This week on not so long ago, GM visits just one small storefront in the upper Wisconsin Ave. stretch. Nowadays it houses Rooms With a View, a homewares shop. Eighteen years ago it housed Hatum Valet.
Hatum Valet was a dry cleaner/cobbler. It appears that at some point Hatum Valet moved up to 1800 Wisconsin and changed its name to Sky Valet (or Sky Shoes). The new shop seems to have become really more of a straight shoe store, whereas Hatum Valet was really more of a shoe repairer.
What’s also interesting about comparing the two shots is just how much ivy has grown on the adjacent buildings since 1993. Actually, the ivy (and Rooms with a View) was already there in 2004, according to this DDOT photo:
That stuff can be murder on siding. GM hopes the owners are checking for leaks!
Anyway, here are the static shots:
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
Sorry, but this draws a complete blank in my mind. This is near where St. Aubin de Paris once was doing business, with Mme. Paul at the helm. Her daughter Mimi was a famous ballerina. But this particular building……nothing registers.
Also, Appalachian Spring, the great American crafts store, started near here, but not in this building.
And across the street was the famous French Market.
Since the demise of Bredice Bros. on 35th St, Sky Valet is by far the best shoe repair place in town.
It’s also the site of regular trunk shows by English shoemakers.
So not exactly a straight shoe store.
Pingback: Not So Long Ago: Wisconsin and S | The Georgetown Metropolitan
Pingback: Georgetown Time Machine | The Georgetown Metropolitan