Washington, D.C
Retail Activity in DC Outpaces National Average
The Washington, D.C., retail market has made a full recovery from the pandemic, outpacing the national average in terms of total sales and store openings, according to a new report by JLL.
Since the start of 2022, more than 250 retailers have opened in the District, while only 118 have closed. And monthly retail sales grew 7 percent year-over-year as of May, which exceeded the U.S. national average by 170 basis points.
“Across the city, retail openings have outpaced closings at a rate of 2 to 1 since 2022, and openings have outpaced closings in every retail submarket,” Tammy Shoham, research director for JLL (JLL), told Commercial Observer.
The District’s strong retail showing is largely due to its unique demographics, Shoham said. Relative to other cities, a greater share of D.C. residents are in a kid-free stage of adulthood, which translates to more disposable income.
“If D.C. was a state, it would have the highest disposable income of any state in the country — $77,937 in D.C. vs. $55,832 in the U.S,” Shoham said. “They go out to restaurants, bars, and other entertainment retail more frequently, and the retail in D.C. is keeping up with their local demand.”
The recent slate of retail openings cater to that demographic, with new restaurants and entertainment options, like pickleball courts, experiential pop-ups and e-sports bars.
Still, you have to look at things from a neighborhood-specific lens.
While openings have exceeded closings in every retail submarket, the ratio of openings to closings in office-intensive submarkets such as Downtown D.C. and Golden Triangle is close to 1 to 1, according to the report. Many of the openings are in new food halls such as Western Market and International Square.
“The bar on food quality in D.C. keeps getting higher, and some of the restaurant growth comes from new chef-driven concepts,” Shoham said.
Georgetown is the hottest market with very few retail opportunities left.
“With 62 retail openings since 2022, Georgetown is a real standout in terms of retail recovery,” Shoham said. “Georgetown has also had more non-food/beverage related retailers open than any other submarket. Notably, online retailers choose Georgetown when opening physical storefronts in D.C. There are 11 such ‘clicks-to-bricks’ retailers that have opened in Georgetown or will open soon.”
Retailers are also flocking to the waterfront as well, the report noted. Navy Yard and The Wharf collectively had 34 retailers open and only three closures since 2022. Both submarkets could be characterized as 15-minute cities, offering live-work-play options within walkable neighborhoods.
“The Navy Yard is also seeing increased focus by national retailers because of the heavy concentration of the younger demographic and the traffic driven by stadium events,” Shoham said.
In addition to the District’s strong demographics, D.C. retailers also capture spending from people who live in the surrounding suburbs, one of the wealthier regions in the nation. Eight of the top 20 counties in the U.S. in terms of median income surround D.C., including the top two wealthiest in the nation, Loudon County (median income $147,111) and Falls Church (median income $146,922), per the most recent census.
“The District’s population swells from 671,000 to 1.1 million during the work week, and these office workers spend money on retail, too,” Shoham said. “Additionally, a strong rebound in tourist traffic are all mighty drivers for retail success.”
The reliance on an influx of office workers is, of course, a double-edged sword, and will depend on where office occupancy levels out.
“The District is doing quite well, but we cannot consider retail to be doing universally well until more workers are back in the office,” Shoham said.
JLL is also tracking 70 more retailers that will open by 2024 and expects more new leases to be announced between now and then.
Keith Loria can be reached at kloria@commercialobserver.com.
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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, December 26th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.
MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next, WORLD commentator Cal Thomas on a bad Christmas tradition in Washington D.C.
CAL THOMAS: When Washington politicians speak of a Christmas tree this time of year, they are not referring to an actual tree. It means they’ve loaded up a bill with another kind of “green,” the kind that’s decorated with money.
The “bipartisan” bill passed just before midnight last Friday, minutes before a government “shutdown” would be an embarrassment to anyone but the politicians who voted for it. Like Christmas, this scenario gets played out almost every year with no regard for the growing debt.
The first bill was more than 1,500 pages. Elon Musk denounced it and suddenly it shrunk to over 100 pages, but that was too little for the big spenders. What passed last week at 118 pages may take days to digest, but you can be sure of one thing: pork is part of it. Always is.
For the last ten years, Republican Senator Rand Paul has published what he calls a “Festivus” report on just some of the wasteful spending in which our Congress is engaged. His latest – and you should Google it to see it all – includes the following:
Some of the highlights – or lowlights as I like to call them — include funding for the National Endowment for the Arts to subsidize ice-skating drag queens and promoting city park circuses. Additionally, the Department of the Interior invested in the construction of a new $12 million Las Vegas Pickleball complex. Interior also allocated $720,479 to wetland conservation projects for ducks in Mexico. This year, the Department of State is featured eleven times, with expenditures including $4.8 million on Ukrainian influencers, $32,596 on breakdancing, $2.1 million for Paraguayan Border Security (what about security at our border?), $3 Million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in Brazil, and much more!
Hey, it’s not their money, it’s our money.
At least this time a pay raise for members didn’t make it to the final bill. Members should be having their pay cut, not raised, for under-performing.
Perhaps Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk can do something about the misspending that has led to the unsustainable $36 trillion dollar debt with interest of $1 trillion dollars just this year.
Others have tried and failed to break the spending habit. Maybe they will succeed this time, but the odds are not good. It’s not called “the swamp” for nothing.
I hope you had a Happy Christmas. Your politicians did.
I’m Cal Thomas.
WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.
Sidwell Friends School and St. John’s College continue to headline the District of Columbia girls basketball Top 10 poll.
The undefeated Quakers (7-0 overall) are headed to California to participate in the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego while St. John’s (10-0) will be home for Christmas after winning the St. Petersburg bracket at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational in Florida.
The Cadets will host their Holiday Hoopla mixer, Dec. 30 and 31.
Theodore Roosevelt debuts in this week’s poll at No. 10.
Previous rank: 1
The Quakers will play at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego starting Thursday.
Previous rank: 2
The Cadets won the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational championship in Florida.
Previous rank: 3
The Frogs, winners of three straight, next plays at the Christy Winters-Scott Invitational Dec. 31.
Previous rank: 4
The Colts will play Archbishop Carroll at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday.
Previous rank: 5
The Cubs will play at the Candy Cane Classic at Thomas Johnson (Md.) Friday and Saturday.
Previous rank: 6
The Ramblers will play at the Beltway 8 Holiday Classic in Houston starting Friday.
Previous rank: 7
The Bulldogs will play Charles H. Flowers (Md.) at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday.
Previous rank: 8
The Tigers will play at the Candy Cane Classic at Thomas Johnson Friday and Saturday.
Previous rank: 9
The Penguins split with Anacostia and No. 6 Eastern.
Previous rank: Not ranked.
The Roughriders will play KIPP School at the Title IX Classic Holiday Invitational in Maryland Friday.
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