The Georgetown Metropolitan

As mentioned last week, GM has pulled together his annual census of Georgetown stores, which he likes to call the State of Georgetown. This year was a little different since he cooperated with the BID in pulling the survey together. They will likely produce their own report in due time (last year’s was beautiful) but GM decided to continue doing his own for a couple reasons. For one, it’s just a fun project. But more importantly, not all shops and restaurants in GM’s survey are in the BID zone. For instance, any neighborhood shop like Scheele’s isn’t covered by the BID. Also, the BID zone doesn’t go all the way up past Book Hill.

So here without further ado is GM’s State of Georgetown 2014:

Overall Picture

GM counted 508 stores and restaurants in Georgetown this year. Now before we go any further, it’s important to note that GM uses the phrase “stores and restaurants” to mean just about any shop, restaurant, store, ice cream shop, etc. About the only commercial spaces that GM doesn’t count are straight forward offices and schools.

That 508 compares with 496 from last year. You would initially conclude that that meant there was a net gain of 12 stores over last year. However, every year GM seems to uncover one or two shops he overlooked in years past. And that explains why GM only counted a true nine store net gain from 2013 to 2014:

• Shops and Restaurants Opened since Feb 2013: 42
• Shops and Restaurants Closed since Feb 2013: 33
• Net Gain: 9
• Shops that moved within Georgetown: 4

As GM mentioned last week, this is a big turnaround from prior years. There was a net loss of 13 shops and restaurants last year. There was a giant net loss of 35 shops two years ago. So this is definitely a lot better.

We’ve seen a steady growth out of the recession, but even at 508 we’re still below the peak number GM counted in February 2011 of 527 (and there were probably more than 527 stores open at that date, since GM knows that he missed some back then). The explanation for why we’re still below that peak is obviously the loss of the mall. At one point it contained over 90 shops. Even after it’s full renovated and open, the new mall will have fewer than a dozen establishments. Continue reading →

Photo by Martin Kalfakovic.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• More on that GU student who manufactured ricin.
• Pizzeria Paradiso and Il Canali use “legit” pizza ovens.

This week on Old Georgetown in Color, GM visits to the lovely Margaret Gorman of Cambridge Place. Here she is in 1921, after having become Miss District of Columbia. Later that year she would be crowned the Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America and be named the Golden Mermaid in Atlantic City. Continue reading →

Photo (from 1998) by Jessie Lynn McMains.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Are calzones a thing? If so, here’s where you can find them in Georgetown (and elsewhere).
• Nice look at the GU and GW undergrads who are military veterans.

1500 block of 33rd St.

Photo by Ehpien.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Whoa, GU student suspected of making ricin may have been targeting fellow student.
• Union Station to Georgetown streetcar still in the plans.

2900 block of R St.

Last weekend, GM had a conversation with a Georgetown restaurant owner that left him feeling pretty glum about the future of Georgetown’s dining scene. Reaching the same conclusion that many have reached, the owner said that Georgetown had lost the young people who were now spending all their dining budget on U St. or 14th. He said many restaurants in Georgetown are just barely holding on.

But when it came time for GM to sit down and add up all the restaurants that opened in 2013 and those that closed (as part of his annual census) GM reached a different conclusion: the Georgetown dining scene is in good shape. There are some caveats, but we’ll get to those later.

First, last year (for these purposes, GM is counting roughly February 2013-February 2014) sixteen restaurants opened in Georgetown. Moreover, only seven closed. And of those seven, two of them were Iceberry. Continue reading →

Photo by Jantos.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Ricin scare at GU yesterday. (It wasn’t ricin).
• Georgetown retailers sued by people for requesting zip codes. (They won)