Top Business Ins & Outs for 2019-20: Part 2
By • January 29, 2020 0 995
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 “Outs” of recent note — with a few “Ins” thrown in — along with businesses set to arrive in the early months of 2020.
IN: BAGELS AT 35TH & O
Call Your Mother, a popular bagel shop on Georgia Avenue NW, will open at 3428 O St. NW, across from Saxby’s in the shuttered Greenworks florist shop — that most pink, Instagramable corner. Co-founder Andrew Dana and his team have moved through the zoning approval process. There was a pushback by some neighbors who feared long lines and increased rodent infestation.
IN: HARPER MACAW ON M
“Bean to bar,” Harper Macaw is a fine chocolate maker, it declares: “with an ambitious yet tangible objective: To turn chocolate into a force for tropical reforestation.” The chocolate factory and cafe at 2920 M St. NW opened last week.
COMING: VERONICA BEARD
The chic sisters-in-law who own Veronica Beard — same first name; married two brothers — will be setting up their women’s clothing shop at 1254 Wisconsin Ave. NW. “Our motto: Look good, feel good, and do what you love,” they say. “We believe in building a collection that is inclusive of women everywhere and makes them feel confident every single day. We are mothers, entrepreneurs, sisters, friends — and we are our customer.”
COMING: DIG (AS IN INN)
At Wisconsin Avenue and N Street NW, the forlorn corner — once a Little Tavern hamburger joint and then part of Paolo’s Ristorante — will become an eatery again. Originally called Dig Inn, Dig has 32 spots, mostly in New York. This will be its first D.C. location. It is described as a fast-casual restaurant, spooning out grains, cauliflower, kale, chicken, tofu, etc., into bowls. The ghost of Little Tavern is so proud.
COMING: FOXTROT MARKET BY APRIL
Hailing from Chicago, Foxtrot Market is coming to 1267 Wisconsin Ave. NW. It will set up where the Jonathan Adler store once stood. Foxtrot offers delivery service and carries beer and wine, prepared foods, graband-go sandwiches, ice cream, pastries — and, of course, coffee.
COMING: BOZZELLI’S TO LAND AT WASHINGTON HARBOUR
Next to Bangkok Joe’s, Bozzelli’s Italian delicatessen — with its ample sandwiches (cold cuts, meatball, Reuben) and various pizza pies (plain, Meaty Boy, Boom Boom Chicken and Spicy Hawaiian) — will open at 3000 K St. NW, at the entryway to Washington Harbour. Bozzelli’s began in 1978 in Northern Virginia.
COMING: 38 UNITS BEHIND 2900 M STREET?
The Pierre Gaunoux Rev. Trust is proposing to build 38 add-on units and a four- or five-story building at the back of its properties at 2900-2924 M St. NW. The block’s tenants include Ike Behar, Georgetown Olive Oil Co. and Georgetown Veterinary Hospital. Office units would be at the bottom of the new structure, with residential units on the upper levels, parking garage included. The project is being designed by Hickok Cole Architects.
COMING: STICX UP WISCONSIN
Sticx is set to open at 1728 Wisconsin Ave. NW in the former Mail Boxes Etc. space. Aung Myint’s 2,220-square-foot Georgetown restaurant, serving food on sticks, will be open for both lunch and dinner, with 20 seats at a communal table.
COMING: ORANGETHEORY FITNESS
Yet another gym to arrive. All about high intensity interval training and 60-minute workouts, Orangetheory will open in the former space of men’s clothier Jos. A. Bank at 1815 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
COMING: ARTISAN CHOCOLATES ON WISCONSIN
The window poster at 1321 Wisconsin Ave. NW announces the arrival of L.A. Burdick, a fancy chocolate candy shop founded in New York in 1987 by Larry Burdick.
OUT: PAPYRUS FLIES AWAY
The popular greeting card shop at 1300 Wisconsin Ave. NW will close in a week or so, as its parent company, Schurman Retail Group, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 23 and will close most of its 254 stores across the U.S. and Canada. The brand will live on, the company says.
OUT: RÍ RÁ
Rí Rá, which opened on Dec. 30, 2013, at 3125 M St. NW, the former space of Mie N Yu and, before that, Hamburger Hamlet, announced that it will close at the end of January. Meaning “the king of good times,” Rí Rá was a popular Irish pub that offered live music.
OUT: DYLLAN’S RAW BAR GRILL
Dyllan’s Raw Bar Grill — open for little more than one year — closed suddenly in November. It had replaced Sea Catch, a seafood favorite of many years, in Canal Square at the C&O Canal. The revamped spot, created and owned by Amy and Donald Carlin of Good Apple Hospitality, was at 1054 31st St. NW.
OUT: TOWN HALL, AFTER 14 YEARS
Friends of Town Hall restaurant at 2218 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Glover Park gathered in September for a final salute. “There have been many fond memories within these walls, and perhaps a few best left to posterity,” wrote the owners. “We want to thank our landlord for all their support over the years.”
OUT: DSW
DSW — Designer Shoe Warehouse — closed its store at 3270 M St. NW in the Georgetown Park retail complex. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the multibillion-dollar shoe retailer has about 500 locations.
OUT: THE NORTH FACE
The North Face — purveyor of outdoor clothing, footwear and equipment — closed its large store at 3333 M St. NW. The company was founded in 1968 in San Francisco.
OUT: JONATHAN ADLER
The Jonathan Adler store which opened in Georgetown in 2012 closed last spring. The purveyor of ceramics, pillows, accessories and furniture — with a sophisticated design attitude — was located at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and N Street, across from Martin’s Tavern.
OUT: ARTIST’S PROOF
Last month, Artist’s Proof owner Peggy Sparks told her clients and friends: “After seven years in Georgetown, the gallery will be relocating to Bethesda.” The gallery, previously located in Cady’s Alley, opened at 1533 Wisconsin Ave. NW in 2014.
OUT: CROSS MACKENZIE GOES COUNTRY
Cross MacKenzie, the art gallery at 1675 Wisconsin Ave. NW, sold its building and moved to Hillsboro, Virginia.
OUT: MONO DINER
Mono Diner at 1424 Wisconsin Ave. NW opened in March 2019 and closed in August. Amid the financial problems incurred by Mohammad Esfahani and Ebrahim Esfahani, who own All About Burger, are allegations of wage theft from former Mono Diner employees.
OUT: PALISADES SAFEWAY SHUTTERED
The Safeway at 4865 MacArthur Boulevard NW closed in May. Plans for the 64,815-square-foot, mixed-use development at MacArthur Boulevard and 48th Place NW do not include a food store.
OUT: CONDOS FORCE OUT GYPSY SALLY’S, OTHER BUSINESSES
A condominium development planned for 3401 K (Water) St. NW appears to be advancing. And, as expected, commercial renters in the space will be departing. The planned 49-unit condo complex will convert the existing structure and add five stories, with a parking garage beneath, as well as a penthouse and a pool. After some changes to the original designs in 2016, the project — by IBG Partners and Wilco Residential, with designs by architecture firm BBGM — looks set for action this year. The first business to bail officially was live-music venue Gypsy Sally’s, which opened in 2013. Other businesses on the property include the Popal Group’s Berliner beer hall on the ground floor, an exercise place and a delivery service.
Veronica Swanson Beard and Veronica Miele Beard, designers of Veronica Beard, which will be opening in Georgetown. Courtesy Veronica Beard.
