On Monday, July 30, Shaw Main Streets hosted a total of fifteen ribbon-cuttings, as they continued to celebrate the neighborhood’s ongoing retail boom.
The 2016 Great American Main Street Award-winning commercial revitalization nonprofit has been guiding the neighborhood’s revitalization since 2003. They sponsored the ribbon-cutting event to highlight their successful efforts, which have attracted over 350 new businesses.
“In 2014, we stopped doing stand-alone ribbon cuttings for each business because the number and pace of openings made that impossible to keep up with,” noted Shaw Main Streets Executive Director Alexander M. Padro. “Since then, we’ve cut as many as 25 ribbons in one morning. The pace of new business openings and expansions in our commercial district has been unprecedented.”
The event is a biannual affair, with the second event each year being held as part of the Shaw neighborhood’s annual observance of Small Business Saturday, held each November on the day after Black Friday.
The first eight of the 15 ribbons was cut in Ward 1, represented on the Council of the District of Columbia by Councilmember Brianne K Nadeau. Department of Small and Local Business Development Director Kristi C. Whitfield stood in for Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and helped to wield the three-foot-long golden scissors that will cut the red ceremonial ribbons. The 15 businesses all opened in Shaw since the previous event, held on November 25, 2017.
The ribbon cuttings was preceded by a brief press conference at 10:00 AM at Gaslight Tavern, the latest Hilton Brothers establishment in Shaw (joining The Brixton, El Rey, American Ice Company and Satellite Room, all nearby), a classic American tavern helmed by chef Brendan L’Etoile and mixologist Sam Vasfi. The restaurant opened on January 29, 2018.
The ribbon cutting delegation was transported between venues by the Ribbon Cutting Express, a luxury limo van provided by U Street Parking, which moved to Shaw in June. The 15 ribbon cuttings were conducted in the following order:
10:15 AM Gaslight Tavern, 2012-14 9th Street NW
10:20 AM PO Boy Jim Bar & Grill, 1934 9th Street NW
10:25 AM Secret Lounge, 1928 8th Street NW
10:30 AM Cortez DC Restaurant & Rooftop Bar, Second Floor 1905 9th Street NW
10:40 AM Cosmo Beauty Bar, 1911 Ninth Street NW
10: 45 AM Local First Market, 1924 Eighth Street NW (Entrance on 9th Street)
11:50 AM Violet Boutique, 1924 Eighth Street NW (Entrance on Florida Avenue)
11:00 AM The Shop at Shaw, 1924 Ninth Street NW
11: 10 AM Tobacco & Vape Kings, 1537 Seventh Street NW
11:15 AM Glass House Gallery DC, 1527 9th Street NW
11:20 AM Petropolis, 1408 9th Street NW
11:30 AM San Lorenzo Restaurant & Bar, 1316 9th Street NW
11:40 AM U Street Parking, 1208 9th Street,NW
11:45 AM Morris American Bar, 1020 Seventh Street NW
11:50 AM The Capital Burger, 1005 7th Street NW
The next Shaw multiple ribbon cutting will be held on Saturday, November 24, 2018. For more information on Shaw businesses and Shaw Main Streets events, visit www.shawmainstreets.org.
