Towson Town Center

When Sandy Simmons heard about last weekend's fatal shooting at Towson Town Center, she felt chills. The 57-year-old Perry Hall woman was held up at gunpoint almost four years ago in the same parking garage where a respected educator was killed Feb. 18 during a botched robbery. "I hate that parking garage," said Simmons, who says she's still in physical therapy because of injuries sustained in the July 2001 attack. "They need more security people. They need cameras." The addition of surveillance cameras, as it turns out, is among the security changes under consideration by the mall's new owners after the death of St. Paul's School teacher and dean William A. Bassett.

A 17-year-old Baltimore youth who was stabbed at Towson Town Center Friday night died yesterday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, Baltimore County police said. Kevin Taylor of the 1300 block of Walker Ave. in Baltimore died at 6:05 p.m., less than 24 hours after he was stabbed in his side during an argument outside the mall. Charged in the stabbing and being held without bail yesterday was 16-year-old Tamere H. Thornton of the 5200 block of Midwood Ave. in Baltimore. He was arrested hours before Taylor died, and initially was charged with attempted first-degree murder and intent to injure with a deadly weapon, according to charging documents.

Returning with a shopping bag in hand to the parking garage of the Towson Town Center yesterday, Heidi Huber had not heard about the shooting death just the night before, just one level below. But the 30-year-old Baltimore woman knew of two robberies within the past few months at the garage, and that has been enough to make her at least a little nervous about venturing there. "The enclosed parking lot," she said, "lends itself to feeling a little more ominous." The shooting death of William Bassett, the dean of faculty at St. Paul's School in Brooklandville, brought renewed attention to safety issues at one of Baltimore County's retail anchors and prime gathering spots.

The luxury wing of Towson Town Center will get its biggest influx of new or relocated stores since the upscale addition opened nearly four years ago, with cooking shop Sur La Table and resort-wear retailer Lilly Pulitzer among those planning to open by late August. Other tenants unveiled by mall managers on Wednesday include Marbles: The Brain Store —specializing in games, puzzles and books — and L'Occitane —offering fragrances and personal-care products. Both will open in August.

With colorful dishware gleaming and bins stuffed to overflowing with every possible kitchen gadget, Sur La Table opened in Towson Town Center Friday. Music sung by French vocalists played and espresso was flowing as visitors surveyed the new 4,800-square-foot store managed by Anthony Harris. The store, which will employ more than 20 full- and part-time workers, is still hiring, Harris said. Sur La Table began in 1972 in Seattle's Pike Place Market with a philosophy that the kitchen is the center of the home.

The riots this past weekend in Towson should not be a surprise, and the disturbance was not an isolated incident. The weekends in downtown Towson have been a time bomb waiting to explode. The colleges in the Towson area continue to grow with inadequate housing, thus nearly every apartment and condo complex in Towson has college students living in it. Add to this, the daily influx of teens coming in from Baltimore City to hang out at the Towson Town Center, and you get more confrontations and an increase in crime.

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.

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.

Towson Town Center would be expanded to include a large housewares store and up to three new restaurants, all with a "Main Street"-style facade, under a proposal submitted to Baltimore County officials and presented last week to community leaders. The mall would have a new "atrium-style" glass entrance on the west side, facing Dulaney Valley Road, and new shops and eating establishments with their own entrances would be built on what is now a parking lot and the site of a gas station. A county government panel is to decide tomorrow whether the expansion and renovation should be considered a "refinement" to the already-approved development plan at the mall or whether the plan will have to go through a separate review process.

Tonight is Fashion's Night Out, and not only in New York City. Baltimore area shopping destinations are getting in on the fashion world's "shopping extravaganza," a single night that started in New York in 2009 to highlight fashion, restore consumer confidence and give retailers a boost during the recession. Last year, 18 countries participated and 4,500 events were held in the U.S. alone, designer appearances, celebrity guests, fashion shows and musical performances, according to Weinberg Harris & Associates, which represents Towson Town Center.