Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Renovation plans push out shops at Georgetown mall

Shops at Georgetown Park
The Shops at Georgetown Park complex is an indoor mall complex along M Street. Photo courtesy of D.B. King under Creative Commons License.

The Shops at Georgetown Park will undergo renovations to rejuvenate the mall, after more than half the storefronts closed at the end of last month.

As shopping traffic in the M Street complex has taken a dip in recent years, the mall’s manager Vornado Realty Trust plans to refresh the space and bring in new retailers, Bill Starrels, vice-chair of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission for Georgetown, said Monday. Starrels did not elaborate on the details or timeline of the upgrades, but said that “most of the stores had to be moved out to do renovations.”

After 10 leases expired Dec. 31, the total closed units rose to almost 60 out of 110. Stores that remain include Anthropologie, Express, GNC and Victoria’s Secret.

“We are readying Georgetown Park for redevelopment, and working to create a plan that adds to the great fabric of Georgetown,” Mara Olguin, vice president of marketing for Vornado Realty Trust, said.

Lorenzo Caltagirone, the owner of Total Party, said that while he hasn’t seen a decline in regular customers, he did notice “a drop in people stumbling upon [the] store, such as tourists and foreigners.”

Barnes and Noble also cleared out its Georgetown real estate at M and Thomas Jefferson streets, a Vornado-owned property, Dec 31. The bookstore still operates from two other locations in the District.

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