With the recent anouncement of an upcoming Yes! Organic Market location in the U Street Corridor, many of you have expressed concern on how this would impact Ellwood Thompson's resolve to open a Columbia Heights location.  We assumed there would be very little impact as the retail corridor around the Columbia Heights Metro serves as a distinct, separate market and it is clear that the demand for a specialty, organic market in this neighborhood is very high.  Yes! Organic is also small-scaled compared to Ellwood Thompson's at only 5,000 square feet.  Ellwood Thompson's is proposing a Columbia Heights location that is triple the size.

He went on to say, "This does not in any way change our focus of the possibility of coming to CH in near future.  Ellwood Thompsons shopping model is full service and is very focused on local produce/kitchen prepared/meat/seafood with all the staples like grocery/frozen/dairy  items/bulk as well with a wonderful knowledge based Nourish department for internal health and body care."

Youngman said that he would like to give us "some good news in the future."

Please stay informed and visit our special section on Ellwood Thompson's.  We encourage you to continue expressing your support by leaving your comments here.

Comments

Written by Park Road Guy on 2007-09-24 22:58:20 I am excited that Yes! Organic Market is coming to the area and might even frequent it from time to time, but I have to agree that this branch will be situated in a very different market. I personally do most of my shopping on foot or bike, so I don't think I would venture that far south and then back up north (ugh) up a hill again with bags of groceries... That said, I do make occasional trips to Whole Foods where I drop way too much dough on one bag of groceries and am left with my jaw wide open pondering the bill... I don't know if my financial worries will be resolved with the addition of Ellwoood Thompsons, but I do presume that my thighs won't be burning from a trek down 14th and back and I am also hoping that the selection of produce and other items will surpass the bland and preservative laden crap that Giant peddles, not to mention bypassing the massive weekend lines and general disorganization of the place... In any case, I welcome both options and can't wait til both open.

Written by GforGood on 2007-09-25 08:18:20 Excellent. Obviously Youngman is both a great PR person, but also understands that Yes! Organic Market is not a threat at all due to its location (btw, there is another one coming near the Petworth metro), different concept&selection, and size. In fact, if anything, they may be good to each other's business, especially in the long run.

The New Yes! Won't Adversely Affect an Written by Mark on 2007-09-25 09:41:21 As noted, CH is a distinct market and not walkable to the new Yes! location. Also, a CH store would be the only location to draw from all northern neighborhoods including 16th St Heights (my neighborhood), Crestwood, Brightwood and Petworth. ET's in CH is a winner for both the store and the city.

Written by Bill on 2007-09-25 19:37:56 This is very encouraging news from Ellwood Thompson's -- thank you CHN for sharing this very encouraging news with us. I won't disparage Giant as it serves an important need in my view. Having said that, I really believe there is a huge amount of support for the Ellwood Thompson's business model and clearly lots of community interest in making their arrival in Columbia Heights a reality -- great to see so many people rallying around this one.

Written by sergio!!! on 2007-10-21 14:21:45 ellwood thomspons would be great!!! i cant wait for it to open!!!

Any news? Written by Hungry on 2007-10-23 19:51:09 I would love a follow-up from Ryan Youngman to let us know how negotiations are going and when he hopes to open. Does anyone have any news?

Written by on 2007-12-02 18:55:34 Yes! Also has plans to open a location in the building going up at Georgia and Taylor -- so between the two. That does but a squeeze on CH. CH still will draw from a large area, although much of that will be walkable me thinks. Travel to and from CH is going to be a nightmare by anything other than walking or transit in the near future. Which would be fine if transit options into CH were a little better from the north. There is some density around the Petworth station but the real money to the north is in Crestwood and the various Heights neighborhoods and those are so suburbanized I doubt they'll take a bus to go shopping in CH.

Written by on 2007-12-17 12:02:56 I just got back an email from Ryan Youngman - he says they are moving forward, but have no real news. They hope to have good news by January 1st.

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