It must have been too good to last. Only a year after beginning construction and only five months after opening its doors, the National Pinball Museum is being kicked out by new owners of the Shops at Georgetown Park.

WTOP reported that museum owner David Silverman was sent a letter by Vornado Realty informing him that his lease will be terminated in mid-July. Although the museum’s contract ran through December, the new owners have exercised a clause allowing them to end his lease on 60 days notice. According to the Washington Post, Silverman was asked to leave in order to make way for renovations to the mall.

The Post story notes that Silverman spent about $300,000 of his own money to create the museum, which houses about 200 pinball machines. Silverman is currently in the process of trying to find a place to either temporarily house his collection or permanently move his museum once he is forced to leave Georgetown.

h/t: WTOP. Photo: HeyRocker

The Georgetown Dish and Georgetown Business Association (GBA) are launching a social media channel today for Georgetown-area businesses.

The network, titled “Out & About,” will be offered as a free benefit to members of the GBA and will include announcements and features about Georgetown businesses. As part of the effort, the cosponsoring groups will provide social media training for members of the GBA.

“I do a lot of work with national and international trade associations and everyone is looking at how to use social media [...] to help advocacy efforts,” said Georgetown Dish publisher Beth Solomon in an interview, adding that she believes “the GBA is ahead of the curve compared to other business associations.”

The website will launch tonight at an event at L2 Lounge.

h/t: Georgetown Dish

Commander Salamander, the Wisconsin Avenue clothing store that’s been perpetually “closing” since January, is set to close at the end of the year.

According to Chris Peterson, a store manager who spoke with Washington City Paper, all Commander Salamander employees received final notice of the store’s closing last Thursday. Employees weren’t surprised about the news, though.

“There were lawyers going in and out of the store all week,” Peterson told City Paper.

Alas, poor Salamander. We’ll miss walking past your storefront and gawking at your steep, going-out-of-business sales.

Not 21 yet? Has Third’s stopped accepting your ID? There’s one bar that will never close its doors to you—a candy bar.

With our sweet tooth at the ready, we visited Georgetown Candy Bar yesterday. Here’s what we learned about the store:

• The first half of the deceptively long store features bins of scoopable candy. To our delight, the store seems to leave nothing out—classic gummies and sours, licorice Scottie Dogs, candy rocks, and even a few oddities like “Swiss fruit candies” and neon “techno bears” line the narrow aisle. (Don’t get too excited, though; a pound of assorted candies will set you back ten dollars.)
• Further inside the store lie a variety of taffies, lollipops, and brightly decorated gift sets aimed at children.
• Near the register, you’ll find different brands and flavors of chocolate, including a chocolate-bacon bar we thought only existed in our dreams.

It might be a bit pricey, but if you’re yearning for a sugar rush—or if you’ve always loved chocolate with bacon bits in it—take the worthwhile walk down to 1417 Wisconsin Avenue to visit Georgetown Candy Bar.

Photo: Julie Patterson

Good news for all you athletes: City Sports will open a 10,000 square foot, flagship D.C. store at 3338 M Street this December.

City Sports, which sells outdoor sports apparel and some equipment, markets itself as a store for athletically inclined urbanites. The store will also house an energy drink bar and listening stations. In an interview with the Washington Post, the property’s owner, Anthony Lanier, hoped that it would attract an “urban, style-oriented crowd.”

“We’re surrounded by other great stores, the university and residences,” Michael Mosca, executive vice president of City Sports merchandising, told the Post. “Those things combined makes [Georgetown] a sweet spot for us in terms of our demographics,”

Georgetown’s ideal combination of residents and college students—not to mention its proximity to running and biking trails—has already attracted other sport-related stores, such as North Face, the Running Store, and lululemon athletica.

Call it a hunch, but we figure a few students at Georgetown, which was once ranked one of the fittest schools in the country, will be excited to check out City Sports this winter.

As reported by Georgetown Patch, Wisey’s plans to add seating to the second floor of its building, despite an Advisory Neighborhood Commission resolution that did not support the expansion.

Wisey’s owner Nabeel Audeh appealed to the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment on Tuesday, requesting a zoning exception that would allow him to begin using the additional space. (Because the second and third floors of the Wisconsin Avenue building are zoned as residential space, Audeh needs the BZA’s approval before expanding.)

However, BZA Chairperson Meredith Moldenhauer denied Audeh’s request, noting the lack of input from both the ANC and local residents.

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If you haven’t had your fill of D.C.-centric reality food shows, then make sure to clear your plans for tonight.

At 10 p.m. EST, TLC will premiere its six-part series “DC CUPCAKES” with back-to-back episodes. The show follows Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis, sisters originally from Toronto who opened local hotspot Georgetown Cupcake on Valentine’s Day 2008.

According to the Washington Post, the store sells a whopping 5,000 cupcakes a day, and TLC jumped on to the store’s bandwagon along with its loyal customers. The high sales volume, combined with a unique story—the sisters left successful corporate careers to venture into the dessert business—convinced TLC that a show could be created.

The show has its own page on the TLC site complete with preview videos. Our favorite is the “Cupcakes and Puppies” clip. (Because who doesn’t love both?)

Just in case you happened to be in the store when the camera crew was around, Vox recommends you call your parents … they’d love to see you on television.

And if you refuse to give up your Friday night for a television show because you’d rather go out, why not create your own cupcake-themed drinking game. Here’s a the first rule: drink every time someone complains about a cupcake costing $2.75.

Photo from the TwitPic account of Leslie Sanchez.

While battle over the Shops at Georgetown Park heats up, at least there’s some hope for some fun on the horizon.

The National Pinball Museum is coming to the Shops, according to the Georgetown Metropolitan. David Silverman, its founder and curator, hopes to open the museum in September.

“I am building it as we speak,” Silverman wrote in an email.

Silverman’s grand plan for the museum includes pinball-themed eateries, exhibits on the history of pinball, and workshops on the construction of pinball machines. However, because he plans to build another museum on yet-to-be purchased land, some of these features might not be coming to Georgetown.

The Pinball Museum currently contains 50 pinball machines and is housed in a building behind Silverman’s Silver Spring home. With the move to Georgetown, he says, the museum can exhibit more of his collection. Silverman owns over 850 pinball machines, including a pinball machine precursor from the 1920s.

The large collection should get plenty of use; the museum will not only have exhibits, but also pinball machines for visitors to play.

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We bet you wake up every day and think, “If there’s one thing Georgetown’s missing, it’s pancakes. And if there’s two things Georgetown’s missing, it’s pancakes and another clothing store.”

Well, today must be your lucky day.

Last week, Washington City Paper‘s Lydia DePillis reported that former NFL defensive lineman Tyoka Jackson may open an International House of Pancakes in Georgetown. Jackson, who runs Jackson Investment Companies with his father and brother, already opened an IHOP in Congress Heights, and has plans to open a location in Columbia Heights.

But, don’t get too excited just yet. Jackson told City Paper that he’s also considering Deanwood, a neighborhood in Northeast D.C.

While Vox would love to make pancake runs during the school year, we don’t like Jackson’s chances. Between the Old Georgetown Board, the Neighborhood Advisory Commission, and a few ever-cranky residents, another late-night restaurant in Georgetown seems unlikely. (Remember the Philly P’s debacle?)

On the clothing front, City Paper‘s Erin Petty broke the news that Madewell will open in Georgetown later this year. The J. Crew offshoot will replace the recently shuttered Puma at 1237 Wisconsin Avenue NW. Petty describes Madewell as “downtown styles at uptown prices,” and since we’re fashion-blind we’ll take her word for it.

Photo by Flickr user pinksherbet used under a Creative Commons license.

Looks like Georgetown residents will have a few more places to complain about on Saturday nights.

Yesterday afternoon, the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) unanimously voted to alter Georgetown’s decades-old moratorium on liquor licenses.

The moratorium, which has been in place since 1989, only allowed 61 Georgetown businesses to hold liquor licenses at any particular time. With Wednesday’s ruling, the allowable number of liquor licenses will rise to 68.

The ABC Board’s decision came at the heels of last week’s public Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) hearing, where residents came out in droves to both defend and oppose the proposed increase.

“The implementation of seven new [licenses] would not adversely affect the public peace, order, and quiet or the moratorium,” ABC Board member Nick Alberti said. “Specifically, testimony revealed that adding seven restaurant licenses would create a healthy balance of ABC establishments in the commercial mix of businesses in Georgetown.”

However, the decision surprised few residents. Last May, the ANC passed a resolution that allowed seven additional liquor licenses to be introduced into the moratorium zone. At the time, ANC Commissioner Bill Starrels claimed that too many businesses either left the moratorium zone or kept their licenses for “safekeeping” after going out of business.

In a separate decision, the ABC Board voted down a motion filed by the Citizens’ Association of Georgetown to place seating limitations along Prospect St. NW near Café Milano. According to Alberti, the Board recieved over 100 letters written by residents who opposed the seat limits.