Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was going to suggest Friendship Heights, but it already has a Giggle and same with Capitol Hill, except it already has Dawn Price which is pretty much exactly the same concept as you are describing. People don't shop in Clarendon/Courthouse, they just eat/drink there.

Are you for real? I lived in Courthouse for 8 years, and I can guarantee you, people shop there. Good lord you sound stupid.

I agree! I lived in Courthouse for a long time, and shopping is a huge thing there! And now there are lots of families (more than when I lived there).

Anonymous wrote:I was going to suggest Friendship Heights, but it already has a Giggle and same with Capitol Hill, except it already has Dawn Price which is pretty much exactly the same concept as you are describing. People don't shop in Clarendon/Courthouse, they just eat/drink there.

Are you for real? I lived in Courthouse for 8 years, and I can guarantee you, people shop there. Good lord you sound stupid.

Anonymous wrote:For the most bang for your buck, I would say Capitol Hill. Lots of SAHM, young families, young couples that will probably start families soon. And property values are still relatively reasonable. Eastern Market is BOOMING with families! Lots of pregnant ladies all over the place.

Dupont is way too expensive, and not as many families.

Agreed!

I was going to suggest Friendship Heights, but it already has a Giggle and same with Capitol Hill, except it already has Dawn Price which is pretty much exactly the same concept as you are describing. People don't shop in Clarendon/Courthouse, they just eat/drink there.

Anonymous wrote:I would say Clarendon/Courthouse. It is such a yuppie/ urban area now and it already has conditioned its residence to pay too much for things (Whole Foods and other high end stores). Not sure what the retail rents would like in that area.

It's no longer just DINKY people (Double Income No Kids Yet)???? It was when we moved out, but maybe I'm just getting old and times are changing.

DuPont/logan. Tons of families and we have to drive to the suburbs, Cap Hill or Georgetown for any kids stuff. I get way more than I want at the Children's Place in Columbia Heghts just because its convenient.

I would say Clarendon/Courthouse. It is such a yuppie/ urban area now and it already has conditioned its residence to pay too much for things (Whole Foods and other high end stores). Not sure what the retail rents would like in that area.

Arlington. I'd drive to it.

Anonymous wrote:For the most bang for your buck, I would say Capitol Hill. Lots of SAHM, young families, young couples that will probably start families soon. And property values are still relatively reasonable. Eastern Market is BOOMING with families! Lots of pregnant ladies all over the place.

Dupont is way too expensive, and not as many families.

Cap Hill would be good but Dawn Price is there, right by Eastern Market, so you'd have to distinguish yourself from that. Although Dawn Price is not really what you'd call moderately priced, and I think her stuff tends toward the froufy traditional rather than modern/European, so it shouldn't be that hard.

Between Dupont and Tenleytown would be great. There are tons of families in the Cleveland/Glover/Woodly Park areas.

Kids Closet just closed in Dupont and while it wasn't a great store by any means, it would be really nice to have a store where working parents could run out and buy things at lunch - not just clothes. And also a good place where you could run out an buy a gift during lunch.

Clarendon. You'd make a fortune.

Kalorama (north of Dupont) resident here--my sense is that DC downtown neighborhoods are seeing an increase in families, at least with babies and pre-elementary kids. I see far more parents with kids in the Dupont area than I did even a few years ago, and heard that Ross Elementary has started to run a waiting list. Adams Morgan has a good elementary school, so there are least enough families to keep that one full. The Reef in AM has a family happy hour on Friday evenings and it is always packed!

I think a store that carried a variety of items (v. just clothing or just toys) could do pretty well in the Dupont/Kalorama/Adams Morgan area. It's Metro-accessible and definitely underserved.

For the most bang for your buck, I would say Capitol Hill. Lots of SAHM, young families, young couples that will probably start families soon. And property values are still relatively reasonable. Eastern Market is BOOMING with families! Lots of pregnant ladies all over the place.

Dupont is way too expensive, and not as many families.

Dupont!

Hi moms,
I recently moved here from Boston and I think I finally want to pursue my long-time dream to open a baby store. The problem is that I am new to the area and still trying to figure out the changing demographics of this city. In Boston, there were MANY MORE urban families, many urban SAHMs and lots of baby stores, gyms, classes, etc. Here, so far I get the sense that, at least in the city, there are far fewer kids and people drive more, rely on bigger box stores, etc. So it's making it difficult for me to narrow down my list of target neighborhoods to explore for retail spaces. If you can help me by weighing in with your thoughts - it would be invaluable! I have 3 short questions below that you can answer in this forum or email me separately at milesta@ymail.com. THANK YOU so much! (This is just a starting point, obviously many factors will play into the decision, but I thought your insights would be great!)

1. Do you think a moderately priced baby store that carries high-end, unique, safe baby products imported from Europe (gear, toys, organic cotton clothes, leather shoes, etc) would be more successful in an urban/walkable area or in a suburban/drive-to-and-park area?

2. What would you say is the best area within to DC for something like that? (For example Georgetown is great, but expensive; Columbia Heights is booming, but lacks significant number of young families, etc) Please throw some thoughts from your experience...

3. If the store is eventually expanded to include classes, toy rentals (toy library) would that be enough of an incentive for you to visit the store, even if you don't live close to it?

THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH in advance...