As Covid-19 continues to shake up the local retail market, one developer is hailing this week's full opening of the first mid-Atlantic location of a chain restaurant as a sign of hope.
Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria opened at The Shops at Kenilworth with outdoor dining and limited indoor seating in its 3,600-square-foot eatery. The celebrated opening of Felipe's comes at the same time another eatery shut down for good inside the mid-size Towson mall anchored by Trader Joe's. The fast-casual Lyfe Cafe shuttered last week, blaming Covid-19 and a lack of small business grant or loan assistance, a June 17 post on the restaurant's Facebook page said. The two events provide a visual synopsis at Kenilworth of how some small retailers and restaurants have struggled since March amid mandatory closures during the novel coronavirus pandemic while others have moved forward. Maryland restaurants have posted waves of layoffs and furloughs and some are just now reopening at 50% capacity indoors with socially distanced seating outdoors.
