Prince George's Makes Sales Pitch For High-End Retail

LAS VEGAS -- Prince George's County has waited decades for high-end retailers, and this day brings no relief. Marc Guth, a representative for the Cheesecake Factory Inc., has agreed to hear the county's sales pitch at a major shopping center convention here, but he is running 10 minutes late, then 15, then 20.

He finally arrives but has no time to sit down.

A rushed County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) hurries into his arguments, promoting "four to five really great opportunities" for an upscale restaurant in Prince George's.

"Sorry," Guth said after a few minutes and no promises. "I have to run."

For retail-starved Prince George's County, it has come to this. Passed over by the same luxury stores and white-tablecloth restaurants that have cropped up in suburbs across the region, county leaders are making an aggressive -- and for Johnson, a personal -- bid for high-end shopping, including a three-day trip to a retail industry trade show here.

It is a frustrating exercise, with the county's highest-ranking official scrambling to win five-minute meetings with restaurant executives and repeating the case for Prince George's in meetings with dozens of brokers and developers who are weighing proposals from throughout the country.

Guth, a location scout for a chain that has placed 92 restaurants in such places as Chevy Chase Pavilion and Beverly Hills' Golden Triangle, met with county leaders at the request of a "friend of a friend," he said, adding that he still does not know much about the area. To successfully lure the chain -- or any other high-end retailer -- Prince George's County will have to best not only the rest of the region but thousands of communities across the country. Guth's meeting schedule for the trade show, crowded with politicians, planners and developers eager to attract the restaurant, was booked solid 30 days ago.

Still, there are signs that momentum is building in Prince George's. Westfield Group, which operates upscale malls in Annapolis and Bethesda, said it is considering building a new center in the county, in what would be a major coup. And representatives for Nordstrom Inc., a luxury department store chain high on the county's wish list, met with the officials at the trade show.

"Prince George's appears to be underserved" by retail, said Katy Dickey, a spokeswoman for Westfield. She said the company is "looking at [the county] closely" for a new shopping center.

The timing is crucial. More than 3 million square feet of new retail are planned for the county, the equivalent of Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria combined. The question, retail brokers and industry experts say, is whether the county can persuade upscale stores and restaurants to fill it.

"That market should not be closed off to us," Johnson said last week as he walked the floor of the International Council of Shopping Centers' annual convention, where mall developers routinely negotiate deals to put retail gems like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue in malls around the country.

At stake is not just dollars, but the county's self-image.