The Georgetown Metropolitan

3200 block of Volta Pl.

Sure you might want to read a Georgetown Metropolitan article right now, but GM thinks you ought spend that time reading a different article instead. The New York Times published a moving article yesterday about Georgetown University’s effort to track the descendants of 272 slaves that the school sold for financial reasons in 1838. Just read it.

Photo by Mike Procario.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• You can’t buy the Hope Diamond, but you can buy another of Evalyn Walsh McLean’s properties.
• $5000 a month goes a lot less far in Georgetown than other places.

3000 block of M St.

GM finally got around to his annual survey of the stores of Georgetown last weekend, and he’s compiling the results. But just as a preview, he’ll give you the totals for closings and openings.

Last year GM did the survey in late June, so this year’s totals reflect a shorter 10 month time frame. That said, here’s the preliminary results:

Closings

There were 25 closings over the past 10 months. That’s significantly fewer than we saw for last year’s report (51). If we normalize both years to 12 months, we’d have 30 closings for this past year and 41 closings for the year before. So we’re definitely losing stores at a much slower rate than we did last year. But it’s about the same that we saw in 2014 (33). Continue reading →

Photo by Andrew Griffith.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Don’t expect the Circulator expansion up to the Cathedral any time soon.
• Don’t worry that they didn’t pick up your trash this morning. Trash pickup was shifted to tomorrow due to Emancipation Day.

3200 block of N St.

You see them all the time on the stores on Wisconsin between Dumbarton and P: “Going Out of Business” signs. And yet the businesses that hang them don’t actually go out of business. It’s a tawdry tactic primarily intended to fool tourists into thinking that if they come in to the store they’ll get a great deal. But what people might not realize is that these signs are illegal.

Title 47, chapter 21 of the DC Code is abundantly clear on when and how “going out of business” sales can be run.

First it defines what it calls a “closing-out sale”:

“Closing-out sale” means and includes any sale in connection with which there is any representation by the person conducting such sale that the sale is being conducted, or is required or compelled to be conducted, for reasons of economic or business distress, inability to continue business at the same location, or the age or health of the owner or owners of the business, and the term “closing-out sale” shall include but not be limited to, all sales advertised, represented, or held forth under the designation of “going out of business,” “discontinuance of business,” “selling out,” “liquidation,” “lost our lease,” “must vacate,” “forced out,” “removal,” or any other designation of like meaning.

Then it lays down rules meant to guarantee that when you say you’re going out of business, you’re really going out of business. For one, you can’t stock up the store in anticipation of a closing sale:

No person in contemplation of a closing-out sale shall order any goods, wares, or merchandise for the purpose of selling and disposing of the same at such sale, and any unusual purchase and additions to the stock of such goods, wares, or merchandise within 60 days prior to the filing of application for a license to conduct such sale shall be presumptive evidence that such purchases and additions to stock were made in contemplation of such sale.

And once you’ve started a closing sale, you can’t stock any more goods: Continue reading →

Photo by Andrew Griffith.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Police identify body found in the canal.
• Should we close M St. to cars entirely?

1500 block of Wisconsin Ave.