Nearby

As evidence, she says that 33 new businesses opened in Old Town over the last 12 months. And most are the independent, locally-owned businesses for which the district is known. (Old Town’s retail sector is about 77 percent independent, according to the AEDP.) Among the new shops are The Hour, a boutique that sells vintage and chic barware and glassware, and Alexandria Cupcake, which touts its made-from-scratch sweets. Jennifer Donohue, a patent attorney in D.C. who opened the women’s boutique Treat three years ago, told me she picked Old Town after investigating various retail enclaves in the D.C metropolitan area. “I wanted a place that was a little more personable,” she says, “where you could get to know people and have a positive shopping experience. There is a great community feeling in Old Town, and I like being able to support other independent businesses.”

And new ones are coming. Cathal Armstrong, the chef and owner of Restaurant Eve and Eamonn’s A Dublin Chipper, will open two food spots this spring. One, named Virtue Feed and Grain and located near the waterfront, will be a gastro-pub offering “global comfort food.” The other, Society Fair, will be a European-style bakery and butcher shop, and also sell prepared food.

“What everybody loves about Old Town is that it is unique and authentic,” says Landrum, “but things do change. If you come here [after an absence of a couple of years], your favorite shop might still be there, but the one next door to it could be new and a response to market changes. For those of us who’ve been here for a long time, that’s exciting.”

Victor Dash, who owns the men’s shop Dash’s of Old Town, worries that some of the newer shops lack the cachet of some of the businesses they replaced. Says he: “If somebody comes in and stacks clothes in a front window and the place looks like Canal Street, that’s not good.” Two years ago a new “couples boutique” named Le Tache opened in Old Town, selling sex toys and videos in addition to lingerie. It put a twist in the knickers of a few Old Town veterans, and city officials reportedly asked the owner to tone down his window displays. The tempest blew over, though, and Le Tache’s business reportedly has been good. C’est la vie!

While new shops open, some of Old Town’s stalwart retailers and restaurants carry on. They include the children’s toy store Why Not, the women’s clothing shop Gossypia, and La Cuisine, The Cook’s Resource, a destination for cooks featuring hard-to-find European items. What’s more, on Saturday nights, you can still find older amateur vocalists singing classic ballads in the Morrison House Grille piano bar, accompanied by Bob Smith. I tasted Executive Chef Dennis Marron’s homage to coconut while enjoying the music along with a milk chocolate pot de crème. It was a decadent way to end a cold day of trekking. There are also weekend sing-alongs at the elegant Morrison—it is an Old Town tradition.