Coffee Shop Boom Resumes

With the opening of Maman, which is directly next to another coffee shop, I think it’s fair to suggest that the coffee shop boom has resumed in Georgetown.

As you can see from the chart I pulled together above, the number of coffee shops in the neighborhood has fluctuated quite a lot over the last ten years. Starting early last decade, the numbers of coffee shops opening in Georgetown seemed to defy all rules of supply and demand. No matter how many opened, they were immediate packed at all hours.

This boom hit a peak right before the pandemic hit. In late 2019 there were 19 coffee shops in Georgetown. And that doesn’t even include every spot in the neighborhood where you might meet someone for coffee. When I do my annual survey I sometimes have to make arbitrary distinctions between, say, Boulangerie Christophe, which I didn’t call a coffee shop, and Saxby’s, which I did. So 19 is on the conservative side.

Well you’ll not be surprised to hear that Covid did a number on coffee shops. By last June we were back down to just 8 shops (and merely 2 Starbucks). But the gloom has cleared, and the boom appears back on. We’re already back up to 11, a 38% increase from last June. And that’s probably not all we’ll see. Rumors of a Tatte bakery coming have bounced around for a while, and if a coffee shop can successfully open right next to another coffee shop, sure more will seek out other corners of the neighborhood.