IPO FILING REVEALS WHITE FLINT MALL DAVE AND BUSTER'S STILL PROFITABLE WHEN PLUG WAS PULLED

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 31

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

Dave and Buster's, up until recently a major draw for millennials in White Flint Mall, is going public. An $100 IPO filing by the restaurant/arcade chain gives some insights into the finances of its former White Flint location, before it was forced out by the closing mall's owners last month.

Not surprisingly, profits did decline in 2014, after many restaurant draws and the mall's movie theater were shuttered. Twenty-six week August 2014 revenues for the White Flint location were $5,231,000. In that same period in 2013, D&B grossed $6,384,000.

Even this year, revenue far exceeded depreciation and rent costs ($646,000) for the White Flint D&B outpost. Along with The Cheesecake Factory and the theater, there is no indication that the mall's success would not have continued well into the future, had owners not decided to pull the plug. Not a dying mall until the demolition plan was announced, the retail center was fully-leased less than three years ago, and it was hard to find a parking space near the popular anchor tenants.

Will millennials hit the highways to go to D&B at Arundel Mills Mall? Dave and Buster's corporate office says so in its filing. "With past store closures, we have experienced customer migration to
other stores within the same market," the filing notes.

Explore The Dark Side of White Flint further:

Relive the final hours of Dave and Buster's at White Flint Mall.

Examine the unique architecture and memorabilia of a doomed White Flint auto dealership.

Make a final visit to the legendary Toys R Us.

Go back to the original post that started it all!