Today in Banks Taking Over Retail Spaces – Circle Wine & Liquors

5501 Connecticut Ave, NW

Thanks to Margaret for sending a Nextdoor posting from the local ANC rep:

“Longtime neighbor (since at least 1959) in Chevy Chase DC, Circle Wine & Liquors, will with great regret be closing their 5501 Connecticut Ave. location at the end of December. Their 11 year lease was not renewed and instead the new tenant will be yet another bank (our 7th bank or ATM branch kiosk) in a 4 block stretch in our neighborhood, this time it is Chase Bank. Reportedly, Willco the property owner, negotiated the new lease with Chase for double the rent that Circle was paying thus pricing them out of the market. Circle, which has been in existence as a small business enterprise under different owners, has been a welcome mainstay in the area, and under their current ownership they have also donated thousands of dollars every year to neighboring schools. Circle has been an anchor store for the 5501 Conn. Ave, strip which includes: Blue 44, Fishery Seafood Market, Relaxed Nails & Spa, and C&C Custom Cleaners. All of these are also on Willco property. One wonders if newly negotiated leases for these other establishments might also be in jeopardy when their time runs out resulting in more losses of small business owners.

jerry malitz
Commissioner, ANC3G-05″

I will also miss their awesome mural/ode to the old Griffith Stadium: