Bed Bath & Beyond opened its first DC store on February 13 at Gallery Place, on 7th Street NW next to the Verizon Center (formerly MCI Center). The 50,000 square foot domestic merchandise and home furnishings store offers an exciting shopping experience with a fine tabletop and giftware and Harmon health and beauty care department, as well as an extensive line of bed linens, bath accessories, window treatments, kitchen items and much more. This nationwide retail chain has other area stores located at Pentagon Row (Arlington), Bailey’s Crossroads (Falls Church), Tyson’s Corner (Vienna) and Alexandria. Their move into the city is representative of a growing amenity base for future residential growth in Downtown DC.
Further demonstrating that retail follows rooftops, seven grocery stores are either under construction or planned in and around Downtown. They are: Balducci’s in the East End (7th Street); a 55,000 sf urban lifestyle Safeway in Mount Vernon Triangle; three Harris Teeters — one in Adams Morgan and two on Capitol Hill (3rd and H Street NE and Jenkins Row at 14th and Pennsylvania Avenue SE); a replacement Giant at the Tivoli in Columbia Heights; and Trader Joe’s at the Columbia Hospital site. Even more retail is scheduled to follow in Downtown in the 900 block of F Street (delivery scheduled for 2006 and 2007 at two locations) and the old Convention Center site by 2010. This level of development is a leading indicator of more residential units to come throughout the city.