The Georgetowner is reporting some fantastic news this week. The owners of Dent Place Market are in negotiations to revive Sara’s Market. The historic market (which has been open since 1919) closed this summer when the most recent market operator, Girma Hailu, decided to close the doors.
But GM kept up hope that it could be revived since the building was still owned by Andy and Suk Yang Johnson, who ran the shop themselves for many years. Hailu was actually the third operator to take over the space since the Johnson’s stepped back in 2011. With luck there would be a fourth.
And it looks like that is in the cards. Sara’s Market is a treasured part of life in east Georgetown. GM used to stop by practically every night when he lived on that side of the neighborhood. But Dent Place Market doesn’t try to be what Sara’s Market was, namely a small version of a full size grocery store. It’s more like a small version of the dry goods side of Dean and Deluca. And maybe that’s a better fit for the neighborhood. When he closed Sara’s, Hailu complained that Georgetowners rely so much on grocery delivery services that a corner market like Sara’s lost too much business. Dent Place Market is–for lack of a less trendy word–more of a curated experience. People like that.
So keep your fingers crossed this comes through…
And in related news, the Georgetowner also reported that Streets Market is opening a small grocery store in the old 7-11 on P St. This will be a good test of the very thing GM was just talking about! Can a small grocery store survive these days? We’ll see…
The Georgetown Metropolitan 