Starting tomorrow, over fifty stores in the Georgetown area will take part in the Georgetown Business Improvement District’s holiday sales extravaganza, “12 Days of Merriment.” A full list of the events and specials is available here.

A kick-off party will be held on Saturday from 1-4 p.m. in the parking lot of PNC Bank at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street. Throughout the afternoon free gourmet hot cocoa tasting will be available, while at 1 and 1:50 p.m., our very own Georgetown Phantoms will be singing. There will also be cute dogs up for adoption! If you bring a donation to Goodwill or wear your best holiday sweater, you can also pick up a free “I Shop Georgetown” tote bag. The wearer of the silliest Christmas sweater also has the chance to win a $50 gift card to Clyde’s.

For the couples among us, Wednesday evening is “Shop for Him” night and Thursday is, you guessed it, “Shop for Her” night. Information about the various deals and free amenities is available here. If you’re a Capital Bikeshare member, there are also some special discounts just for you.

Vox‘s favorite offerings are:

• Saturday’s mini-extravaganza on Book Hill, which includes outdoor grilling of chicken sandwichs at Patisserie Poupon, free gift wrapping, elf hats and shopping bags at TD Bank, eggnog, cookies and cheap candy canes at Urban Chic, and many other discounts and free offerings.
• a free screening of Toy Story at the Letelier Theater, located at 3251 Prospect Street, on Sunday at 1 p.m. with free cider and cookies.
• Next Wednesday and Thursday from 5-9 p.m, Sprinkles will offer a free mini Sprinkles cupcake from their holiday flavors: eggnog spice, chocolate peppermint, and vanilla peppermint.
• Not to be outdone, Georgetown Cupcake will give away 100 more cupcakes than usual each day to those who mention the secret holiday flavor, which is updated daily on Twitter and Facebook.
• For the duration of the Merrimenting, Ben and Jerry’s will have gingerbread making from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at their Wisconsin Avenue store.

Image: Georgetown BID

Georgetown’s Business Improvement District (BID) has never seen an opportunity to laud Georgetown that it didn’t like. With that in mind, we present to you … Georgetown BID’s map of Georgetown. [PDF]

Have you ever wondered where they filmed Dave? Or where JFK and Jackie Bouvier made their wedding plans? The BID map identifies them both—on self-guided walking tours!

In between columns of advertisements that promote Georgetown businesses, the map has nifty little guides for “discerning explorers,” which explain what to do, where to eat, where to shop, and where to stay. We assume that only the most discerning of explorers would be allowed to enter the Swedish embassy, for example. (The Swedes would never tolerate the boorish attitude of traditional American tourists.)

Surprisingly, the map does not feature a giant cupcake at the intersection of M and 33rd Streets, accompanied by the words, “WAIT IN LINE HERE, SHEEPLE.”

Maybe we’re being a bit hard on Georgetown BID. We’re sorry, BID members—we’re just upset. When our parents visit, they’ll inevitably use this map instead of listening to us.

H/t We Love DC

Early last year, the D.C. City Council passed a ban on selling single beers in some D.C. neighborhoods, including Georgetown. Faced with major revenue losses, many business owners immediately sought exceptions to the ban from Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. Those who could convince their ANCs that they weren’t selling singles at a price where homeless could buy them—the Logan Circle ANC gave an exception to a Whole Foods to sell pricey microbrews, for example—were by and large successful.

A year later, guess which ANC still isn’t playing ball with one local business?

Yep. Early Friday morning, Georgetown’s ANC met at the offices of the Georgetown Business Improvement District to discuss a request from Dixie Liquor for an exemption to sell high-price craft brews. In a 3-2 vote, the ANC passed a resolution advising the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration not to grant Dixie an exemption, frustrating efforts Dixie began in February 2009.

Back then, in an ANC meeting, Dixie Liquor owner Joy Kurash had argued that Dixie was projected to lose out on $38,000 without the exemption. She also brought samples to emphasize that what she intended to sell was expensive—high-end microbrews that start at $14, culinary liquors, and a Sam Adams “Utopia,” a $180 beer that Sam Adams only brews every other year. The ANC deferred a vote on the exemption.

On Friday, along with Commissioners Ron Lewis, Bill Starrels, and Bill Skelsey, the Citizens Association of Georgetown argued that single-sales of alcohol are directly related to high rates of vagrancy, pointing to the presence of “drifters” in Francis Scott Key Park.

Read the rest of this entry »

The recession may be “over”, but a shopper walking down Wisconsin Avenue or M Street might see the area’s vacant buildings and “going out of business” signs and get a completely different picture of how Georgetown’s businesses are faring.

After taking such a walk and learning that Commander Salamander would soon be joining the list of Georgetown stores that had either closed or moved in the last year, Vox decided to try to get a clearer picture of the area’s economic climate by talking to James Bracco and Nancy Mirahira at the Georgetown Business Improvement District and John Asadoorian, a retail broker who represents property owners and stores like Rugby and Georgetown Cupcake.

Although some retailers have suffered recently, Georgetown’s businesses weren’t hit any harder than other commercial districts, according to Bracco, the executive director of the BID.

“People are just shopping a little smarter now,” he said, citing the country’s still high unemployment numbers. ”Those are all potential consumers who don’t have money in their pocket to go buy a new pair of jeans, much less a designer couch.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Bye bye blue bus?

It’s been a banner month for the Circulator: after the Wisconsin Avenue portion of the Georgetown-Union Station loop was saved from elimination in in the 11th hour by Mayor Adrian Fenty, plans are in the works to create a new line connecting Georgetown with Rosslyn.

According to the Washington Examiner, local officials are pushing for the creation of a new Circulator route that would replace the Georgetown Metro Connection “Blue Bus,” which is currently run by the Georgetown Business Improvement District.

The Blue Bus was conceived of as a way to demonstrate the demand in Georgetown for public bus service to a nearby Metro stop, and currently serves between 35,000 and 40,000 riders per month.  But the Blue Bus was only designed as a temporary solution, and the BID is hoping that the District Department of Transportation will take over the route.

Last week, D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), whose district includes Georgetown, introduced a bill to change the rule preventing the Circulator from running outside D.C. city limits.

Although the BID says D.C. leaders have pledged financial support and Rep. Jim Moran (D—Va.) secured federal money for new buses, DDOT spokesman John Lisle said they “have no plans for a new route at this time.”

This Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, 30 local restaurants will showcase some of their best cuisine at the sixteenth annual Taste of Georgetown.

Among the restaurants participating are 1789, Bodega, Café Bonaparte, Filomena Ristorante, Hook, Morton’s, and Paolo’s.

Tickets are $5 per dish, or if you want to go all in you can drop $20 to get five tasting tickets.

The proceeds of the event will go to the Georgetown Ministry Center’s services to support the homeless. So, if  you want to try some of the finest food in Georgetown and help the community while you’re at it, try Taste 0f Georgetown.

Tuesday night’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting came after a very happy morning for the organization and the neighborhood, in which Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) visited Georgetown to announce that the Circulator’s service on Wisconsin Avenue would not be discontinued. In this spirit of goodwill, the ANC unanimously approved a thank-you letter to Mayor Fenty for his sympathy to residents.

Apparently that goodwill did not translate into holiday spirit, though, as Commissioner Charles Eason criticized the Georgetown Business Improvement District’s plans for its 2nd annual “Merriment in Georgetown” celebration.

Planned for Sunday, December 6 at the corner of M St. & Wisconsin Ave., “Merriment in Georgetown” will feature free photos with Santa, hot chocolate and cider and strolling carolers. Sounds delightful, but Eason was concerned that the celebration is too disruptive to traffic and that not enough residents will attend. Thankfully, that didn’t stop the ANC from approving “merriment”.

The tensions over the new Philly Pizza location on Potomac St. are boiling over. The late-night hot-spot has been a thorn in the side of neighbors since it opened.

At last night’s meeting, Potomac St. residents shared eye-witness accounts of “intoxicated teenagers,” Commissioner Bill Starrels provided photos of the “mob scene” present early Saturday morning and referenced reviews on Yelp.com glorifying the pizza’s particular appeal to drunken folks. According to the ANC, Philly P’s lack of space, liquor license and general chaos separates it from other late-night establishments.

An important meeting regarding the fate of Philly P’s will be held next week, involving the ANC, Metro, Councilman Evans’ office and Georgetown President Jack DiGioia. Although the details seemed a bit hazy at the meeting about what can actually be done, it’s clear that nobody from the ANC is a fan of thin, tasteless slices of pizza doused in ranch sauce.

Looking for a way to make Georgetown retailers’ tough times into your personal gain? Well, you’re in luck.  About 60 stores, restaurants, bars and spas are joining together to have weekly Happy Hours every Wednesday this summer.

The deals vary from establishment to establishment, but here are some of the highlights:

• Bangkok Bistro (3251 Prospect St.): $1 per piece of sushi, $2 drinks from 3 to 6 p.m.
• Sugar (1633 Wisconsin Ave.): 15% off all clothing, plus complimentary “treats and sweets.”
• Peacock Café (3251 Prospect St.): Half-price burgers, calamari and nachos, $4 beers, $5 glass of wine, $6 cocktails, $7 martinis between 4 and 7 p.m.
• Contemporaria ( 3303 Cady’s Alley): Free prosecco and 15% off dining chairs.
• Garretts Restaurant & Tavern (3003 M St.): Half-price burgers, domestic beers, rail liquors and house wines.
• Poppy (3235 P St.): Free glass of Barefoot bubbly and the chance to enter the weekly raffle for a piece of silver jewelry from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Salon Rafik (3307B M St.): 15 % off any service or product.
• Paolo’s Ristorante (1303 Wisconsin Ave.): $3 classic cocktails, $3 house wine by the glass, $4 drafts (Stella and Guinness) from 4 to 7 p.m.

You can check out the full list of participating businesses at the Georgetown BID website.  The recession’s silver lining never looked so good!

The Georgetown Business Improvement District, an association of neighborhood business owners, is devoting $100,000 to hire off-duty police officers to patrol the neighborhood, according to the Georgetown Current (PDF).  According to the article, the BID is hoping an increased police presence will mitigate the uptick in criminal activity that general accompanies economic downturns.

“Unfortunately when the economy goes down, criminal activity goes up,” said Crystal Sullivan, the vice president of the group’s board …  “The intent is that we will have a greater police presence in the peak hours of the Georgetown community.”

[BID director of operations John] Wiebenson declined to say what times of day the officers are working, saying it could reduce the program’s effectiveness.

The BID already has six officers on foot patrol through its existing reimbursable police detail program. According to some estimations by the Georgetown Metropolitan, the $100,000 would probably cover one additional officer for a year (or perhaps two if the BID is participating in the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration’s matching program). The off-duty officers have full arrest powers.

According to the article, the BID also budgeted $10,000 to study the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of installing a camera system.

Via the Georgetown Metropolitan.