Port Towns Shopping Center at Colmar Manor

02/13/2020

Introducing Leo & Maria Peña at the Colmar Manor Town Council Meeting, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020
Rufus Lusk III
Partner
Port Towns SC @ Colmar Manor

Good evening, Mayor and Council and Citizens of Colmar Manor.

I’m delighted to be with you tonite to introduce our new grocery store, Compare Foods, and our new grocers, Leo and Maria Peña.

I’ve heard many things said about Compare Foods— they’re an international grocer, an ethnic grocer, a Latino grocer, a New York City grocer, but the bottom line is that they are a damn good grocer and that’s what really matters!

They are damn good because they listen deeply to their customers and provide what their customers really want. It’s a simple recipe which Compare Foods has been very successfully following for 40 years.

The story of Leo Peña is the quintessential American immigrant success story. He came here in 1970 as a refugee from the Dominican Republic, worked in a Puerto Rican Bodega and soon thereafter scraped together the money to buy it, drove a taxi in New York City, and got a degree in business administration at Bernard Baruch College, City University of New York. From there he went on to start the Compare Foods chain which now has over 100 stores. This year it received recognition as the top ethnic grocer in America from the Progressive Grocer, a very respected industry publication.

Leo is joined tonight by his business partner and wife Maria. Together they work tirelessly to provide customers with an amazing grocery shopping experience.

Leo and Maria join our other immigrant tenants at the Port Town Shopping Center — four from Bangladesh and one each from Ethiopia, China, Pakistan, India, Korea, and VietNam. I am very proud of each of them and what they contribute to our center and community.

And so with apologies to Frank Sinatra (and to the tune of “New York, New York”):

Start spreading the news,
They’re coming today,
We’re all a part of it,
The Compare way.

Our food desert blues
Are melting away,
We’re going to make a new start of it,
Compares gonna stay.

For they have made it there;
They’ve made it everywhere;
And now they’re here,
Colmar Manor
Colmar Manor

I’m so glad Leo’s Compare Foods is not just in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Caroline and Florida, but is now in Maryland and Colmar Manor too.
I am delighted to introduce Leo and Maria Peña.

Colmar Manor Town Council Meeting
Feb. 11, 2020

Left to right
Jessica Damen, Port Towns Shopping Center Partner
Colmar Manor Mayor Sadara Barrow
Councilwoman Melinda Mendoza
Rufus Lusk, Port Towns Shopping Center Partner
Councilwoman Lois Ann Blue
Councilwoman Vivian Jackson
Maria & Leo Peña, Compare Foods
*************************

03/14/2019

If we’re mulching in the Rain Garden (storm water bio-retention facility) next to the IHOP, spring must be here!😎

03/02/2019

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/02/opinion/the-supreme-court-and-religious-favoritism.html

The case of a 40-foot cross in Maryland offers the justices a chance to clarify the constitutionality of religious displays.

02/27/2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-balances-history-and-religion-in-deciding-monuments-fate/2019/02/26/24688222-3a0e-11e9-a2cd-307b06d0257b_story.html

Is the Bladensburg Peace Cross unconstitutional or a secular honor to World War I heroes?

02/24/2019

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-supreme-court-has-a-chance-to-clear-up-decades-of-confusion/2019/02/22/2ae74d28-3611-11e9-854a-7a14d7fec96a_story.html

The justices have the chance to undo past confusion over Bladensburg’s Peace Cross with their ruling.

02/02/2019

We were very pleased to host a District 47 Community Leaders Breakfast at the Colmar Manor IHOP this morning organized by Maryland State Senator Malcolm Augustine (District 47) and featuring US Congressman Anthony G. Brown. Over 50 people came and enjoyed good fellowship and important discussions. In IHOP tradition, everyone Came Hungry and Left Happy. Thanks also to Julia and her wonderful IHOP staff.

01/18/2019

Congrats to Landex Corp and Peter Siegel for a fabulous new apartment project Studio 3807 in Brentwood at the corner of 38th & Baltimore Avenues. I toured it the other day and was mightily impressed by what they’ve built and how they’ve integrated local art through the building. A tremendous addition to our community.

4/10ths of a mile from the Port Towns SC @ CM.

https://www.studio3807.com/

FB Studio 3807

Live among artists and art and enrich your life, all within a creatively crafted luxury community uniquely designed to meet the needs of today’s apartment resident. Located in the epicenter of the Gateway Arts District, Studio 3807 provides the epitome of luxury living amid an exciting neighborhoo...

01/08/2019

Delegate Diana Fennell Benefit Event on January 7, 2019 at Colmar Manor IHOP with US Senator Chris Van Hollen as the guest of honor.

01/05/2019

Jan. 5, 2018 Fundraiser for Diana Fennell at Colmar Manor IHOP. Looking forward to this year’s event on Monday, January 7, 2019 at the CM IHOP at 8am with US Senator Chris Van Hollen as the guest of honor and speaker.

01/03/2019

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0103-peace-cross-20190102-story.html

After nearly a century, a Md. memorial to WWI heroes threatened: A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declared last year in a 2 to 1 decision that it is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. If their decision stands, the Peace Cross may fall.

01/03/2019

We are honored to be holding this event for Maryland Delegate Diana Fennell at our PTSC IHOP and very delighted that US Senator Chris Van Hollen will be speaking.

Both Delegate Fennell and Senator Van Hollen have been great supporters, over many years, of our community and its businesses.

Under Delegate Fennell, when she was the mayor of Colmar Manor, the Colmar Manor Town Hall was built, with Congressman Van Hollen assisting with major governmental funding.

12/12/2018

New parking curb stops in front of our in-line stores. Another incremental attractive change, which also makes the center safer.