Jewelry Store to Close; Small Businesses Struggle

Although yelp.com contributors hailing from as far away as San Francisco and as close by as Northern Virginia have dubbed "the best place in D.C. to buy a piece of unique jewelry" and a "beautiful" store "with a well-curated selection," this small boutique is making plans to close its Georgetown doors.

Owner Heidi Hess says she is shifting her sales strategy online. Poppy, located at 3235 P St. NW, will close on Feb. 26. A chocolate shop will open in its place under new ownership.

"I'm a fabricator and designer myself and owning a business takes so much time and energy," Hess said. "I found myself getting bogged down with all those responsibilities."

Poppy, which opened in December 2008, is the latest is a string of local shops and restaurants to close in the neighborhood, including , and, most recently, , a mid-century modern vintage store, which announced it will close in March after years of business on Wisconsin Avenue.

A variety of factors including high business taxes, rising rents and a sluggish economy have affected small shops like Poppy.

"Overhead is hard in this town," Hess said.

But the recent news of business closings in Georgetown seems at odds with a positive uptick in the economy. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, retail sales grew for the seventh straight month in January. Although last month's increase was just 0.3 percent over December, it represents a 7.8 percent increase over January 2010 retail sales.

Georgetown Patch Editor Shaun Courtney interviewed Jim Bracco, executive director of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, about retail business in Georgetown last September. Bracco could not be reached for comment on recent store closings.

Courtney wrote in the published Sept. 13:

Bracco said it has to "come down to consumers wanting to spend discretionary income." He added, "those at the luxury end have been hurt pretty bad. People are not spending those kinds of dollars for those kinds of products," saying people choose to go out to a nice dinner rather than buy a $6,000 couch. Again Bracco leveled, "we have a lot people who walk the streets here on Fridays and Saturdays; a lot of them don't have bags."

For Hess, the decision to close Poppy will usher in the next chapter of her career — and one she looks forward to. By moving her retail business online, Hess says she hopes to focus on her own jewelry-making. She is also considering a collaboration with other local artists to open a mixed-use gallery and retail space in the future.

"It's acutally a good thing," Hess said. "I think it's going to be a good next step."

Online: www.poppymetals.com