Maybe now it will have a potato chip aisle...

There's a kind of cool shopping center not too far from where I live - The Rotunda. It's cool in concept anyway - a huge old industrial complex that's been converted into a mall and offices. It houses a RiteAid, a Giant supermarket, and some smaller stores, including a Radio Shack.

Unfortunatly, it also has a bunch of empty stores. And the Giant is, well, anything but Giant - it's tiny, and carries way fewer items than most. As my ex-roomate bsom was fond of saying, no real supermarket doesn't have a potato chip aisle. (the Rotunda Giant has all their salty snacks on endcaps).

Now there is talk of a new owner as well as an expansion of the Giant to double it's size, and presumably give it a real potato chip aisle.

I'm always kind of surprised that the mall isn't more successful - it's a good location, between Hampden (popular among hippie arty types as well as working class Baltimore-ites) and Roland Park (popular among wealthy kinda-urban types). In addition to the location, it has plenty of parking, is convinient and in a cool building. But I guess people prefer to shop at a grocery store with a full selection - and there is another (strip) mall, with a much newer SuperFresh and another Rite Aid - just down the block.

Which I guess proves that a potato chip aisle will beat out a historic building every time.