Yesterday, Michael Neibauer of WBJ listed, as he often does, recent building permits of note. In what was an apparently winking bit of contrasting that he mentioned these two items together:
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949 H St. NW: Construction of a new high-end retail clothing store, Loro Piana, at CityCenterDC. The Italian clothing company was established in 1924. Its handmade coat for men runs $36,975. But if you’re shopping there, you probably don’t care about prices.
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3222 M St. NW: And now for the complete opposite of Loro Piana, we turn to Georgetown Park, where renovations will clear the way for a 20,000-square-foot Forever 21 on the M Street level. We first reported the addition of Forever 21in March.
In other words: whereas Georgetown is getting another discount clothing retailer, the as-of-not-even-open CityCenter is lining up yet another glitzy retailer.
This leads to a lot of questions, some GM can’t answer:
- Is Georgetown losing its distinction as the high end retail district for DC?
Sort of. If you only count the District proper, then yes, before the rise of CityCenter, Georgetown was about it when it came to high end retailing. But Friendship Heights (particularly west of Western Ave.) and Tyson’s Corner have had more expensive stores than Georgetown for a while. Arguably CityCenter is much more of a mortal threat to those neighborhoods’ than Georgetown.
Nonetheless, to the extent that a high end retailer is looking to open in the District (in order to snag all that new disposable money we apparently have) they probably aren’t considering Georgetown first.
- Isn’t that actually good for Georgetown in the long run?
Possibly. Georgetown is at its best when it can offer a varied retail experience, with some high end driving the cachet, but plenty of cheaper options to actually fill your closet, not to mention plenty of non-clothing goods. Drags like Rodeo Drive are fun to visit, but who wants to live next to that?
But Georgetown nonetheless risks getting stuck in between. We still face an onslaught of generic chains (like Forever 21) without the exclusivity of stores like Tiffany. Not getting Loro Piana won’t bring back Furin’s.
Ultimately GM thinks it will balance out in Georgetown’s favor, but long term trends may bear out less well.
- Come on, Georgetown still has plenty of pricey retail, this is making a mountain out of a molehill.
Probably. Georgetown still has plenty of high end-if not eye-popping-stores like Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Design Within Reach, Waterworks, etc. It still can attract wealthy customers, even if it looks like it’s losing out the foreign money bonanza that CityCenter is aiming at.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
I think it’s more a function of City Center having a lot of big empty spaces available for a large concentration of high- to ultra-high-end fashion. More of a competition with Friendship Heights (Tiffany, Jimmy Choo, Nordstrom, etc.) than with Georgetown. Georgetown still has a fair number of boutique fashion spots, but the competition there is more with U Street, Adams Morgan, eventually 14th and H Streets, than it is with City Center.
Also, while City Center itself is pulling ultra-luxe spots, that’s not necessarily reflecting on downtown as a whole, which has is a massive Forever 21 (and an equally large H&M) a couple blocks directly south of City Center.
Also, just a small nitpick, depending on how you count it, City Center should probably be considered “open,” though not full. The stores and restaurants have been rolling out slowly. Allen Edmonds, Tumi, Hugo Boss, Burberry, and Kate Spade New York have all opened (or are opening soon), with Ferragamo and more on the way. Similarly, DBGB opened last week, and Del Frisco Double Eagle opens on Friday.
In general, I think I’d rather have Georgetown have a mix of retail that ranges from very accessible affordable (TJ Maxx, The Gap) to a mix of national chains and independent specialty shops at a pretty of price points (CB2, Anthropologie, Camper, Frye Boots, Goorin Bros., Dawn Price Baby, Barneys NY). Leave the ultra-high end for downtown.
But that’s just speaking for this guy, who’s never going to be in the market for a $36,000 suit.
I actually think Georgetown’s overall retail mix seems healthier now than it’s been in a long time. Just give me a Politics and Prose, a permanent West Elm, a few more corner cafes or grocery stores off Wisconsin/M and a hardware store, and I’ll be even happier!
The restaurant mix, on the other hand, while showing some signs of life lately, is where there’s a huge need/challenge/growth opportunity.