Business Ins & Outs May 2, 2018
By • May 2, 2018 0 400
JPMorgan Chase’s Plans Include Marvelous Market Site
JPMorgan Chase & Co. will open 70 consumer branches with 700 new employees in and around Washington, D.C. The company made the official announcement, with regional leaders on hand, on April 19. Its plans include Georgetown.
For the first time, JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., will locate in Washington as part of a big marketing push to build consumer banking branches in up to 20 U.S. markets. It already has a commercial banking presence in the region.
The bank will take over the former Marvelous Market property at 3217 P St. NW, according to a source familiar with the plans. Across from the Thomas Sweet ice cream parlor, the property at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and P Street housed the famed Neam’s Market for decades until 2000, when Marvelous Market opened at the spot, closing in April 2014.
Sivan Properties, Inc., based in New York, purchased the property in 2015 from the Neam family, then put it up for sale one year later. The building has stood empty for four years, except for an occasional retail pop-up, with its parking lot still in use.
Besides Georgetown, JPMorgan Chase’s plans include branches in Arlington, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland; and Logan Circle, McPherson Square, Columbia Heights and Anacostia in the District.
The April 19 press conference and luncheon at the Long View Gallery on 9th Street NW featured JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Mayor Muriel Bowser, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
With $2.5 trillion in assets, JPMorgan Chase said it would offer $4 billion in small business and home loans, as well increase affordable housing lending to $500 million. The banking company will also increase D.C.-area donations to $25 million, supporting such efforts as the 11th Street Bridge project.
Tweeted Bowser about the JPMorgan Chase decision: “Through this investment, people are getting connected to their dreams. Thank you again for this expansion to our region and I can promise you, you won’t regret it.”
Putting Down Roots on M Street
Roots, a lifestyle clothing brand with Canadian heritage, will open two U.S. retail locations in the Washington, D.C., area in August: on M Street in Georgetown and at Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia.
“We believe the U.S. represents a minimum 100-store market opportunity for us, which is an important long-term growth driver,” said Jim Gabel, president and CEO of Roots. “We will have four new stores open by the end of the summer, moving us well down the path toward our target of 10 to 14 new U.S. retail locations by the end of 2019.”
Roots will open a 3,550-square-foot store on M Street, which will offer what the company calls “Enhanced Experience” formats, in which shoppers interact with products in a visually stimulating and socially connected environment.
Anniversary: Ledbury at 2
Clothing company Ledbury, based in Richmond, Virginia, celebrated its second year at 3319 Cady’s Alley NW. Co-founders Paul Trible and Paul Watson began with shirts, eventually expanding to a full line of menswear.
Illusions founder Irma Wheeler.
Illusions Takes a 5th
The Illusions Salon of Georgetown is celebrating its fifth year at 1629 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The staff is led by Irma Wheeler, who has more than 30 years of experience in the business. She created Illusions of Shirlington in Virginia in the 1990s and came to town at the end of 2014.
