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Holy Transformation - 9th and Q Street, NW

Men’s Fashion Center Closing Oct. 31st at 918 H Street, NE

H Street’s retail transformation not slowing down.

Category: Coming and Going, H St. NE, Retail

By: Prince Of Petworth | 20 July 2012 4:30 PM | 19 Comments

live from Columbia Heights

dammit, where am I gonna get my men’s fashions now?

July 20, 2012 at 8:00 pm
grr

the internet

July 20, 2012 at 10:23 pm
Anonymous

Let me guess, this will become a bar.

And buying clothes on the Internet sucks.

July 21, 2012 at 8:28 am
- wasonh
  
  As if you just lost your only retail option – ha! I would love to see an “Anonymous” post that was positive in tone and content ….
  
  July 21, 2012 at 9:06 am
  - Anonymous
    
    As if I said this was the only option.
    
    I do post many positive things, but I also find it a frustrating reality that bars are the most an seemingly only profitable venture in gentrifying areas in our fair city.
    I read here a rumor that it could become a true value hardware. That would be fantastic.
    
    Anyway, just expressing my opinion.
    
    July 21, 2012 at 11:40 am
    - adl
      
      isnt there a hardware store next door?
      
      July 22, 2012 at 7:39 pm
Anonymous

Meh

July 21, 2012 at 12:14 pm
anon

and good riddance! be it a bar or restaurant or cafe – or what have you – that will replace the place, let’s just hope it’s something that’s new & now. i read recently that John Fluevog and Massimo Dutti stores are opening in Georgetown. how utterly lame is that? it hasn’t been remotely “cool” to buy John Fluevog shoes since the first/last time i bought a pair at 19 in New York – 12 years ago. (and let’s face it: it wasn’t even remotely “cool” then.) and what, pray tell, is Massimo Dutti? who ever is in charge of lobbying proper businesses to set up shop in Washington needs to be fired. certainly, there’s something to be said for all the exciting development that the city has been going through over the last 10 years. but who cares when the shops that have begun to pepper the city in the last years do little in truly transforming Washington into a city to be reckoned with?

July 21, 2012 at 3:05 pm
- Victor
  
  Massimo Dutti is part of the Zara group and is their ‘higher end’ men’s line. Although it’s really cheap quality clothing — not as cheap and tacky as H&M or American Apparel…but you get the picture.
  
  July 22, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Anonymous

i live around the corner and am thrilled that this place is being replaced with a profitable business, ANY profitable business, that brings people ready to spend their money into my community and increases foot traffic along H street. if you’ve ever looked into the windows of this shop, as i do every day i walk past it, you would be flabergasted that they have lasted this long. purple suits. purple SHOES. yikes!

July 21, 2012 at 4:31 pm
Rukasu

Been around since 1952, shame to see more history of the corridor turn into mediocre sushi and overpriced Yuengling

http://www.eidolonfilms.com/indies/

July 22, 2012 at 12:23 am
- wreckfish
  
  Hey that’s very interesting. Thanks for the link.
  
  July 22, 2012 at 6:27 am
- brookland_rez
  
  Seeing that trailer made me sad for the business owners.
  
  The neighborhood demographics are changing, they can’t stop that. Maybe they should adapt, like sell clothing that the new demographic wants. Or perhaps they can relocate to PG county. I’ve seen a lot of stores in PG Plaza mall that sell that type of clothing.
  
  July 23, 2012 at 10:15 am
- Ben
  
  Thanks for posting the link to our trailer, or more directly here: https://vimeo.com/41934628
  
  It’s sad to see the store go, and the reasons behind the closing are more complex than can be conveyed in a trailer, or even the full film. It is the end of era, as Men’s Fashion is the last store of its kind left on H st. There is a lot of history there, and the guys who run it are great people.
  
  July 23, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Petworth Queen Forever

Ahh, I’m sad to see this go. This place has been around forever and have dressed countless of boys/men in the DC area; especially those that are Husky and beyond. Regardless if one agree with the quality of clothing being sold there, it still added so much character to the neighborhood. Everything has it’s place in this world. Mixing new development with old businesses is a nice thing. However, when you displace/replace all of the old business with this new matchbox looking stuff, you will just get another area of the city that looks like all of the other redeveloping areas. Why move to the city if you prefer the suburban model of development (all look the same)?

July 22, 2012 at 1:46 pm
- H Street Landlord
  
  Agreed.
  
  July 22, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Alan Page

I bought a few dress shirts from this place. Mr. Caswell was always friendly and often in front of the shop to invite potential customers to take a look around. This place has been around several decades, so clearly they had a dedicated clientele for some time. Any new business on the street would be lucky to be around one tenth as long as that business was. I wish the entire staff well in whatever endeavor they undertake.

July 22, 2012 at 11:32 pm
Hillizen

I’m not a dude, so I never would’ve shopped there, but I imagine part of the problem with the store is in its curb appeal. If you didn’t know what was inside or the type service you’d receive, there really isn’t much to draw in the neighborhood’s new residents and visitors. In fact, it’s somewhat off-putting. I think the same goes for a lot of similar business on H Street. I have never even gone inside a lot of them, because they look dingy, dated, and unappealing. H Street should do something similar to Barracks Row where the facades of some of the local businesses were cleaned up and updated and they blended in a lot better with the newer businesses.

July 23, 2012 at 12:37 pm
Anonymous

whatever

July 23, 2012 at 2:49 pm