This week for Georgetown Time Machine, I’m taking a dip back into the collection of photos I received that were taken of commercial storefronts in Georgetown in 1993. This particular photo shows the western side of the 1600 block of Wisconsin Ave. And on the right of the picture you will see a shop that was beloved by many long timers: the French Market.
Of course I’m not referring to the annual street fair called the French Market that occurs on this same block. The French Market you see in the photo above was a gourmet food store that opened 1958 and had a deep history, as described by the Post in 1971:
The gourmet market was a mainstay for the Georgetown community (and DC at large) for decades, but eventually all good things must come to an end. In the late 80s, the brothers wanted to retire:
It took the brothers a little bit longer to actually close the shop, which they finally did in 1995. But the same year two of the three brothers turned right around and reopened as a new version of the French Market in a condo in Chevy Chase, MD.
Just a few years later the Post was already writing the shop into legend:
By the time of this article in 2002, the second version of the French Market had already closed. But the brothers still couldn’t give up their butchering ways! They took positions butchering at the Sutton Place Gourmet in McLean, VA. The oldest, Robert, took a position butchering at the Dean and Deluca.
Jean Jacob died in 2010, appropriately enough on Bastille Day. As far as I can tell, the other two brothers are still alive.
As for the old building, by 2000, it was purchased by Cynthia Reed, who ran a small furniture store in the neighborhood for decades. She only passed away two years ago.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
The French Market was one of the places that made Georgetown shopping special, along with Little Caledonia, the Georgetown Candle Shop, Saville Books, Doc Dalinsky’s, Francis Reilly, J. Cinton Tribby, Dorothy Stead, Scan, Martin’s (china and silver), and and on and on. Georgetown was ultimately a victim of its own success, becoming a theme park, rather than a charming neighborhood.