Marvelous Market On 7th – Closed?
Dana just posted a comment on the last post regarding Marvelous Market on the 700 block of 7th St NW.
Dana says: I just walked past Marvelous Market (on 7th) and it appears they have closed up shop. The shelves are emptied and they are moving stuff out. Did anyone know this was going to happen?!
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I feared this day was coming. Whenever I went in there, there was at most one other person shopping, but usually nobody. Did both Marvelous Market AND Dean & Deluca shut down due to lack of demand/revenue? The fact that the closest thing we have had to markets in the neighborhoods couldn’t get enough business to support themselves (both companies that thrive in other neighborhood where they already have competition), tells me that a supermarket might not do as much business as everyone thinks. Would we all shop there? Yes. Do we make up enough demand to keep it in business? Something tells me the potential supermakets have done their homework and decided the answer is something along the lines of maybe, but it could be a struggle, and nobody wants to sign up for that.
This is indeed bad news. It was a great place to buy fresh bread, bagels, etc.
I also noticed that PUA is moved out from the other end of 7th. Their new location is on Pennsylvania.
Hope this isn’t a trend.
Marvelous Market was not a market or the closing thing to a market. The closest thing we have to market is CVS and they do great business.
I just went over there to pick up a loaf of bread. I was so shocked to find them closed. There were items in plastic bags near the front of the door with labels on them for other stores in the area. I was very shocked and saddened to see that it was closed. I had just discovered a great loaf of bread made from yogurt.
I would buy bread there, but the milk would always go bad at least a week before the date on the carton. We learned that lesson too many times.
I agree with the last anonymous post. Marvelous Market was only a market in name. I’ve only bought milk, bread, and pre-prepared spaghetti & meatballs from them.
And after the first few weeks of operation, they stopped carrying my loaf of bread (though they said that I could call them up and they’d have it the next day).
Even CVS (and this isn’t saying much) has milk, bread, and some frozen & non-perishable stuff – and they’re open 24 hours.
Marvelous Market unfortunately became a poorly run business, years after Mark Furstenberg sold his creation (in 1996). Anyone who has examined the Gallery Place MM noticed high prices and hit-or-miss selection for all of the non-baked goods. You could never shop for groceries there. It was called a market, but I could not buy basics like milk, eggs and flour. The small selection of fruit and vegetables were rarely fresh. They did not even post prices, which I believe is illegal in many states. They only stocked Rao’s pasta sauce, which is extrordinarily pricey.
My other concern was they closed at 7 pm, too early for residents to sit and enjoy an after dinner desert at the tables.
They were closed on Sundays, and several times their alarm went off on Saturday night and it was not shut off until someone opened up Monday morning. Did anyone at Marvelous Market give a shi-?
The place was not run well, and I hope its closing does not deter any future entrepreneurs from opening up shop. Potbellys, a few doors away, does gangbusters business.
Now, there are some things I will dearly miss. They sold espresso drinks for people who don’t feel tethered to Starbucks. I remember a cold Saturday morning on the day of a bug event in DC, and the line at Starbucks at 7th and H was out the door. I walked the 100 feet to Marvelous Market for a delicious latte – no line.
They had decent bagels (that is a compliment), although they did not have bagels many weekends. They had peculiar British sweets, which gave the place a unique charm. They had Challah, which made my weekends and holidays special– whether for a Shabbat meal or for Sunday french toast. They even sold flowers, which was a nice touch. They had small cafe tables where tourists could sit and rest and scheme their day in DC.
Due to all of their shortcomings, I will not miss marvelous Market, but I worry about a vacant slot on that row of stores. And am hopeful someone can put in a real market!
Agree that Marvelous Market wasn’t really close to a grocery store. As GPliving points out, you can do more grocery shopping at CVS (or even Cowgirl Creamery) than you could have at Marvelous Market.
And the Dean and Deluca in the Warner building never sold groceries like the one in Gtown: just coffee, bagels, sandwiches, and such. I doubt it left for lack of business. All the retail in that building has closed over the past year, so the landlord must be behind it.
Correction – Mark Furstenberg lost Marvelous Market in bankruptcy – he acknowledges he did not manage it well.
I tend to think that stores like CVS get a lot of demand/customers from business travelers and tourists, which is why they do great business in our neighborhood. Those people will buy medicine, greeting cards, and the food and drink they carry (which is along the lines of a 7-11 convenience store). Stores that carry foods that need to be refrigerated (pate), prepared, etc. would probably get more of the local resident traffic, but a lot less of the business traveler & tourist traffic (I say as a weekly business traveler for many years). If the supermarket needs to compete with the convenience stores and CVS to get enough business to survive, that to me means they would struggle.
I’m certainly not a market analyst, I am just suggesting that there may be valid reasons Balducci’s pulled out and other supermarkets aren’t busting the doors down to serve our neighborhood. I have to assume they have done professional research to support their decisions. The Dean & Deluca and Marvelous Market failures don’t point to an incredibly strong market. I do see people in Cowgirl Creamery a lot, which is great, but a lot of them seem to come from other neighborhoods where they don’t have such a store. I would love to see those statistics.
I disagree that a grocery store would be primarily for neighborhood residents. As I’ve argued to Trader Joe’s numerous times in letters and e-mails, office workers who commute in would be a serious market for any grocery in the area. TJ’s has tons of frozen and prepared lunch options, which are a fraction of the price of lunch at most spots in our hood. Balducci’s also is heavy on the prepared foods, which made sense why they wanted to move downtown.
The Marvelous Market and Dean & Deluca “failures” are completely unrelated to a true grocery store’s ability to thrive downtown.
I agree with you. I drive to the PA Ave. Trader Joes from Columbia Height and would drive to the PennQuarter in a heartbeat because the retail is better. That said I will miss the MM high octane brownies.
On another note, I would shop in Galerry Place more if they had the concentration of stores that G-Town does, or even 50% of the stores that G-Town does. I like GP sidewalks so much better. Why the heck isn’t there more retailm GP has better infrastructure. I can’t even walk on the sidewalks of G’town without getting pushed over! Sorry for the rant.
Balducci’s passed mainly because of financial reasons (they have suffered a lot since they changes from Sutton Place — and needed to concentrate on their existing stores)
Magruder’s will pass on that space because of logistics — they are a small grocer with limited trucking capabilities. I grew up with the kids whose parents/grandparents own Magruders. Still a family operation.
Dean and Deluca shut down for similar reasons to Balducci’s — to concentrate on larger stores that provide a greater income/space ratio.
Marvelous Market failed on 7th street because their rent is extremely high. My friend owns CalTort next door, and I am aware of this cost. They would have to sell hundreds of bagels a day (with a schmear) to beak even.
A drug store will probably go into the spot on 7th and E — from what I overheard recently — a major chain with little local presence. They are known for “larger” grocery sections.
As far as a “real” grocery, there will be none in the area for many reasons: high rent, small footprint, no parking, distribution issues. I know — other cities do it, but if you notice — we do not in DC. Major supermarkets are either very old (ie: got the land/lease cheap before any rel estate boom), located just beyond the highly populated areas (upper NW/NE), and all offer parking for 100+ cars. The Balducci’s pace is not suitable for that. And even with the business model of “mostly prepared foods,” the store would fail. Look at the demise of Eatzi’s (closest location was Rockville, but locations in GA and TX) — ALL prepared foods, but eventually, people were tired of “almost restaurant quality” at crazy prices.
I would LOVE to see a real grocer. I have been in the ‘hood for 3 years and plan on staying for at least another 7. But I see a future for small, specialty stores — like the Creamery. I bet that a butcher (which according to what I overheard again, is not entirely true, but not entirely false), and a real bakery could fill the needs of those who want to shop for daily meal preparation.
I agree with the comment that GP would be able to support a Trader Joe’s-type store that caters to the lunch crowd. I also think that a full-on FRESH grocer would do well.
Anything that tries to cut into CVS’s market will lose, though. MM lost b/c it didn’t offer CVS’s range or hours. But even if that CVS at 7th & H ever feels the heat from competition, they still have an ace up their sleeve — they could renovate the store, which must be overdue by about a decade. A renovated CVS would clean the clocks of any company that tried to use groceries as a loss leader for non-perishables.
I agree with Jason and others that MM wasn’t much of a grocery store. I bought coffee there once, and it was so bad I had to throw it out. I think a real grocer would do much better business.
Also, I heard back from Neil Albert, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. Councilmember Schwartz’s office reached out to him on my behalf. Here’s what he had to say:
“The city is working diligently to provide grocery stores and other retail opportunities downtown and in neighborhoods.
Two examples are the City Vista project which will have a 55-60000 sf Safeway and the Old Convention Center site will have a grocery store.”
The old convention center site is closer to some of us than the City Vista. My only concern is that the Clara Barton was supposed to have a city mandated grocery store and it doesn’t. Just wanted to throw this out there. So far I’ve heard from Tommy Wells and Carol Schwartz about their support for a grocery store in our neighborhood.
The Marvelous Market in Dupont Circle is marvelous and in business for many years. The fruit is fresh, there is a variety of baked goods.
I will miss 7th street’s weekday bagels and their salads and oh yes the carrot cake.
TAPS
Marvelous Market is NOT a supermarket. It was poorly run and the quality horrible. Good riddens. Put a real market in the neighborhood and it will do fine. I’d never thought of going to MM when I needed groceries.
i will miss their apple-bacon breakfast burrito on Saturday mornings.
I am shocked that it closed, but agree it did not have the volume that every other MM in town had (in my eyes). Still, this is some weird gentification hiccup.
Would it be too much to ask for a wine/liquor store there? Central Liquor is too far for me from 6th Street, and I haven’t warmed up to Chinatown Market yet. A Best Cellars or something . . .
speaking of closings, there is a massive moving truck in front of the presbyterian church on 10th and G. It looks as if demolition will start soon…
The problem is that the rent is so exorbitantly high in our area spaces sit empty for years (e.g., the spaces on 7th St on both sides of the District Chophouse to name a few). Another major issue is there’s no parking. While spaces were alloted for Balducci’s in the garage under the Clara Barton/Lafayette, that garage is so full most of the time that parking for customers driving from other areas would be a major nuissance. Obviously, large grocers have armies of analysts working for them to identify business opportunities. If there was as much potential for profits as some on this board think, we would have a grocer already or construction would now be underway. The economics simply do not work out taking into account demand, size and awkward layout, costs and lack of parking. The Balducci’s location is really only within convenient walking distance of maybe 5 condo buildings (this number does not include condos near Mass Ave since they will have a major grocer in the not-to-distant future). This population is not enough to sustain a thriving grocer so any business will need to rely on tourist and non-resident customers. It is impossible not to see that the existing businesses attracting such clientile are the ones that thrive while the new businesses that are entering fit into the same category.
MM had very limited variety and stock, along with very limited hours. It just wasn’t convenient to the many people who live in the area.
If a well stock small market moved to the area, I believe they would survive. There are plenty of residences sprinkled around the Penn Quarter area. (the area near Navy Archives is one example, not to mention Avalon at Gallery Place and the Meridian, and the new condos coming to the area).
Most of these residence rely grocery delivery services or travel to outlying grocery stores.
If you build it, they will come.
Thanks to everyone for sharing your information. I’m sad about it, but have accepted that Walgreen’s will indeed be our new neighborhood grocer. I absolutely DON’T agree with those who say our neighborhood can’t support a grocer and/or we’ll never get one.
I think there’s a lot of shortsightedness by developers and community leaders on this one, with too much belief that when “the market” speaks, it is always correct. Businesses make mistakes all the time, and good ones plan on them. If it’s impossible to shove a suburban Giant into an urban retail space, maybe it’s time for a new model. If it’s happening in other American cities and not DC, my first inclination is not “it just can’t happen here”. Maybe the market here is broken. Would it be the first time something in DC didn’t work properly?
Friends who visit the neighborhood from other cities are always shocked the by amount of empty retail. It’s like a nice shopping mall in the midst of a renovation (seems nice, but where are the stores?). I don’t choose to see this as an indictment of downtown DC, that we can’t support retail. I think a lot of it is developers who are overpricing spaces, choosing to leave them empty and hold out for corporate money and long leases, rather than honor their commitments to create a livable neighborhood. If JPI could put a bank branch in the Lafayette, they would.
anon 9:40, yep the 4 blocks is too far. And I’ve had CL deliver to my home before too, just like Peapod. But having something just a block away would be much nicer.
What else will go in that space? We got burgers, sandwiches, coffee, ice cream, Mexican, and Chinese all covered.
It will be very interesting to watch the dyanimcs change in the neighborhood once the Walgreens opens up. One of the biggest sources of local consumers (especially at the CVS) at 7th & H are people taking the bus west or east – you see them waiting by the bus stops. I wonder if a large Walgreens will attract many of the west-bound bus passengers to move from 7th&H to 7th&E. Maybe not, will be interesting.
Now that the cat is out of the bag regarding Walgreens, this is what I know…
They are desperate to gain market share in DC and wanted a prime downtown location — in fact they were willing to pay almost $10 more per square foot than any other entity.
The store wil be quite large, and well stocked with grocery items. Of course, there will be no fresh meats/baked goods/produce, but a decent selection of shelf-stable items.
Walgreens has a reputation for excellent employee benefits, including ownership — so many Walgreens employees are with the company for many years — and take their job seriously – not like the average minimum-wage clerk.
Yes, I hate the idea of yet another drug store. But the market will bring the high bidders and the businesses who believe they will succeed.
In a perfect world, we would have a grocery, a real bakery, indie boutiques, a jazz club and more. But this is not a perfect world — it is the one we must all work together to create.
Oksy, so when will Walgreens be opening? How depressing! No Health food store, nothing organic, nothing fresh. I was looking forward to our properties going up in value by our grocery store.
By the way, Bed, bath & Beyond is MUCH cheaper than CVS on all drugstore items. I’ll only shop in downtown Walgreens for our fake grocery items.
Oh jon gann, I can’t wait to hear you talk about how great Walgreen’s is after they’ve been open 6 months. I’ve been to CVS stores in the Midwest with excellent service. CVS isn’t the problem, it’s DC’s low-wage workforce.
And the “high bidders” issue is exactly what’s wrong with DC’s retail market. A law firm could offer more per square foot than Walgreen’s could ever hope to pay, but do we want them in the Balducci’s space? What if developers like JPI, who don’t honor their commitments to put in grocery when they got the breaks to do so, started not honoring their commitment to retail and instead started filling up ground floor spaces with offices? Would we have any recourse then? Is there any broken commitment you find unacceptable?
There’s a reason why these spaces have to be zoned, not just letting the market take care of getting (tax-paying) residents what they need to live in a real neighborhood. If it weren’t for zoning, downtown retail would be all banks, hot bars, drycleaners, and offices.
The price per square foot for office space is only up to about 60 dollars in DC and retail space was reported to be up to 100 dollars per square foot on 7th street earlier this year in Washington Business Journal. I have never understood the argument that is given for developers that office space is more valuable because of this.
If retail spaces on 7th Street are charging $100 a foot, I can tell you why they’re staying empty. Most prime Jemal spaces are in the $50-$60 a foot range (maybe as much as $80 for something really special), so I don’t know where WaBizJo is getting its information. It’s conventional wisdom in real estate that offices are pricier than retail, and retail is pricier than residential. So it makes sense that we’d have all offices unless some other force intervenes.
Clearly the Walgreens is bad news for our condos’ re-sale values. All we need in the current market. As one writer pointed out, the customer-traffic for a Walgreens will clearly be very different from that of a custom grocer. Now we’ll have Walgreens and that clothing store selling ghetto fashion on the other side of 7th closer to D. To round things out all we need is a pawn shop and liquor store to turn the neighborhood into the scene it used to be. So depressing!
Before you rant on the “ghetto clothes store” and too may iquor stores, etc., remember that THEY WERE HERE BEFORE YOU BOUGHT into the neighborhood — same with the clubs on F street and the fast food joints that dot the neighborhood.
You chose to move into a neighborhood in transition — and one withe existing businesses — that have been here for many years and will be here long after you get fed up and move back to suburbia.
And, sorry to point this out, but the “ghetto” comment is amazingly insensitive and offensive — and shows why there are problems with this neighborhood.
Its all about common ground and understanding and working together. Sheesh!
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Called the Georgetown location, and Christina confirmed that the 7th Street Marvelous Market has closed. Apparently no one told the MM webmaster either, since a picture of the Chinatown location is the main graphic on their “locations” page (and the location is still listed as open).