Business

Robert Devaney • January 28, 2016

“We are very sorry for an inadequate response,” Mayor Muriel Bowser Bowser said at a Jan. 21 news conference about an inch of snow that fell during the Wednesday evening rush. “We should have been out earlier with more resources.”

D.C.’s major arteries—from Wisconsin Avenue leading up to Bethesda to downtown streets—were jammed with cars, as pedestrians also struggled on icy sidewalks. For some, who usually have a 20-minute commute, it took two to three hours to get home. Roads in Maryland and Virginia were also slammed with traffic.

Meanwhile, the talk of the town is the Friday to Saturday blizzard, forecast by the National Weather Service, which predicts about 20 inches of snow for Washington, D.C.

Even the Metro system will shut down over the weekend, starting later on Friday, Jan. 22. Read details here.

“I have lived in Washington, DC my whole life and I don’t know that I have lived through a forecast like this,” said Bowser, who added that D.C. was prepared for the huge storm.

According to the D.C. government, “The National Weather Service has issued a Blizzard Warning in effect from 3 p.m., Friday, Jan. 22 through 6 a.m., Sunday, Jan. 24. Heavy snow and wind expected, with a projected accumulation of about 24 inches of snow. Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 20s, with increasing winds up to 40 mph. Heavy snow and blowing snow will cause dangerous conditions. Travel and visibility is expected to be limited during the storm.”

D.C., Maryland and Virginia have declared states of emergency. All public schools in the region will be closed Friday. The District response will include coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Guard.

Residents are anticipating a huge snow storm that would rival the Snowmageddon of 2010 that brought two feet of snow to the city and shut it down for days.

Robert Devaney • January 14, 2016

HomeGoods, the home furnishings store run by TJX Companies, which also runs the clothing discounter T.J. Maxx, will depart from its M Street space in Georgetown by the the end of the month.

Opened in September 2013, the duplex store shares its 3222 M St. NW address with T.J. Maxx, which will remain. As HomeGoods wraps up its part of the store, its shelves are nearly empty but with clearance mark-downs for what’s left.

The business occupies part of the Georgetown Park shopping complex, which was formerly an interior mall that opened in 1981. Other businesses there now front the street with their entrances and share little common interior space.

HomeGoods’ vacated space will be filled in by an expansion of T.J. Maxx.

Peter Murray • January 11, 2016

Club Monaco is back in town on with a fresh concept at the renovated former Rhino Bar site at 3295 M St. NW. The new store marks the return of the Ralph Lauren-owned, prep-focused retailer to the area after stores in Georgetown and at Pentagon City were shuttered over four years ago. The new store opened Friday, Dec. 4, and Club Monaco plans on opening another outlet in Tysons Corner next year.

According to the company, the new Georgetown store “reflects the art, architecture and culture of its neighborhood,” with its townhouse-inspired interior, custom-designed Cherry Blossom wall coverings, and southern-inspired furniture and decor. The first floor houses the women’s shop and the second the men’s.

The new shop opens as the brand seeks to broaden its appeal among younger shoppers, who value the experience of shopping as much as they do the apparel they buy, according to retail analysts.

One thing that could help draw in young shoppers: Club Monaco plans on using one of Rhino’s old bars as a men’s cash wrap.

The circle of life continues in Georgetown.
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Robert Devaney •

A packed year-end reception for the Georgetown Business Association “raised a glass (or two) to celebrate the holiday season as well as the vibrant business community we are all so blessed to  be a part of” at the George Town Club Dec. 9. GBA President Sonya Bernhardt greeted Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans and other D.C. officials as well as members and friends of the business group.

Council members Evans and Vincent Orange were hailed as “friends of Georgetown business.” Also thanked was event sponsor EagleBank.

Toward the end of the festive affair, singer-songwriter Rebecca Magnuson played the piano and led the crowd through songs, such “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” “O, Holy Night,” “Imagine” and a few Adele favorites.

The GBA announced its officers and directors for 2016 during the get-together — with Bernhardt continuing as president. Hope Solomon continues as vice president and will also temporarily take on the role of secretary. Alan Helfer remains treasurer. Ira Darden headed up the nominations committee. For details on the group’s list of board members, visit GeorgetownBusiness.org.
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Robert Devaney • January 8, 2016

Last time we saw Joe Sternlieb, CEO of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, better known as the BID, after a nice lunch of crab cakes at Clyde’s, he was checking on a BID pedestrian movement counter in front of the City Tavern, then, seeing a homeless man sprawled out on the sidewalk, calling for medical assistance for the poor, lost soul. We had been talking about new BID initiatives and commercial real estate numbers.

This glimpse tells you quite a bit about Sternlieb, who lives in upper Northwest D.C. and worked previously for the Downtown BID as well as at EastBanc. He is a precise, practical and compassionate guy who wants to get things done right and bring people together. As one observer said, “He’s the best thing that ever happened to the Georgetown BID.”

Sternlieb and his BID team are working daily from their offices on Potomac Street or from the town’s sidewalks. Keeping the streets clean, helping people move around easily and assuring public safety. These basic services are primary. But other BID ideas have gotten attention too, such as the aerial gondola between Georgetown and Arlington. That idea may never get off the ground, but there are many other proposals in the BID report, called, “The Georgetown 2028 Plan.” The BID is supported by a special tax on Georgetown businesses and has a $3 million-plus annual budget. The BID explains its 15-year action plan this way: “In order to establish Georgetown as a friendlier pedestrian environment and to encourage discovery, the plan includes the addition of temporary parklets, temporary sidewalk widening programs, increased programming south of M Street and a major renewal project to restore the canal and its boat.” The 2028 action plan is detailed on www.georgetowndc.com.

What’s new, besides a revamped newsblast on the website? Lots apparently because the BID is not at a loss for projects that better Georgetown.

The Georgetown BID has placed about 50 chairs around town for residents, workers and visitors in a pilot program “for pedestrian respite.” Chairs are near the C&O Canal, at Washington Harbour, near Dean and Deluca and on Book Hill. They were such a big hit that plans are underway to order 50 more.

The Georgetown Gongoozlers mural project (a “gongoozler” is an idler who stares at length at activity on a canal) has begun. Artist Nena Depaz, the first of four local artists commissioned to produce a mural, installed a mixed-media work on construction barricades covering the main entrance of the closed Latham Hotel at 3000 M St., NW.

The BID said that it “commissioned the temporary, rotating artworks to improve the streetscape during construction, discourage illegal graffiti, and to help support community efforts to maintain and interpret the section of the C&O Canal that is adjacent to the hotel.”

The BID also completed a signage project with the District Department of Transportation that was approved years ago by the Old Georgetown Board. You may have seen the new signs along M Street or Wisconsin Avenue, pointing the way to Georgetown University, the waterfront or Francis Scott Key Park.

Coming soon from the BID: Lighting the undersurface of the Whitehurst Freeway — that is above K Street down at the waterfront.The lights will bring safety along with an entirely different streetscape. With the touch of an iPad the color of the proposed LED lights can be changed to evoke various holiday moods.

As for that dock at C&O Canal near the mule bridge on 34th Street, the National Park Service requires that it be a fixed structure. The project has been pushed back. It will be presented to OGB in September.

Also in September: the annual Taste of Georgetown celebrates its 21st year, noon to 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 13, with tastes from more than 35 of the neighborhood’s best restaurants along with an expansive Craft Beer and Wine Pavilion and live entertainment. For the first time in the event’s history, the Taste will move from Wisconsin Avenue to K Street, along the Georgetown Waterfront. This longstanding event in Georgetown is hosted by the Georgetown BID and benefits the Georgetown Ministry Center’s services supporting the homeless.

Georgetowner • December 22, 2015

The Georgetown Business Improvement District launched its second annual public light-art exhibition for Christmastime. It’s titled “Georgetown Glow” and runs 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., through Dec. 20. There are five site-specific illuminated artworks along or near the C&O Canal. For specifics, visit GeorgetownGLOWDC.com.

Most of the Georgetown Glow artists gathered at the Dec. 11 Georgetown Glow reception at Canal Square and Sea Catch Restaurant: Herve Orgeas, Wired People Project: “The Lovers”; Lee-Su Huang, “Intrescapes”; Jakob Marsico, “Intrescapes”; Hiroshi Jacobs, “iGlow”; Laia Cabrera, “Shifting Gaze”; Isabelle Duverger, “Shifting Gaze”; Arthur Gallice, Wired People Project: “The Lovers.”
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Georgetowner •

Postmodern Foods, “an organic food & drink company,” opened at 2920 M St. NW last week in the former Graphix space. Owner Denise Hicks, who was raised in the Washington area, returned three years ago to start Postmodern and soon opened a store in Great Falls, Virginia, which supports the Georgetown locale. Postmodern offers cold-pressed juices, smoothies, salads, savories and desserts — and includes online orders and office delivery.

Carolyn Landes • December 9, 2015

Tucked just inside the P Street corridor off Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown is Just Paper and Tea, the quaint specialty shop offering a finely edited array of — you guessed it — paper and tea. Owners Nick and Carolyn Wasylczuk are celebrating the store’s 26th anniversary this month.

The store opened its doors in November 1989. It was then a paint store, specializing in faux finishing. At the height of this art form’s popularity, they serviced a clientele that included the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Andrew Lloyd Webber (during the peak of his “Phantom of the Opera” fame). The couple would be the first and last contractors working in Webber’s Trump Tower corner duplex, with memories of a bathrobe-clad composer bringing them coffee in the mornings and wine in the evenings.

When asked why the store now specializes in just paper and tea, Nick queries, “Why not?” Carolyn is a former stationary buyer, and tea is an integral part of her family background, being of Asian descent. “She does all the printed materials,” says Nick of their work partnership. “If it were up to me, I’d still be printing the first piece.”

What is it like to work with your spouse? Carolyn has a quick answer. “I can’t work with anybody else,” she says. “Everything we do, every decision we make, we pass by each other.”

Just Paper and Tea is an American Express Small Business, which encourages cardholders to think big but “shop small.” Last year, American Express spruced up several of the shops at this section of P Street for Christmastime. This year, the company paid for artist Aniekan Udofia to paint a mural on an outside wall of Just Tea and Paper in the alley, easily seen from Wisconsin Avenue.

Nick and Carolyn’s repertoire of work includes everything from designing wedding invitations for a newly reunited military couple to birthday luncheon invitations for Pope Benedict. “We feel very lucky in that we love what we do,” says Carolyn. “We get to see people at their happiest.”

“In today’s world of evolving technology, the written word is power,” adds Nick. “You can delete an email.” He pauses. “You can throw away a letter — but you won’t.”
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Robert Devaney • November 30, 2015

Members and guests of the Georgetown Business Association gathered for its annual monthly get-together Nov. 18 at the newly renovated Paolo’s Ristorante on Wisconsin Avenue. Before the reception, filled with great tastings from the restaurant, such as skirt steak, the GBA board of directors heard from Fred Moosally, director of D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, and his take on Georgetown’s liquor license moratorium. With infographics lining the wall, DC Water’s Bethany Bezak spoke to the group at Paolo’s about the utility’s Green Infrastructure initiative and the upcoming neighborhood street work. [gallery ids="102363,124559,124553,124570,124564" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney • November 16, 2015

“Live life now,” proclaims Key West clothing store Madda Fella, which has popped up at 3277 M St. NW (in the former space of Capitol Prague Restaurant) through Christmas Eve. Full of beach, sports and outdoor wear, the company touts its adventure-driven purpose with shirts, pants and accessories for “living a life full of sunshine, blue water, friends and fishing.”

The company’s namesake comes from Caribbean slang that is an expression for surprise, astonishment or frustration. Evoking the spirit of author, adventurer and Key West resident Ernest Hemingway, the writing in its catalogue rivals — because it’s real — that of J. Peterman of “Seinfeld” fame.

M Street store proprietor Grace Louden, originally from Maryland, is the daughter of the company’s co-founder Mike Louden and brought her mascot 10-week-old golden retriever, Ella, to the store for the retail adventure. The store with its Key West vibe has kept the back bar, which is used for special events on Saturday afternoon.
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