Business

In a world where stress can dominate daily life, a small business focused only on playing games can take on an important role, giving people a chance to escape and relax. “The idea was to create a space where not only they could buy games that they play, but also play the games in the store so that they could build a community,” said Richard Hubley, owner of the store Play More Games in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Atlas Restaurant Group is expanding its presence in Annapolis once again. The Baltimore group has signed a lease at 142 Dock St. in downtown Annapolis, the group announced Thursday afternoon. The space will add to its growing list of Annapolis spots, which includes Choptank and two restaurants joining the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel.

After two days of meetings of North America’s largest longshoremen’s union amid an impasse with port ownership on a new contract, concerns of a strike are growing amongst those in the business and logistics community. A strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association, which moves the trade at the ports along the East Coast, Gulf Coast and Puerto Rico, would impact 43% of all U.S. imports and billions of dollars in trade monthly.

The Port of Baltimore could be headed for its second partial shutdown this year. A six-year contract between a dockworkers’ union and shipping companies expires at the end of this month, and labor leaders say they are closer than ever to their first strike in nearly 50 years. Such an action would affect ports along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, upend the global supply chain and put thousands of Baltimore-area residents out of work.

Retail real estate company Centennial said Wednesday it has finalized its deal to purchase the Annapolis Mall in Anne Arundel County. The Texas company is partnering with Sandeep Mathrani, founder of Atlas Hill RE and vice chairman of Brookfield Properties, to acquire the shopping mall. Terms of the sale were not released.

Look out Royal Farms. Step aside Highs and Wawa. There’s a new gas and convenience chain coming to Baltimore County. Sheetz plans to open Thursday in Middle River, its first location in the county as the Altoona, Pennsylvania-based chain continues its expansion throughout the mid-Atlantic. Before now, its closest stores to Baltimore, the longtime home of Royal Farms, were in Joppatowne and Westminster.

Limbach Holdings, Inc., a building systems solutions firm that partners with building owners and facilities managers who have mission critical mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure, Tuesday announced it has acquired Laurel-based Kent Island Mechanical LLC for $15 million. Serving the greater Washington area, KIM is a service provider to facility owners who require solutions for maintaining complex building systems.