Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

Creative singles and young professionals don’t care about Sullivan’s. If we’re going to attract vibrancy to Tenley aka DC Uptown, we need to rethink the existing paradigm.

Exactly! No more mom and pop. Bring on the density and Amazon express stores, maybe a Bank of America and maybe a Valero's to ciu terpoint the Wawa.

It's so weird that people think density=bland. Except for outliers like Navy Yard that were created from scratch a few years ago, the densest parts of DC are the ones with the most local character - U St, Capitol Hill, Petworth, etc. The parts of DC that are nothing but bland chain stores are the suburban parts like Tenleytown. More population in a smaller area means more people and more money to support more stores.

Okay explain Columbia Heights, DC's densest neighborhood that is nothing but "bland chain stores" up and down 14th Street? Hell, there's a mall stuffed with "bland chain stores." Zero local character.

So yes, density = bland.

Yes, for real individuality and local character, you need to come to, oh, I don't know, maybe the Milestone Shopping Center in Germantown.

(No, not really.)

If we really had something like Milestone in NWDC that'd be awesome. Imagine getting all your shopping done in one place (Walmart and Target across the street from each other), and at great prices. Plus, not having to stalk for parking, just a sea of empty parking spots even when things are super busy. There's a Wegman's, Home Depot, Best Buy. If it had a Costco then it'd really be complete.

Hard pass

+1. Horrible. If this is what you want, move to Burke.

Or Columbia Heights, which has a Target, Best Buy and a perennially empty parking garage. Plus density!

The next time AU asks for new building permits etc, I suggest approval be made very very difficult for them. They own so many properties in NW, and haven't been the best retail landlords. Complete self interest, which the neighborhood should reflect back at them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

Creative singles and young professionals don’t care about Sullivan’s. If we’re going to attract vibrancy to Tenley aka DC Uptown, we need to rethink the existing paradigm.

Exactly! No more mom and pop. Bring on the density and Amazon express stores, maybe a Bank of America and maybe a Valero's to ciu terpoint the Wawa.

It's so weird that people think density=bland. Except for outliers like Navy Yard that were created from scratch a few years ago, the densest parts of DC are the ones with the most local character - U St, Capitol Hill, Petworth, etc. The parts of DC that are nothing but bland chain stores are the suburban parts like Tenleytown. More population in a smaller area means more people and more money to support more stores.

Okay explain Columbia Heights, DC's densest neighborhood that is nothing but "bland chain stores" up and down 14th Street? Hell, there's a mall stuffed with "bland chain stores." Zero local character.

So yes, density = bland.

Yes, for real individuality and local character, you need to come to, oh, I don't know, maybe the Milestone Shopping Center in Germantown.

(No, not really.)

If we really had something like Milestone in NWDC that'd be awesome. Imagine getting all your shopping done in one place (Walmart and Target across the street from each other), and at great prices. Plus, not having to stalk for parking, just a sea of empty parking spots even when things are super busy. There's a Wegman's, Home Depot, Best Buy. If it had a Costco then it'd really be complete.

Hard pass

+1. Horrible. If this is what you want, move to Burke.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

Creative singles and young professionals don’t care about Sullivan’s. If we’re going to attract vibrancy to Tenley aka DC Uptown, we need to rethink the existing paradigm.

Exactly! No more mom and pop. Bring on the density and Amazon express stores, maybe a Bank of America and maybe a Valero's to ciu terpoint the Wawa.

It's so weird that people think density=bland. Except for outliers like Navy Yard that were created from scratch a few years ago, the densest parts of DC are the ones with the most local character - U St, Capitol Hill, Petworth, etc. The parts of DC that are nothing but bland chain stores are the suburban parts like Tenleytown. More population in a smaller area means more people and more money to support more stores.

Okay explain Columbia Heights, DC's densest neighborhood that is nothing but "bland chain stores" up and down 14th Street? Hell, there's a mall stuffed with "bland chain stores." Zero local character.

So yes, density = bland.

Yes, for real individuality and local character, you need to come to, oh, I don't know, maybe the Milestone Shopping Center in Germantown.

(No, not really.)

If we really had something like Milestone in NWDC that'd be awesome. Imagine getting all your shopping done in one place (Walmart and Target across the street from each other), and at great prices. Plus, not having to stalk for parking, just a sea of empty parking spots even when things are super busy. There's a Wegman's, Home Depot, Best Buy. If it had a Costco then it'd really be complete.

Hard pass

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not enough kids in upper NW DC to support a toy store. They can't even fill their schools there. That's why they need to have such a high number of out of bounds students at Wilson and Deal and Janney etc.

There are plenty of kids to fill Janney, Deal, and Wilson, it's just that many if not most of them are going to private schools instead.

Lack of kids isn't what closed Sullivan's, people are just getting their toys elsewhere, like online where it's cheaper and arrives at your door in hours. It's tough to compete against that kind of convenience.

I agree that people got lazy, but an effort could be made to save Sullivan's. People make a pointed effort to shop at Politics and Prose, because they don't want to wake up and see a void there. We need to save Sullivan's. And it doesn't sound like AU tapped into that, or they could totally have delegated some students to make a student project around saving Sullivan's. Zero imagination.

Creative singles and young professionals don’t care about Sullivan’s. If we’re going to attract vibrancy to Tenley aka DC Uptown, we need to rethink the existing paradigm.

Exactly! No more mom and pop. Bring on the density and Amazon express stores, maybe a Bank of America and maybe a Valero's to ciu terpoint the Wawa.

It's so weird that people think density=bland. Except for outliers like Navy Yard that were created from scratch a few years ago, the densest parts of DC are the ones with the most local character - U St, Capitol Hill, Petworth, etc. The parts of DC that are nothing but bland chain stores are the suburban parts like Tenleytown. More population in a smaller area means more people and more money to support more stores.

Okay explain Columbia Heights, DC's densest neighborhood that is nothing but "bland chain stores" up and down 14th Street? Hell, there's a mall stuffed with "bland chain stores." Zero local character.

So yes, density = bland.

Yes, for real individuality and local character, you need to come to, oh, I don't know, maybe the Milestone Shopping Center in Germantown.

(No, not really.)

If we really had something like Milestone in NWDC that'd be awesome. Imagine getting all your shopping done in one place (Walmart and Target across the street from each other), and at great prices. Plus, not having to stalk for parking, just a sea of empty parking spots even when things are super busy. There's a Wegman's, Home Depot, Best Buy. If it had a Costco then it'd really be complete.

It's the landlords. In this case AU. Not even Tenleytown could f up a Starbucks. Yet is was gone with little to no warning. This my friends is densification. The ANC's all have passed resolutions supporting it and this is the beginnings. The Dancing Crab and pub being sold to developers with zoning variances in hand all blessed and now the neighborhood has nothing. Instead of encouraging small businesses, the future calls for big corporate big box. There will be a lot more housing but it will all be pretty boring.

Good luck to the owners of Sullivan's.

I feel like crying. I did not know that Sullivan’s was closing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel really bad when an old restaurant or store closes, but then I realize that I haven't been there in years. I like the idea of them being around more than I do actually patronizing them.

This right here.

Lots of us patronized them though. With marketing, they could have amped out further. The issue no doubt is the rent. Rumor is that AU was charging 40 grand a month for the Surfside space. Imagine Sullivan's space is steep too. OKAY, but not it will probably sit empty and AU will write it off. Wish they could lower the rent and enable a SMALL BUSINESS to remain in the neighborhood.

I mean you could be right, but there is a small coffee shop and a UPS store on the same level, so I don't understand how the rent is the only issue and it's all AU's fault. Surfside is in a huge space so the rent of course would be higher and they are also a small local business, but they seem to have figured out how to make money hand over fist.

Why do you think that Surfside is printing money? It is a huge spot and it took a huge pandemic hit as well.

My family has tried to support it because we want something to survive in that spot.

I hope that they make it and I hope that their food gets better.

Me too..I much prefer the Millie's food but I like Surfside Vibe. The rent for that spot is insane, and how many restaurants their "failed" before Surfside? My issue is that these landlords on Wisconsin make more money letting properties sit empty than charging outrageous rents. They own lots of properties and just wash money through/write off. However, the failed small business and empty properties are horrible for the neighborhood. DC needs to close this loophole, and at this time I consider AU a BAD NEIGHBOR.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel really bad when an old restaurant or store closes, but then I realize that I haven't been there in years. I like the idea of them being around more than I do actually patronizing them.

This right here.

Lots of us patronized them though. With marketing, they could have amped out further. The issue no doubt is the rent. Rumor is that AU was charging 40 grand a month for the Surfside space. Imagine Sullivan's space is steep too. OKAY, but not it will probably sit empty and AU will write it off. Wish they could lower the rent and enable a SMALL BUSINESS to remain in the neighborhood.

I mean you could be right, but there is a small coffee shop and a UPS store on the same level, so I don't understand how the rent is the only issue and it's all AU's fault. Surfside is in a huge space so the rent of course would be higher and they are also a small local business, but they seem to have figured out how to make money hand over fist.

Why do you think that Surfside is printing money? It is a huge spot and it took a huge pandemic hit as well.

My family has tried to support it because we want something to survive in that spot.

I hope that they make it and I hope that their food gets better.

Is that their only real indoor sit down location? Other locations have high foot traffic. I could only see it working if AU has the same meal plan type set up that GW does where they can use their credits at restaurants and cafes in or adjacent to campus.

And I just confirmed that AU students can in fact use their “EagleBucks” there. So a huge chunk of their business plan probably revolves around selling tacos to college students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel really bad when an old restaurant or store closes, but then I realize that I haven't been there in years. I like the idea of them being around more than I do actually patronizing them.

This right here.

Lots of us patronized them though. With marketing, they could have amped out further. The issue no doubt is the rent. Rumor is that AU was charging 40 grand a month for the Surfside space. Imagine Sullivan's space is steep too. OKAY, but not it will probably sit empty and AU will write it off. Wish they could lower the rent and enable a SMALL BUSINESS to remain in the neighborhood.

I mean you could be right, but there is a small coffee shop and a UPS store on the same level, so I don't understand how the rent is the only issue and it's all AU's fault. Surfside is in a huge space so the rent of course would be higher and they are also a small local business, but they seem to have figured out how to make money hand over fist.

Why do you think that Surfside is printing money? It is a huge spot and it took a huge pandemic hit as well.

My family has tried to support it because we want something to survive in that spot.

I hope that they make it and I hope that their food gets better.

Is that their only real indoor sit down location? Other locations have high foot traffic. I could only see it working if AU has the same meal plan type set up that GW does where they can use their credits at restaurants and cafes in or adjacent to campus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel really bad when an old restaurant or store closes, but then I realize that I haven't been there in years. I like the idea of them being around more than I do actually patronizing them.

This right here.

Lots of us patronized them though. With marketing, they could have amped out further. The issue no doubt is the rent. Rumor is that AU was charging 40 grand a month for the Surfside space. Imagine Sullivan's space is steep too. OKAY, but not it will probably sit empty and AU will write it off. Wish they could lower the rent and enable a SMALL BUSINESS to remain in the neighborhood.

I mean you could be right, but there is a small coffee shop and a UPS store on the same level, so I don't understand how the rent is the only issue and it's all AU's fault. Surfside is in a huge space so the rent of course would be higher and they are also a small local business, but they seem to have figured out how to make money hand over fist.

Why do you think that Surfside is printing money? It is a huge spot and it took a huge pandemic hit as well.

My family has tried to support it because we want something to survive in that spot.

I hope that they make it and I hope that their food gets better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel really bad when an old restaurant or store closes, but then I realize that I haven't been there in years. I like the idea of them being around more than I do actually patronizing them.

This right here.

Lots of us patronized them though. With marketing, they could have amped out further. The issue no doubt is the rent. Rumor is that AU was charging 40 grand a month for the Surfside space. Imagine Sullivan's space is steep too. OKAY, but not it will probably sit empty and AU will write it off. Wish they could lower the rent and enable a SMALL BUSINESS to remain in the neighborhood.

Every parent that needed to buy a last minute birthday present for a party they forgot about on Sunday shopped there. There is a market for this product. Now the only store that offers this product (toy + gift wrapping) is Childs Play. The lame option is Target + gift bag but an self respecting parent would never do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel really bad when an old restaurant or store closes, but then I realize that I haven't been there in years. I like the idea of them being around more than I do actually patronizing them.

This right here.

Lots of us patronized them though. With marketing, they could have amped out further. The issue no doubt is the rent. Rumor is that AU was charging 40 grand a month for the Surfside space. Imagine Sullivan's space is steep too. OKAY, but not it will probably sit empty and AU will write it off. Wish they could lower the rent and enable a SMALL BUSINESS to remain in the neighborhood.

I mean you could be right, but there is a small coffee shop and a UPS store on the same level, so I don't understand how the rent is the only issue and it's all AU's fault. Surfside is in a huge space so the rent of course would be higher and they are also a small local business, but they seem to have figured out how to make money hand over fist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always feel really bad when an old restaurant or store closes, but then I realize that I haven't been there in years. I like the idea of them being around more than I do actually patronizing them.

This right here.

Lots of us patronized them though. With marketing, they could have amped out further. The issue no doubt is the rent. Rumor is that AU was charging 40 grand a month for the Surfside space. Imagine Sullivan's space is steep too. OKAY, but not it will probably sit empty and AU will write it off. Wish they could lower the rent and enable a SMALL BUSINESS to remain in the neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:I always feel really bad when an old restaurant or store closes, but then I realize that I haven't been there in years. I like the idea of them being around more than I do actually patronizing them.

This right here.