Category Archives: Retail

December 29, 2011 · 10:00 am

Barnes and Noble Closing Down This Weekend

Georgetown’s Barnes and Noble will close for good after New Year’s Eve. So stop by for your last chance to linger in the aisles. When GM visited last weekend, there were still plenty of books on the shelves:

This closing will be a huge hit to the neighborhood. While we’ll continue to have the superb Bridge Street Books and the interesting Lantern Books (and the mysterious used book store on 33rd St. that GM has never visited) the Barnes and Noble was the department store to Bridge Street Books boutique. You need both around. Continue reading →

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December 2, 2011 · 10:00 am

What Would You Like to See Open?

Tuesday night, GM moderated a discussion for the Citizens Association of Georgetown on the topic of the retail district of Georgetown, and in particular Wisconsin Ave. A lot of time was spent talking about what people would like to disappear in Georgetown, but only a little time was spent on what people would like to see come in.

There is a school of thought that says you should just accept what is as what is, and not try to change things (frequent commentor RNM is a big fan of this approach). And to a large extent, this is true. But it is not entirely and always true. As described Monday night, residents of the Logan Circle area lobbied Fresh Fields heavily to move into the location at 14th and P (Fresh Fields was eventually bought out by Whole Foods). Fresh Fields didn’t think that location would work, but was convinced after the residents’ campaign. Now it’s one of the most profitable locations in the chain. Continue reading →

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November 18, 2011 · 10:00 am

Nike Store Reportedly to Take Over Barnes and Noble Building

This info has bounced around a little in the comments section, but GM realized it’s probably worth its own post: GM has is on good authority that Nike is taking over the Barnes and Noble building once the book store moves out at the end of the year.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. GM’s not happy about it either. Do we really need a gigantic store for sneakers? Well, it seems that a lot of athletic goods providers are betting on Georgetown being a new sports gear hub. Just a few years ago, the only place to pick up new running shoes was Georgetown Running Co. and maybe Sports Zone.

Over the last few years, Georgetown’s added a Lululemon, a CitySports, and is about to add an Athleta. Add Nike to that (plus the four bike stores) and you can get pretty much any athletic gear you need.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. GM would rather have the Barnes and Noble too…

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November 11, 2011 · 10:00 am

GBA Holds Forum on Economic Development

Wednesday night the Georgetown Business Association held a forum on economic development in Georgetown. It’s a topic that is much on the minds of business owners and residents alike.

The panel included representatives from across the Georgetown business spectrum and also Councilmembers Jack Evans and Vincent Orange. When asked what the city can do for Georgetown, Evans highlighted three things: keeping crime low, transportation, and taxes. Typically when Evans talks about taxes, he talks about keeping income taxes low in order to attract and keep high income residents, but on this occasion he focused on the effect of higher taxes on small businesses. He stated that 25-30% of the new top income tax rate for DC will hit small businesses (for what it’s worth GM’s never heard that stat before, and it doesn’t sound quite right to him).

Vincent Orange emphasized a DC law that requires DC agencies to spend 50% of their procurement budget on small businesses. He stated that right now 31 agencies are out of compliance. Orange also highlighted the DC Streetscape Relief Fund, which offers interest free loans to businesses affected by disruptive street construction, like that seen on H St. NE. Good initiatives both of them, but they’re not really going to help out Georgetown small retail shops much (although Karen Ohri of Georgetown Flooring pointed out that a lot of their business is for institutional clients, so stores like hers could benefit from the procurement law). Continue reading →

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October 28, 2011 · 10:00 am

Scheele’s Future Looking Bright

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

The other day, Malcolm Peabody, the leader of the Save Scheele’s, sent out this update to supporters of the effort, updating the group on the future prospects of the corner store:

We are pleased to report that the new owner of the building, Jordan O’Neill, would like to keep the store and offer a new lease.  Contrary to what you may have heard, the Lee’s have no present plans to leave the store and are considering the offer of a new lease if it can be worked out.  Marilyn Melkonian, Peter Jost and I are assisting in the process to ensure that a grocery store remains on the premises for the coming years, preferably with the Lee’s as lessors.

Assuring the continuity of the store will require financial assistance from the community and we are working with both parties to achieve an acceptable solution, hopefully within the next few weeks, which we will report to you when sealed.

So while it’s not a done-done deal, it’s looking pretty bright that Scheele’s market will keep serving Georgetown for many years to come.

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October 6, 2011 · 10:00 am

What the Demise of the Mall Means to Georgetown’s Retail Landscape

The Georgetown Park mall has been a depressing place to visit for a long while now. And if it’s possible, it’s getting even more depressing as Vornado, the new operator of the mall, is summarily kicking out long standing tenants like the Hattery, seen above.

GM’s heard many rumors of what Vornado plans to do with the space once it kicks out every last one of the tenants. But none of the rumors have been substantiated. Both CAG and the Georgetown Park condominium association have reached out to Vornado and received no information.

Most of the rumors revolved around several large anchor stores. And it’s GM’s prediction that Vornado is much more interested in a building with a couple large tenants than a bunch of small ones. And the callous manner that they have been kicking out the tenants, giving them notice measured in weeks not months, would tend to support that prediction.

But if it is indeed the case that the mall will become just a couple big box stores shoehorned into a city, what does that mean for the retail landscape of the neighborhood?

GM can’t say for sure, but he can tell you what the numbers might look like. Every year GM takes a survey of every single store in the neighborhood. Last February he counted 530 stores (“store” for this purpose means retail, restaurants, salons, etc. Pretty much everything commercial except office space.) Continue reading →

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August 19, 2011 · 10:00 am

Washington Post Writes Yet Another “Is Georgetown Dead?” Article

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Every six months of so, it seems some news outlet rolls out another “is Georgetown is dead?” story. This week it was the Washington Post’s turn.

Inspired by the genuinely sad story of the closing of Furin’s, the Post ponders:

Is Furin’s merely an example of the normal business cycle of Georgetown, or a sign of larger problems to come? Do mom-and-pop shops have a place in the neighborhood or are national chains destined to take it over?

In fairness to the Post, they do present a slightly more nuanced picture of the neighborhood than many “Georgetown is doomed to mall stores” articles. They quote John Hays, owner of Phoenix, who argues that changes come and go. In the end, the Post concludes that there has in fact been a reduction in independent shops, and that that is a result of high rents:

Nancy Itteilag, the real estate agent who sold Furin’s, said rents on M and Wisconsin can range from $30 to $70 per square foot, a cost that she and Hamilton think puts pressure on existing independent businesses and can be intimidating and prohibitive for small-business owners looking to set up shop. (Being a chain doesn’t guarantee success, either; American Eagle Outfitters and Reiss are two recent casualties.)

What the Post doesn’t mention is that the vast majority of business in Georgetown are still independently owned. Yes, there’s less independent retail than there was 20 years ago. And the retail, whether independent or chain, is less resident-oriented. But that’s a trend common to many commercial districts. You can blame the Internet for that, among other uncontrollable forces. Continue reading →

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May 20, 2011 · 10:00 am

Z-Burger May Be Coming To Georgetown

GM heard a an interesting rumor the other day. Apparently, Z-Burger is planning on moving in to Georgetown. He tried to confirm, but didn’t hear back. Nonetheless, the rumor sounded pretty reliable so GM is passing it on.

Z-Burger is a DC-based burger joint with two locations on Wisconsin Ave. (one in Glover Park, the other in Tenleytown). The Georgetown location would also be on Wisconsin, according to what GM heard. It would takeover the space currently housing Aashik at 1424 Wisconsin Ave.

If this turns out to be true, it would be emblematic of two changes creeping through the neighborhood. The first is obvious: we’ve got a lot of burger joints. Five Guys replaced Au Pied Cochon about 5 years ago, News Cafe turned into Thunder Burger, Bill’s Burgers is supposed to take over the old Cheesesteak Factory, and of course we’ve got old standbys like Wingos. Continue reading →

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March 18, 2011 · 10:00 am

Help GM Catalog the Worst Signs in the Neighborhood

Right now, GM is working on an effort in behalf of CAG to address some of the poor signage in the neighborhood. You may not realize it, but every single sign in Georgetown needs a permit. Depending on how long that sign is up, that permit needs to be approved by either the D.C. Historic Preservation Office (for signs up 30 days or less) or the Old Georgetown Board (for signs up 30 days or more).

In practice, this is a rule observed mostly in the breach. While most significant store signs do go through the proper approval process, most of the cheap and (frankly) ugly signs like the ones above don’t. So to address the proliferation of non-permitted signs, CAG is working with the BID and other to educate the storekeepers about the rules (see this circular) and to catalog the worst offenders for reporting to the Historical Preservation Office. Continue reading →

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February 9, 2011 · 10:00 am

Georgetown Becoming A Little Less Like a Typical Mall

Photo by Knowsphotos.

Recently GM sat down to compile some of the new stores that are planning on opening up in Georgetown in the near future and a realization occurred to him. Georgetown is in the midst of a shift in terms of the retail mix.

What does that mean? Well consider the chain stores that have closed in Georgetown over the past two years, or so:

  • RRL
  • Chico’s
  • Pottery Barn
  • Smith & Hawken
  • Talbot’s
  • American Eagle
  • Banolino
  • Puma
  • Ed Hardy (thankfully it looks like the second coming of this store also closed recently)

They’re all perfectly fine, average stores you could find in just about any mall in the country (RRL was perhaps a slight exception to that; there are only five of those in the country).

What has moved in over that same period of time, however, has been decidedly less common. Some, but not all, offer “higher end” goods. But in almost every case, they are stores that you can’t find in Anytown, USA’s mall: Continue reading →

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