West Elm is closing their downtown DC store

Dressing windows at West Elm, Downtown DC.

When it opened, Mayor Fenty heralded it as a sign that DC is the best retail center in the U.S. Of course, that is the kind of knowledge-less driven cheerleading that is expected from municipal executives. Still, it was nice to have a store (even if the design sensibility doesn't appeal to me all that much) like it downtown.

The Washington Business Journal reports in "West Elm closing D.C. store," that the store is closing. Here's my reaction:

This isn't a total surprise. It proves that retail recruitment needs to be an incredibly nuanced and judicious process. It isn't just a matter of getting a business to locate in DC, anywhere in DC, where they locate their store really matters.

Had West Elm been located to near where Room & Board has located on 14th Street NW in "Mid City", the two stores (along with the other related stores existing such as Muleh or Urban Habitat) would have helped to center the 14th and U area as the beginnings of a more hip furniture/home furnishings district as compared to the more upscale furniture district that is being developed on upper M Street in Georgetown. (See "Developer Infuses Historic Properties With Commerce" from the New York Times about Anthony Lanier's projects in Georgetown.)

Add a CB2, try to figure out how to insert a couple other furniture stores (such as Pompanusuc Mills, etc.) to further extend the cluster.

Downtown, West Elm (other than Macys) is a lonely retail nonclothing outpost. Without critical retail mass, not to mention the decline in the number of new households locating in the center city as the real estate market slowed--you need lots of turnover in the housing market, lots of new households coming in, to support furniture and home furnishings stores--it's not a surprise to me that the store failed.

You need to plan for a store's sustainability, not just its opening, when you do retail recruitment and development. Cheerleading is no substitute for really understanding the dynamics of your retail district.

See "Home Furnisher Opening in Woodies Building: West Elm's Arrival Heralded as Key Step in Revitalization of Downtown Retailing," from 8/20/2007 in the Washington Post, and the city press release, "West Elm Opens Flagship Store in Downtown DC."