Retail

Neat Neighborhood Find For The Ladies: Moojoo Ken

By Prince Of Petworth

This is the next in the series of my walking past shops dozens of times before actually entering. Moojoo Ken means unconditional in Japanese but on 14th Street it means a pretty cool store. They design their own shoes, scarves, handbags, jewelry and more. As my knowledge of women’s boutiques is pretty limited the ladies will have to check it out and let us know what the verdict is.  Located at 1512 U Street make sure you walk up a flight of stairs to enter the shop. Some more photos after the jump. (more…)

Neat Neighborhood Find: RCKNDY

By Prince Of Petworth

It’s pronounced rock candy. I never would have got it on my own. Anyway, this is another one of the stores that I always walk by but never stop in. As many of you know I’m a huge fan of the word sweet, so when I saw “sweet decor” I had to check it out. It is located at 1515 U Street and opened up last June. I knew I made the right move checking it out when I walked in and the first thing I found were pigs for sale! So I spoke with owner, David Dennis, who actually lives in Petworth about the store. Dennis describes the store as “modern, colorful and we don’t take ourselves too seriously yet everything’s functional.” He chose to open the store in the U Street neighborhood because he wanted to be a part of a neighborhood that was “eclectic, like me”, he said. He came up with the name RCKNDY because “rock candy is colorful, bright and comes in a variety of flavors and has a little bit of an edge to it and that’s what the store’s all about.” If you are in the market for some sweet decor I highly recommend you check it out. Lots of photos after the jump, including the pigs of course. (more…)

Neat Neighborhood Find: Eco-Green Living

By Prince Of Petworth

Well, Church Street has turned out to be a pretty cool street. How come nobody told me earlier? Eco-Green living is located at 1469 Church Street. The store offers, you guessed it, eco-green living options. You can get organic coffee, organic clothes, eco-countertops, bamboo floors, eco-insulation, some pretty nice eco-toilets and lots more. Check out more photos after the jump. (more…)

Garden District Opens Second Store

By Prince Of Petworth

Did anyone know about this? I just happened to walk it by it and I was able to speak with owner, Joe Carmack, at the original store (open for 7 years) up the block at 1801 14th Street. This new location is located right at the corner of 14th and Church just a few blocks south. Carmack told me that the new store will focus on interior gardening while the original store will continue to focus on exterior gardening. The new space will feature items to decorate inside homes as well as for “outdoor rooms”. In addition to indoor plants and accessories there will also be plant based products such as candles with plant scents. Other options to be featured include picnicking items and other gifts for garden enthusiasts. Carmack says “there are always lots of people moving to new places in DC and garden items make great gifts!”. The store is currently open although when I peeked inside there was still some arranging going on. After the jump you can see a photo of the inside space. (more…)

Beer, Burgers, Tube Socks and a Mariachi Band at the Target Opening Party

By Prince Of Petworth

I’m not going to lie. I am no stranger to drinking beers and listening to a Mariachi band. I think it is one of life’s great pleasures. I just never thought I’d be drinking beers and listening to a Mariachi band in a Target…on a Tuesday night. And it was a truly beautiful thing. So thanks to a reader for hooking me up with their ticket to the Target festivities in Columbia Heights. I am forever in your debt. There was a huge turnout and I was happy to see a nice mix of regular neighborhood residents as well as folks who I imagine are part of DC’s “elite”. Let me say Target went all out. You couldn’t turn a corner without running into a band, a bar, food or a Target employee asking if they could help you find something. Obviously the first thing I asked help in finding was tube socks. Ok, first I had a couple of beers. Ok, then I had a burger and sweet potato fries. Ok, then I listened to the Mariachi band and some bongo drummers and then the Mariachi band again. But then I was whisked straight to the tube socks. The tube socks were a little anti climactic, I’ll admit, because I couldn’t find any with sweet racing stripes. But did I mention that there was a Mariachi band? Too cool. As for the Target it is gigantic. It actually has two floors and stocks just about anything you could possibly imagine. (Ed. note: This was actually my first time inside a Target.) As you may have imagined after the jump check out tons of cool pictures of the party and the store. (more…)

Neat Neighborhood Find: Dragonfly Design/Decor

By Prince Of Petworth

It never ceases to amaze me how many unbelievable cool shops I randomly come across. I stumbled upon Dragonfly Design/Decor this past weekend at 1457 Church St, NW. At first I was thinking Dragonfly, Dragonfly isn’t that a terrible night club that recently closed? Thankfully this turned out to be a completely different Dragonfly. I had the chance to chat with owner Kim Hessler. While new to me Dragonfly has actually been at this location since January 2006 and prior to that was located in a faraway province called Virginia or something like that. The store is filled with unbelievably cool pieces from Central and Northern China. You can also find many period pieces here ranging from 100-250 years old. Of course you are going to pay for that coolness. Period cabinets range from $1200-$3000 and period tables run from $700-$2200. Of course you will also find less expensive pieces as well. Ms. Hessler explained to me that the store is stocked with goods from many Chinese provinces. Each province has its own style but Ms. Hessler’s favorite is Shanxi in Central China. Hessler also points out that many of these pieces blend so well with contemporary pieces because “they bring warmth with the aged wood that is a nice juxtaposition to contemporary pieces.” Hessler also points out that the store used to be an old auto garage yet surprisingly resembles a traditional Chinese home. Even if you’re not going to purchase something here it super cool to admire almost like visiting a museum. Check out some photos of the interior after the jump. (more…)

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