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The landscape of Washington, DC is rapidly changing, and this evolving urban landscape is creating tremendous opportunities for business.
The renewed confidence in the District's retail potential is reflected in the wide range of retailers that have chosen to locate here - big box retailers like Home Depot and Target; national clothing stores like H&M, Loehmann's, the United Colors of Benetton, Burberry's, Stein Mart, Gap, Coach and Ann Taylor; bookstores like Borders and Barnes & Noble; shoe stores like Nine West and Foot Locker; and home furnishings like Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and The Container Store.
Over 20 million visitors, 582,049 residents, 75,000 students and a daytime-population of 888,000 are creating demand for national and local retailers. And the market is responding with new stores such as Apartment Zero, Vega, BCBG, Max Azria, Ann Taylor Loft, Smith & Hawken and Modell's Sporting Goods. DC is also home to some of the hottest restaurants such as Zola, Zaytinya and Charlie Palmer Steak.
Retail sales in DC are growing steadily, with over $8.2 billion taxable retail and restaurant sales in 2004. Nowhere is the urban retail renaissance more evident than in Georgetown, where national retailers have combined with local retailers and restaurants along Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, creating a vibrant urban retail mix with the physical charm of "Main Street," appealing to the neighborhood's students, residents and tourists. Georgetown's commercial district has become a top tourist destination due to its compact, pedestrian-oriented scale, abundance of historic architecture and cultural attractions.
Downtown is also emerging as a regional retail center, as it was in the past, with Connecticut Avenue, 7th Street and F Street anchoring commercial corridors and retail districts. Hecht's department store provides a major retail anchor for Downtown, and clothier H&M opened a flagship store in the former Woodies department store building. A new mixed-use retail/entertainment center with destination retail - Gallery Place - will open in fall 2004.
Union Station remains a tourism and retail/entertainment center with restaurants, movies and a variety of shopping amenities - all accessible by Metro.
The District's neighborhood retail corridors are also showing the results of renewed retail interest, with 14th Street, U Street, H Street, Pennsylvania Avenue and Georgia Avenue attracting new local and regional retailers.
The surrounding neighborhoods embrace and support these neighborhood retail districts and corridors, and the neighborhoods exhibit strong spending power (average household income is $74,221). |
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