2008 Woodie Awards
Potomac Video's closing likely due to high rent costs
Erich Wagner
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: News
When students returned to the university after spring break, they discovered the movie rental store closest to the campus had unceremoniously closed down.
Potomac Video is the second business in the past year, following in the footsteps of Wawa, to clear out of the College Park Shopping Center.
Theresa Vivona, the spokeswoman for landlords JGB Rosenfeld Retail, said the video store had chosen not to renew their lease for the property.
Although the management of Potomac Video did not return phone calls, Chris Warren, the economic development coordinator for the city of College Park, said the reason for leaving probably stemmed from the high cost of rent.
"I know they had been negotiating with JGB Rosenfeld, but the rent was probably just too high," Warren said. "But they still want to be in the area."
Warren stressed that Potomac Video's landlord was not among those he thinks gouge tenants and cause high turnover rates for businesses.
In fact, a sign posted on the door of the vacant storefront indicated that Potomac Video was still interested in the College Park market and intended to return to the area in the coming months. However, the sign did not indicate where the business would return to.
Although many students said they have never been to Potomac Video, those who did rent movies from the store were disappointed to hear the news.
Senior English major Sydney Otwell said she was sorry to see the store go because it was the only movie store within walking distance of the campus.
Similarly, junior cell biology and molecular genetics major Kurt Lowery thought the prospect of going to a different movie store was inconvenient.
"It's kind of a pain in the butt, because it was a cheap place to get movies," Lowery said. "And it was a mom-and-pop store, not like a Blockbuster or anything like that."
However, other students weren't bothered by the store's closing. Senior family studies major Ashley Rogers said she didn't really care.
"People don't really rent from stores anymore," Rogers said. "Most people I know get movies from Netflix or the Internet."
ewagnerdbk@gmail.com
Potomac Video is the second business in the past year, following in the footsteps of Wawa, to clear out of the College Park Shopping Center.
Theresa Vivona, the spokeswoman for landlords JGB Rosenfeld Retail, said the video store had chosen not to renew their lease for the property.
Although the management of Potomac Video did not return phone calls, Chris Warren, the economic development coordinator for the city of College Park, said the reason for leaving probably stemmed from the high cost of rent.
"I know they had been negotiating with JGB Rosenfeld, but the rent was probably just too high," Warren said. "But they still want to be in the area."
Warren stressed that Potomac Video's landlord was not among those he thinks gouge tenants and cause high turnover rates for businesses.
In fact, a sign posted on the door of the vacant storefront indicated that Potomac Video was still interested in the College Park market and intended to return to the area in the coming months. However, the sign did not indicate where the business would return to.
Although many students said they have never been to Potomac Video, those who did rent movies from the store were disappointed to hear the news.
Senior English major Sydney Otwell said she was sorry to see the store go because it was the only movie store within walking distance of the campus.
Similarly, junior cell biology and molecular genetics major Kurt Lowery thought the prospect of going to a different movie store was inconvenient.
"It's kind of a pain in the butt, because it was a cheap place to get movies," Lowery said. "And it was a mom-and-pop store, not like a Blockbuster or anything like that."
However, other students weren't bothered by the store's closing. Senior family studies major Ashley Rogers said she didn't really care.
"People don't really rent from stores anymore," Rogers said. "Most people I know get movies from Netflix or the Internet."
ewagnerdbk@gmail.com
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