Towson Town Center

After more than a century outfitting generations of Baltimore's men, women and children with new shoes, retailing institution Hess Shoes will close its remaining 11 stores, the chain said yesterday.N. Hess' Sons Inc. will begin going-out-of-business sales immediately, said Larry Drombetta, president and chief executive officer.Once the sales are completed, Hess will become the latest in a series of Baltimore retailers such as Hutzler Bros., Hochschild Kohn, Stewart's, O'Neil's and Brager-Gutman whose names have disappeared.

Police Blotter is a sampling of crimes in Baltimore and Baltimore County.Southern DistrictBurglary: A 27-inch television, jewelry, appliances, and other property, all valued at more than $600, were stolen Wednesday from a house in the 900 block of Ramsay St.Robbery: A 52-year-old woman was in the 1300 block of S. Carey St. about 8 p.m. Wednesday when a man armed with an unknown weapon robbed her of $10.Western DistrictTheft/arrests: Two men were arrested when...

A 32-year-old Baltimore man who told investigators he is addicted to heroin was charged yesterday with a string of armed robberies at Towson Town Center this month, police said.Michael Lawrence Franklin, who lives in the 5600 block of Northwood Drive, was being held at the county detention center in lieu of $250,000 bond. He was arrested at his house yesterday, said police spokesman Bill Toohey.Franklin is charged with robbing the Watch Station on April 6 and 17; Bostonian Shoes on April 16 and Sunday; Naturalizer Shoes on April 11; and Country Accents on Friday.

Towson Marketplace is about to get a new identity with new stores, a new exterior and even a new name.Yesterday, developer James A. Schlesinger of Florida-based Talisman/Towson Limited Partnership released a $20 million plan for Towson Place, a center of mega stores that will break ground in about 90 days.The plan was revealed months after he was forced to revise his original proposal for an upscale theater-restaurant-retail complex, which neighbors vehemently opposed because of the movies.

A brief in some editions Thursday incorrectly reported the date of a second breakfast with Santa at Towson Town Center. The event, to raise money for the Therapeutic and Recreational Riding Center, will be held Dec. 2.The Sun regrets the error.

The RREEF Funds has completed a $30 million acquisition of the Dulaney Center office complex in Towson, an investment geared to take advantage of the local suburban office market's recovery.The two-building complex and adjacent garage marks the San Francisco-based pension fund adviser's largest investment in the Baltimore metropolitan area since 1986, when the company purchased the Annapolis Mall."It's got a real sense of place," said Stephen L. Grant, a RREEF vice president. "It's very difficult to find those types of investments, even nationally."

All it takes is a brief trip away from Baltimore to make a returning traveler realize how curiously attired this town is.The trip can be as short as an afternoon spent in Rockville or Philadelphia. The mileage doesn't make any difference.We dress in a way that is perceptively different. And that's not a bad idea at all.A few months ago a well intentioned relative of mine insisted that I visit Tyson's Corner, that clothing/mercantile crossroads of the Washington metro area. The confusing parking garages reminded me of Towson Town Center, but the similarity ended there.

Whichever adviser told Bill to avoid televised press conferences was looney. Bill plays the White House press crowd like a fiddle, plucking all the strings.FAO Schwarz, the Fifth Avenue toy emporium, is coming to Towson Town Center for Christmas, further proof that New York is through.

SCRANTON, Pa. -- This city, known for its closed-up coal mines and for its junkyard along the interstate, hopes to become known for something else: Making itself over.As city officials watched yesterday, five furniture stores were sent crashing to the ground in a three-second operation designed to change forever the way this city in northeastern Pennsylvania thinks about itself and does business.The stores, ranging from three to nine stories high, were imploded by a Phoenix, Md., firm to make way for a $101 million shopping mall that is widely seen as a key to the survival of Scranton's ailing downtown.

Designer Dana Buchman will share her philosophy on balancing personal and professional life for today's career woman at Nordstrom in Towson Town Center tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. She will discuss what inspires her to design for these women and tie her talk to a fashion show of her newest dresses and sportswear with a reception to follow. R.S.V.P. by calling (410) 296-2111.

Towson has had steak houses before. I'm thinking of JJ McBride's and Nichi Bei Kai. (Japanese steak houses count, don't they?) But for some reason, no one has opened what I think of as the Restaurant of the Decade: the upscale casual chain American steak house - big, bright and fairly affordable. Until now. Now Towson has Stoney River Legendary Steaks (825 Dulaney Valley Road, 410-583-5250). It's in the new wing of Towson Town Center. If you like the ski lodge look - lots of stone, wood and glass, a beamed ceiling, a large stacked-stone fireplace at its center, leather seats - the 7,600-square-foot restaurant has it all. There's also a large red canoe, a Stoney River trademark.

Remember when upscale shopping in Towson meant a trip to Hutzler's? Well, you can forget those days. On Wednesday, Louis Vuitton opened in what can only be described as the luxury wing of Towson Town Center. The French designer is to leather handbags and accessories what Taittinger is to champagne and beluga sturgeon are to caviar. Think women's wallets for $535 and a man's billfold for $315 - and that's the cheap stuff. When relatively simple handbags cost more than $2,000, you know you're not in Wal-Mart country anymore.

They sit encased in glass or displayed on anigre wood shelves like precious goods. There's the $895 black patent leather clutch with LV monogrammed in gold on the clasp. Then there's the classic dome-shaped purse that is part of the Speedy collection, first made for Audrey Hepburn years ago. And for those who really want to splurge there is the Rider Orange, an orange-colored canvas bag trimmed in leather that has the name of Louis Vuitton stores on it. It costs $1,940. Welcome to the new Louis Vuitton store at Towson Town Center mall.

Workers at White Marsh GM plant return to work About 40 employees in the maintenance, reliability and material teams at the General Motors Powertrain Baltimore Transmission Plant in White Marsh went back to work Monday to prepare the plant for full production on Tuesday. The plant had been shut down since May 8. It was forced to close after bankrupt General Motors temporarily shut down 13 assembly plants, including several served by the White Marsh facility. White Marsh makes transmissions for trucks and SUVs assembled in Texas, Michigan and Mexico.

Rainforest Cafe at Towson Town Center - like too many of the tropical landscapes it was designed to emulate - is no more. Landry's Restaurants Inc. of Houston, parent company of the jungle-themed restaurant chain, announced yesterday that its nine-year-old Towson location closed its doors at the end of business Sunday. Charles Crerand, general manager of Towson Town Center, said in a statement that the mall's owner, General Growth Properties Inc., had acquired the restaurant's space "in an effort to continue the expansion of Towson Town Center's luxury wing."

Clergy must work with new president I was deeply disappointed to hear some of the statements coming from some members of the Roman Catholic clergy in regard to the election of Barack Obama as president. It was disturbing, for instance, to hear that church members who voted for Mr. Obama have put their quest for eternal salvation in jeopardy, as the archbishop of Kansas City said, or that they should confess their sins, as a parish priest in South Carolina demanded ("Catholic voters' shift," Commentary, Nov. 16)

Towson Town Center probably didn't have the best timing yesterday when it unveiled a new luxury wing featuring a Burberry apparel store and plans for Louis Vuitton and Lacoste amid an economy that continues to falter. Shoppers faced with declining stock portfolios, job losses, devalued homes and less access to credit presumably have little room in their budgets for $600 purses and $1,000 coats. Retailers across the country have shut their doors as shoppers spend less. And General Growth Properties, the owner of Towson Town and several other regional malls, has said debt problems exacerbated by the economic climate could force it to sell assets or even the whole company.

Towson-based ViPS Inc., a health software company that was acquired by General Dynamics Information Technology Inc. last month, is keeping its headquarters in Towson and hopes to expand there during coming years as part of the redevelopment of that area, Baltimore County economic development officials said yesterday. The company, which employs 600 people, more than 500 of them in Towson, signed a seven-year lease extension for its offices at 1 W. Pennsylvania Ave. The owner of the office tower, Towson Commons LLC, will receive business retention loans totaling $700,000 - $250,000 from the county's Department of Economic Development and $450,000 from the state's Department of Business and Economic Development.

It's been so long since the Towson stretch of York Road has been a bustling shopping area, you may have forgotten there's anywhere else to shop but Towson Town Center. Not so. True, York Road looks a little like Main Street in Small Town America these days, with many storefronts deserted and boarded up. But if you get out of your car and walk up and down York and its cross streets, you'll find some great stores, many small eating places and more day spas and salons than you can shake a stick at. Why not spend part of an afternoon exploring the Other Towson?

Crossing the traffic circle in the heart of town on foot takes courage. Delaware Avenue, with its patched pavement, looks more like an alley than a road through central Towson. And, according to one expert, the attempts to spruce up the sidewalks along York Road with trees and bricks have just ended up tripping people. "People are walking in Towson because they need to, not because it's pleasant," said Stuart Sirota, founder of TND Planning Group, a Baltimore-based transportation consulting firm.