Photo by Byron Peebles.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- The final piece of the Georgetown Waterfront Park opened last night. Check out some pics from William Newton. Looks like the water feature is going to be awfully popular with kids.
- Good news for Georgetown seniors.
- GM heard some rumors about the mall: Target is pulling out, and now Vornado is targeting Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom’s, and/or Jeffrey’s. GM’s not really a department store shopper, so he would much prefer Target, but the department stores are more consistent with the neighborhood’s shops.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
Jeffrey, a luxury staple of the downtown NY fashion scene, is comparable to Intermix but with more range. They have an outpost in Atlanta. Their website is http://www.jeffreynewyork.com/. Nordstorm and Lord & Taylor, of course, are more mainstream, middle of the road, comparable to Bloomingdales.
As much as I would love a Nordstrom – I would really like to see the building open up to the canal, bring some light in and connect the building with the neighborhood.
I’d also love an Eataly (either in the old B&N or in the mall) – or perhaps even a second outpost of Mario Batali’s dad’s place Salumi – http://www.salumicuredmeats.com/
…or Chelsea Market.
I do hope Target does not pull out or is just working leverage. It would be a boon for this community offering a wide range of reasonably priced goods as opposed to much of the over priced items out there now. Plus given the large number of students who live among us (and I was one once) it would be useful to have a place to shop for those household goods. There used to be shops in Georgetown where one could buy these things. And if the topical run on Target stores around the nation for their recently released and rapidly sold out fashion line is any testament…the real people in the real world seem to think Target does something right. Target would make Georgetown a much more liveable community than either of the other options. Oh, well, just get back in my car and head to Potomac Yard…again.
the fountain now has a plastic mat over the stone and is flanked by those planters. why is that? i don’t recall that being part of the plan. is there something wrong with the way it drains? is it too slippery?
For a current profile of Steve Roth, the head of Vornado, check out:
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/articles/steve_roth_the_pit_boss_behind_the_filenes_crater/
I’ll let people draw whatever conclusions they want about how quickly Vornado will move on Georgetown Park after reading the profile.
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Adam, the matting is down because of disability act requirements. It is intended to be temporary, but it is not clear how long it will remain until there is a permanent fix designed, and its not because the stone paving is slippery. And I’m sure once the fountains are turned off for the winter, it will be taken up.
Years ago, “Saturday Night Live” used to do a skit about a crazed fashionista (played by Will Ferrell) who worked at a clothing store and who used to abuse all of the customers. That was inspired by Jeffrey’s (and in fact showed a picture of Jeffrey’s NYC facade before each skit ran). Having been to the Jeffrey’s in NYC on 14th Street, the spoof was pretty much spot on target.
I second Carol J’s suggestion to turn the Georgetown Mall into a version of NYC’s Chelsea Market with a combination of independently-owned food shops, restaurants and retailers. I bet most of the stores in the Chelsea Market (such as Eleni’s Cookies and Fat Witch Bakery) would jump at the chance to open in Georgetown.