Cain said yesterday. "Our dealers have said increasing dealer profitability is the No. 1 issue they want us to focus on." Most of the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury retail outlets that would be eliminated are in metropolitan areas, Cain said. The reduction would be "strictly voluntary," Cain said, declining to give details.

The fragrance of roasting sesame seeds wafts from a corner of the cavernous Rhee Bros. warehouse in Columbia. Mini-forklift trucks zip past pallets stacked high with crates of ramen, soy sauce, hot pepper paste, tea, pickled vegetables, salted jellyfish, soft drinks and rice. In a second warehouse nearby, a kitchen crew trims mounds of radishes, napa cabbage and scallions in preparation for making kimchi, the pungent Korean staple. The bustling warehouse tableaux speak volumes about the changing face of America - and its evolving palate.

What do you do to mark the 10th anniversary of the all-time biggest-selling debut album by a female solo artist? If you're Alanis Morissette, you do it again. The singer-songwriter will celebrate the 1995 release of Jagged Little Pill by recording an acoustic version of the record, which made the then-21-year-old Canadian artist a pop sensation with such emotionally candid hits as "You Oughta Know" and "All I Really Want." The album has sold 14 million copies in the United States and brought Morissette four Grammy awards, including album of the year.

Whipsawed by volatile oil prices, bogged down by debt and unable to sell off its two modest refineries, Crown Central Petroleum Corp. had no choice but to put the entire company on the auction block, industry analysts said yesterday. But it won't be easy because Crown's refineries are too small and need tens of millions of dollars in upgrades, the analysts said. Further, many of the company's 315 retail outlets need a face lift. Compounding a difficult situation is the possibility of war with Iraq, which could spark volatility in the oil market and turn potential suitors into corporate tire-kickers.

Like the moon (and sometimes seemingly as often), styles wax and wane. The '90s saw a surge of minimalism -- stark lines, neutral colors -- in reaction to the baroque and ball-fringe era of the '80s. Country style -- checked gingham and crowds of collectibles -- has given way to cottage style: relaxed upholstered furniture, simple natural fabrics. So alert trend watchers should take note: Excess is creeping back into the design domain. But, unlike the '80s, this time it's mostly in small doses.

The state Motor Vehicle Administration said yesterday that it will begin an investigation into General Motors Corp.'s recent purchase of five new-car dealerships in the Baltimore area. As part of what it called a "reconstruction project," GM acquired the dealerships and has partnered with two Houston auto dealers who will operate the stores and, eventually, plan to buy out the factory. Charles D. Schaub, manager of business licensing at the MVA, said yesterday that he wants to make certain that the transaction is not a violation of a Maryland law that prohibits auto manufacturers from owning retail outlets.

Farmers raise food. People buy food -- but not usually from the farmer. Creating more retail outlets for local farmers is a major goal in Carroll County's strategic plan for agricultural economic development, a 17-page document released last week and sought by the county commissioners as part of a long-range plan to boost Carroll's farm industry. "Most of the time, farmers buy retail and sell wholesale," said Gabrield Zepp, who was hired a year ago to develop agricultural marketing in Carroll County.