Retail

Laundromutt in Adams Morgan For Sale. Will Close if not Sold by April 30th

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by evoque

Thanks to a reader for sharing this email from the current owners:

“The LaundroMutt needs new owners…or we will be closing our doors come April 30th, 2010.

We, the owners, have found ourselves too busy with our other business commitments and must sell the LaundroMutt. We would very much like to see this great business continue in the neighborhood and we have loads of ideas to increase revenue and bring additional, exciting services to the customers….but we simply do not have the time or resources to do this.

We are accepting all offers from interested buyers….but are looking to move quickly. It is a great, fun place to work with cool customers (2 and 4 legged). We will gladly share all ideas we have for expanding the business in order to increase revenue and best serve the loyal customers and supportive neighborhood.

Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] if you are interested.”

A reader sang their praises back in Oct. ’09. Laundromutt is located at 1722 Florida Ave., NW.

Friday Question of the Day

By Prince Of Petworth

Yesterday afternoon when I tweeted about how cool the Corehaus Design store is, it got me thinking about the best non restaurant/bar stores that have recently opened up in DC. It seems like every week we are talking about new restaurants and bars opening up in the city, which I think is great. But I also like to discover other cool new retail options. Personally, I think Corehaus is the coolest to open up in a long time. Kultura is pretty sweet as well.

So my question to you guys is – what’s the coolest non restaurant/bar to have recently opened up in the city? If none have opened recently – what are some cool retail shops that fall below the radar? Could be house stuff, a hardware store, clothing, other furniture, used books, comic books etc.?

Ed. Note: And on an unrelated note because the weather is going to be so nice this weekend I wanted to share a previous FQoTD where we discussed nice things to do around the city outside.

Corehaus Designs is Looking Amazing in Petworth

By Prince Of Petworth

When I first previewed Corehaus at 825 Upshur Street, NW I could tell it was gonna be cool. But having just checked it out again, it is no longer simply cool – it is freaking awesome! This retail spot has official become a must visit store, not just for those who live nearby, but for everyone. Again, photos can do a much better job than words in explaining this great store. If you haven’t checked them out yet, put them on the list.

Kultura Re-Opens at 1726 Connecticut Ave, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

Folks will remember that Kultura used to have a shop on Connecticut Ave a few years ago before the owners temporarily moved to California. Three weeks ago they reopened on Connecticut Ave. and back in Nov. they opened a shop at 4918 Wisconsin Ave., NW up in Tenleytown. I’m sure many folks would love to see them also up a shop on 11th Street, NW or on Georgia Ave. Their Web site says:

“KULTURAs books is a general secondhand, out of print and rare books store specializing in Art, Architecture, Photography, Film, Fine literature for all ages and modern 1st editions. We also carry a fairly deep selection of global area studies, inclusive of United States history, Political and Economic theory, as well as Poetry, Philosophy, Music, Science, Psychology, Travel, Cooking and Gardening books. We attempt to carry just about any foreign language to English dictionaries we can get our hands on and a boast a very, very good selection of books in French and Spanish.

We buy books for store trade at both the Dupont Circle and Tenleytown locations.

If you must donate books, then we must give you store trade, as we feel it is only fair, which amount of course you are free to use or not. But you could also assign it to a friend’s name, which we will keep on file, for him or her to use, thus a sort of gift certificate.”

These folks really are super cool. So let me know who wants to start the petition for a location of a third store if they decide to open another…

Couple more pictures of the jump. (more…)

Barracks Row Scuttlebutt and General Updates – Chesapeake Room, Veterinary Clinic, Capitol Hill Bikes and more

By Prince Of Petworth

First the scuttlebutt, I hear that the owner of nearby Lola’s and soon to open Chesapeake Room (see below) has purchased the Veterinary clinic on the 500 block of 8th Street, SE (pictured above). More info on this space as it becomes available. As it is only scuttlebutt the purchase of the property has not yet been confirmed.

Barracks Row seems to be getting as many new bars/restaurants as H Street, NE. Georgia Ave has a bit of catching up to do…

And here are a few new restaurants on Barracks Row that we have previously discussed here. And the building from the owner’s of Matchbox is looking good as well:

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Anyone Ever Check Out Pangea Market?

By Prince Of Petworth

Well this looks pretty cool. According to their Web site:

“Pangea is Greek for “all lands”. Pangeamarket.com, supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), brings together traditional high quality handicrafts made by artisans in developing countries. This is the first time that most of these products have been available for purchase online and in our Washington, DC store. Come in and purchase these beautiful, fair trade crafts, jewelry, home décor, accessories and more, learn about the products’ origins and know that your purchase helps create sustainable livelihoods for artisans in Asia, Africa and Latin America.”

The store itself is located at 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW and you can take a tour here. The building itself (IFC HQ) is also pretty sweet:

West Elm Closing to be Replaced by Forever 21

By Prince Of Petworth

Washington Business Journal had the scoop this morning:

“Store manager Dion Barela confirmed the impending closing Tuesday, saying the store plans to close its doors around March 15, depending on how soon it sells out of its merchandise.”

We judged the building and the store exactly a year ago. Will folks miss West Elm?

The WBJ also has the scoop on the replacement tenant – Forever 21.

I must be totally out of it because I’ve never even heard of Forever 21. Any fans out there?

Simply Soles Closes in Columbia Heights Will Open New Store in Georgetown

By Prince Of Petworth

Simply Soles was located at 1438 Park Road, NW. I always thought this was a tough location for a women’s shoe store. In March they will be opening up in a new location at 3222 M Street, NW in Georgetown. Owner Kassie Kempel writes:

“With retail being what it was in 2009 a lot of opportunities came up that I couldn’t ignore. I hated leaving Columbia Heights but I also couldn’t justify staying there and paying the same rent that I could get in G-town. Hopefully a great place will take over the CH location.”

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