A Best Buy electronics store will be opening in northern College Park on Sept. 10, moving into a space in the College Park Marketplace shopping center between Shoppers Food Warehouse and The Home Depot.
Best Buy had been looking for a space in the College Park area for several years, according to officials at NAI Michael, the Lanham-based firm that owns the shopping center at Route 1 and Cherry Hill Road, and found room when the Linens ‘n Things chain went out of business and vacated the spot.
Other companies were interested in moving into that space, Michael Isen, an NAI Michael vice president, said, but his firm decided Best Buy was the best fit for the shopping center.
It will “provide the students with an opportunity to shop at a first class retailer” without having to drive all the way to Laurel or Washington, Isen said.
“We started negotiations with [Best Buy] almost immediately when we found out that Linens ‘n Things was going out of business,” he said.
Marcus Afzali, a College Park District 4 College Park City Councilman whose district will include the new Best Buy, agreed it seemed like a good fit for the area.
“Having a store with a proven track record is obviously a positive,” he said, adding he hoped to see a boost in city tax revenue when a new store takes over a large empty swath of retail space.
Kevin McGrath, the new Best Buy’s general manager, said he looks forward to working with all area residents, but hopes the university will represent a good chunk of the store’s customer base.
It will market to students and possibly man a booth at the university’s First Look Fair, he said, and some of its employees will be students.
“It’s such a great opportunity with the University of Maryland 1.2 miles away,” McGrath said. “Giving back to the community is going to be big.”
Senior criminal justice major Javiera Caceres said the new Best Buy will be a positive thing for students, and she is not deterred by its distance from the campus, especially considering that College Park Marketplace is accessible by Shuttle-UM.
“If people can make the trip to Shoppers, they can make the trip to Best Buy,” she said.
Computer science and economics major Chris Ellepola said that while he expects students will patronize Best Buy, it won’t be a game-changer for the area electronics market.
“I don’t think it’ll make that big of a difference,” he said, “It’ll just be another place to go get stuff for your apartment … I get all that stuff online.”
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