Top Business Ins for 2020: Part 1
By • January 15, 2020 0 1932
The retail and restaurant mix of Georgetown and nearby neighborhoods keeps churning, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly and sometimes surprisingly. Here are some of the top business “Ins” of recent note. Part 2, in The Georgetowner’s Jan. 29 issue, will list what is coming up … and the “Outs.”
IN: FUNKY ARTISTS & FLEAS TO REPLACE DEAN & DELUCA
Georgetown will receive a much-needed shot of hipster merchandising vibe this March as Brooklyn’s Artists & Fleas sets up shop in the former Dean & DeLuca space at 3276 M St. NW.
The former gourmet market, which came to M Street from New York in the 1990s, was once a game-changer for food shoppers. It closed in August, leaving the 150-year-old building empty. Owned by the District government, the building is required by law to serve as a market and nothing else.
Part of the 327,300-square-foot mixed-use Georgetown Park retail complex, the building is managed by real estate investment firm Jamestown Properties, which announced: “Artists & Fleas, the pioneering market and long-time incubator of independent artists, designers, vintage collectors, and food purveyors, will be opening at Georgetown Park in March 2020. The market will take 20,500 square feet of the former Dean & DeLuca.”
“Georgetown is a community teeming with culture and long supportive of independent and experimental retail,” said Ronen Glimer, co-founder of Artists & Fleas, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to call Georgetown Park our new home as we expand into Washington, D.C., and look forward to engaging with shoppers, small business entrepreneurs and the broader creative community.”
Founded in 2003 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Artists & Fleas has grown to include locations in SoHo and Chelsea in Manhattan and in the Venice section of Los Angeles.
According to the company, Georgetown’s Artists & Fleas “will feature more than 30 local D.C. and mid-Atlantic makers and food purveyors and will be hosting a series of community events leading up to their full March 2020 opening.”
IN: ROTHY’S ON M
Favored by Meghan Markle, Rothy’s shoes exude hip style and ecological sensitivity. The store opened at 3068 M St. NW a few weeks ago. Rothy’s reports: “We’ve transformed over 30 million plastic water bottles into stylish flats. … Our owned and operated factory in Dongguan, China, sets the standard for sustainable, responsible manufacturing. Continually striving for zero waste, we combine the best of 3D knitting technology and handcrafted assembly to create our signature style and comfort.”
IN: WOLFGANG PUCK’S CUT TO REOPEN BY MARCH
A fire in the kitchen of the Rosewood hotel’s Cut restaurant shut down the entire hotel in October. The hotel and bar were back in operation quickly thereafter. The fire, caused by a mechanical failure, was confined to the kitchen but affected the ducts of the building at 1050 31st St. NW, next to the C&O Canal. No one was injured. Rebuilding the kitchen took longer than expected; Cut should reopen at the end of next month. (The Rosewood’s townhouse units are also expected to open next month.)
IN: REREN LAMEN & BAR
Reren Lamen & Bar opens today at 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Just south of Blues Alley, with the new outside mural on its side exterior, Reren Lamen joins other fast-casual restaurants on the block. Lamen is the Chinese version of Japanese ramen.
MOVING: SEPHORA, 2 BLOCKS WEST
Retailer of upmarket makeup, perfumes and skincare products, Sephora will move to 3241 M St. NW on Jan. 17. Its new, larger space replaces the clothier & Other Stories, part of the H&M conglomerate.
IN: MIRAMAR RESTAURANT ON 31ST ST.
Lebanese cuisine will be the main feature of Miramar Restaurant, opening next week at 1033 31st St. NW, just south of Chef Billy. The halal restaurant and hookah lounge will operate until 3 a.m. on the weekends, it reports.
IN FOR 100: SCOGNA CUSTOM TAILOR & FORMAL WEAR
Formerly (or should we say “formally”?) on L Street for many years, Scogna Custom Tailor and Formal Wear is now at 3015 M St. NW, above the Sprinkles cupcake shop. Scogna is Washington’s oldest tailor, celebrating its 100th anniversary year. Founded in 1920 by Italian immigrant Sam Scogna, the shop has “tailored and outfitted presidents, congressmen and Washingtonians from all walks of life, from students at their graduation ball to white-tie gala-goers.”
IN: BRASSERIE LIBERTÉ ON PROSPECT ST.
Brasserie Liberté, a 250-seat restaurant, opened in November at 3251 Prospect St. NW. Owner and restaurateur Hakan Ilhan, known for Mirabelle, Al Dente and Ottoman Taverna, among others, took over the space left by Morton’s steakhouse, next to Cafe Milano. The executive chef is Jaryd Hearn, coming from Chicago’s award-winning Alinea; Richard Kaufman, formerly of 1789 Restaurant, is GM.
IN: L’ANNEXE COCKTAIL BAR ON M
L’Annexe opened at the former Unum address, 2917 M St. NW. The eatery is adjacent to a restaurant now being readied in the space that was home to Maxime Bistro and, earlier, the Guards.
IN: PEACOCK CAFE OWNERS OPEN VINTAGE78
Chef Maziar Farivar and Shahab Farivar of Peacock Cafe on Prospect Street NW, well-known for its hospitality and cuisine, opened Vintage78 at 2100 P St. NW. The modern Persian restaurant near Dupont Circle is named after 1978, the year the brothers came to the United States from Iran.
IN: POINT CHAUD CAFE & CRÊPES
Point Chaud Cafe & Crêpes opened in the former Starbucks space at 2300 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Glover Park.
IN: PADDYWAX CANDLE BAR (GET IT?)
The Paddywax Candle Bar, a retailer that teaches customers how to make candles, opened in a 2,111-square-foot second-floor space at 1065 Wisconsin Ave. NW, above South Moon Under. The store serves wine as amateur chandlers mix the scented wax to make their own individual products.
IN: CAPITAL ONE CAFÉ AT WISCONSIN & M
Georgetown’s long-awaited Capital One Café — situated at the southeast corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street NW, site of the legendary Nathans Restaurant — opened in August with three floors of banking and community interactivity.
IN: CAFE BONAPARTE, NOW LUTÈCE BY BONAPARTE
Serving Georgetown since 2003, Cafe Bonaparte at 1522 Wisconsin Ave. NW reopened as Lutèce by Bonaparte with a new look, menu and chef, Martin Senoville. Owner the Popal Group also owns the Berliner at the Georgetown waterfront and Lapis in Adams Morgan.
IN: CHASE BRANCH AT WISCONSIN AND P
Last month, another bank opened in a building that once housed a classic Georgetown business. JPMorgan Chase, at 3217 P St. NW, comes with a parking lot. Across from the Thomas Sweet ice cream parlor, the building housed the famed Neam’s Market for decades as well as Marvelous Market.
IN: COMPASS COFFEE
Compass Coffee opened with 112 seats in the former Georgetown Theater property at 1351 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Compass Coffee opened in Shaw in 2014 because two marines wanted “real good coffee.” Founders Michael Haft and Harrison Suarez hail from the Washington area and served together in Afghanistan.
IN: FRENCH CAFÉ AT Q CORNER
La Jolie Bleue, a French bakery and café, has opened at 1560 Wisconsin Ave. NW, which formerly (ever so briefly) housed the Bharati Indian restaurant and, before that, was the original location of gelato favorite Dolcezza.
IN: SHOP MADE IN DC
Shop Made in DC, the local booster of products made in the District, opened its third store in the former Max Studio space at 1242 Wisconsin Ave. NW — on a block that sorely needs another tenant. The 1,800-square-foot store features 100 local products.
IN: INDOCHINO
Custom men’s wear retailer Indochino, headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, opened at 3030 M St. NW, formerly home to women’s wear store Cusp.
IN: BANDOOLA BOWL ON WISCONSIN AVE.
Bandoola Bowl, a Southeast Asian salad shop from 25-year restaurant industry veteran Aung Myint, opened on April 23 at 1069 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
IN: VON AMMON CO GALLERY IN CADY’S ALLEY
Arriving from New York, art dealer Todd von Ammon opened his own Georgetown gallery: Von Ammon Co. The 3,500-square-foot space at 3330 Cady’s Alley NW is next to the C&O Canal.
IN: JANTI CAFE, FOR A TOUCH OF TURKEY
Janti Cafe, a Turkish coffee house and market at 1826 Wisconsin Ave. NW, adjacent to Cafe Divan, opened last month.
IN: GEORGETOWN CARPET
In Glover Park since 1981, Georgetown Carpet moved from 2208 Wisconsin Ave. NW to 1815 Wisconsin Ave. NW, next to the Georgetown Safeway.
IN: TRADER JOE’S GLOVER PARK
A Trader Joe’s opened at 2101 Wisconsin Ave. NW, near Whitehaven Street and one block north of the Safeway.
IN: SCILLA + LUNA ON BOOK HILL
Scilla + Luna, a store specializing in fiber arts, opened at 1675 Wisconsin Ave. NW in the former space of Cross MacKenzie Gallery.
IN: NYC’S TAÏM FALAFEL ON WISCONSIN AVE.
Taïm Falafel opened its first location outside the Big Apple in Washington, D.C., at 1065 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Meaning “tasty” in Hebrew, Taïm plans to open three more spots in D.C. in 2020.
