Pieces clothing store packs it in
Just as area residents learned of the return of Rostas Collections, another Silver Spring clothing store called it quits.
Pieces of Silver Spring, a boutique catering to young urbanites with wads of disposable income, packed it in sometime last week, according to Gary Stith, director of Silver Spring’s regional center.
Stith didn’t say why the store closed, or if it had moved to another location.
Parked on the northeast corner of Georgia and Silver Spring avenues, Pieces opened in March 2007. At the time, owner Philip Forde was banking his business on future development. He also hoped to contribute to the area’s commercial revitalization.
“I saw a lot of opportunity for a retail business here in Montgomery County,” Forde told The Penguin back then. “With all the development that’s going on, we’re going to do well here.”
But then came the economic downturn. The housing and commercial development projects that Forde counted on to feed his business either stalled or were snuffed out completely. And faced with higher prices on food and transportation, consumers were less likely to drop as much as $60 for one of Pieces’ graphic tee shirts.
It’s unknown whether the property’s owner has sought another tenant for the space.
Lead photo: Pieces of Silver Spring, during its first week of business. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP.
40 responses to “Pieces clothing store packs it in”
April 21, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I liked their clothing but the prices were a little on the pricey side. Due to the current demographics of the area, higher-end stores like Pieces and Marimekko will not do as well as middle and lower end stores like NY & Company and Steve and Barry’s. As I stated earlier, I do not know how Marimekko stays in business. That store is constantly empty.
April 21, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Wasn’t really my style, but it’s a shame it left–businesses are a little sparse in that area of SS and the staff at Pieces was very friendly and helpful the couple of times I walked in.
As for Marimekko, I’ve bought several gifts there, but mostly on sale. The store seems somehow connected to the Web store at http://www.honfleurhome.com/, so maybe they do a good Web business to move stock? And Marimekko itself probably has pockets deep enough to keep it open as a flagship to help market their wares, which are also sold through other stores, like Crate and Barrel.
April 21, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I don’t get Marimekko. Does it actually sell anything? All they seem to have for sale are pieces of fabric.
April 21, 2008 at 3:51 pm
This is very sad. Every time I passed Pieces, I wanted to put it in a time machine and send it back to the 1960s and 1970s. Slender, young, fashion-forward people made up a larger share of the population then. Alas, we are turning into frumpy drudges with little discretionary income.
That charming historic building remains. The now-vacant space would make a great little coffee shop/gallery. Highland stays busy, so does Kefa. And the cafe at Borders is always crowded.
April 21, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I loved Pieces and maybe I was one of the few who actually shopped there, the prices are comparable to what you would have found at a department store and boutiques in the city.
What does this say about Silver Spring that only half@ssed stores like S&B, Burlington Coat Factory, and Anne Taylor can make it. Is this area really that poor??? Hopefully it’ll change as more people turn to living inside the beltway in light of gas and economy - this chick can dream.
Marimekko - off in the fashion but produces GREAT materials for upholstery, drapes, wall dividers if your creatively inclined. A lot of their materials make it onto the furniture in Anthropologie. Would be great to find a pair or chairs at a garage sale and redo in their fabric.
April 21, 2008 at 4:48 pm
“Silver Spring Fug” LOL
April 21, 2008 at 4:56 pm
As much as I love the idea of the individual shopowner opening a store like Pieces, the only way that stretch of GA Ave is going to make is if either a) an “anchor” type store moves in and creates foot traffic or b)a developer buys up the entire stretch and repositions it by leasing out to (mostly) all new tenants. The same thing will need to occur on the north side of Colesville Road.
A great example of this is the redevelopement of a similar stretch a few years back in Cleveland Park, on the west side of Connecticut. The collection of attached building was semi-delapidated and the tenant mix lower-end. The entire block was renovated and leased to (for the most part) non-chain tenants. It has been an enormous success.
Of course, they already had a ton of foot traffic and an metro station at its door step. But this block has 75,000 cars a day (or more?) driving past, plus a local population eager not for just one little trendy clothing store, but a destination of shopping.
In the meantime, people with disposable incomes from Silver Spring, 16th Street Heights, Takoma Park & Wheaton have to drive to Bethesda to get anything decent. There are many of us and our time will come.
April 21, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Anne Taylor<- 1/2@assed?? How do you figure? I love that place! Some of us enjoy the clean classic look with a bit of youthfullness, thank you.
That being said, it is sad to see these special places go. Wrong timing.
April 21, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Silver Spring is not Bethesda and will never be. That is ok with me. I will never buy anything at Steve and Barry’s but I can see this business doing very well in DTSS. We need businesses that cater to the demographics of the people that live and shop in the area. These are the businesses that will thrive. I have never been to Rostas but, evidently, they had enough of a following for them to make a return to the area. I’d rather see places like Steve and Barry’s and Rostas in the area than a Dollar store. A Dollar store would be a sure sign that the area was in trouble.
April 21, 2008 at 6:23 pm
What is with all the Steve and Barry’s hate? Everything in the store is 9 bucks. My girlfriend loves the Bitten stuff and I got a couple of pairs of work kakki’s for cheaper than old navy, which is saying something.
I make a decent salary but I have to either drive or Metro to work, and both of them average around the same price a week ($50). Gotta cut expenses somewhere, and if that means that I wear Steve and Barry’s kakki’s to work instead of Banana Republic, then so be it.
I echo the statements of Silver Spring not being Bethesda and everyone being fine with it. Sometime over the last year or so I really started to enjoy the things in Silver Spring I can walk to and the fact that it was not Bethesda. It’s too bad that when I move out of my four bedroom house that I’m renting and into a one-bedroom apartment next year, I’ll need to seek accomodations elsewhere within my budget. I really like it here.
April 21, 2008 at 8:23 pm
I’m past the age when I’m going to wear much, if anything, from Steve & Barry’s, and the missus would like a bona fide Ann Taylors, not the loft. It’s good that those stores exist in DTSS, but to be blunt, the middle-aged, middle to high middle class demographic is mostly out of luck when it comes to clothes shopping options, and a smart retailer would realize that and move in.
Not that I can see it happening soon in that wreck called City Place, but I’d love to see a Dillards or a Nordstroms move in. Maybe then I could find buy men’s underwear where I live, for cripes sake!
April 21, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I would walk by Pieces on the weekends on my way to Mayorga and never saw anyone in the store. Still, I’m sad to see it close up. This stretch of Georgia Avenue does not get much foot traffic and the other side is even worse. I hope that when the Hook and Ladder opens in the old Firehouse it will anchor the area and draw some more folks away from Ellsworth Drive.
April 22, 2008 at 1:20 am
Another blow to gentrification. Muah Ha Ha Ha! Good riddance.
Look, if the developers were smart, they would stop renting property to these niche stores that cater to people of a certain socio-economic class with a certain high income. The demographics of Silver Spring are solidly middle-class with pockets of lower economic class residents. Silver Spring has the most racially and ethnically diverse communities on the entire East Coast. Yes…even more than Brooklyn, NY or Brookline, Mass.
It would be nice if Silver Spring had stores that catered to middle-class shoppers instead of the mega-yuppie crowd. It would be great if we had:
A bowling alley. And not that God awful, yuppie pretentious Lucky Strike chain either.
More dive bars. Especially catering to the working man and artist bohemian crowd.
More ethnic restaurants.
More hair styling places. Just kidding.
A music club for local artists (A Maryland version of The Black Cat).
How about more space dedicated to art and photo galleries?
Some independent antique shops wouldn’t hurt either.
More ethnic karaoke bars! Not kidding here.
How about a Best Buy inside Shitty Place?
The wish list continues. If you want to shop at stores with funny sounding names and outrageous price tags, go to Bethesda, go to Georgetown, go to Arlington, and go to Potomac.
April 22, 2008 at 8:00 am
All good suggestions, YuppieHater.
But I believe nearly all of them are subject to the same forces that may have taken Pieces out of the scene, namely, decreased discretionary spending. When food and fuel prices increase, and salaries remain stagnant, consumers must weigh whether they really want or need that $60 tee shirt. Or that piece of art from the local gallery. Or that old curio from the local antique shop.
And that raises a question for everyone:
In last year’s Quality of Nightlife survey, I asked people to describe their incomes as either filthy rich, comfortable, or shit broke and out of luck. Most responded with “comfortable”.
Seven months later, would you still describe your income level as “comfortable”? Has your discretionary spending increased, decreased or remained the same? What kinds of stuff (if anything) have you learned to live without?
April 22, 2008 at 8:08 am
To respond to your question, Jennifer, we remain comfortable, but we’re not rich, so we cut back on the little things which add up. We dropped HBO and other premium channels. I’ve learned to bake my own muffins and bread to save money (and it tastes better). Our cars could use tune ups more often. I do what home repairs I can, but the pace of sprucing up this old house we bought has slowed. We don’t buy new clothes until we must. I don’t stop at bars like Adega or Olazzo on the way home, because I can pour myself a drink from my own bottle for a fraction of the price. Little things, but they add up.
Once again, I need to rebut IHY. Gentrification is a good thing. It’s turned Silver Spring from a high crime, decaying town into what we all enjoy now. We need more gentrification, and more nice shops like Pieces.
April 22, 2008 at 8:45 am
Hey, Woodsider! That Cleveland Park redevelopment you mention was quite controversial. It wiped out a beloved, indie ice cream shop called The Inside Scoop. It had a legendary community bulletin board. Your strategy would displace Plaza Art. In an Arts District, no less!
There seems to be a lot more downward mobility than upward in this economy. Be grateful for you discretionary income. You risk some serious bad karma by dreaming of booting those hardworking local business people, their staff, and customers.
Editor’s note: This comment was edited for content. — JD (Apr 22, 2008)
April 22, 2008 at 11:08 am
Lucy in response to your question regarding my comment “Anne Taylor<- 1/2@assed” any store that sells a faux button down and sweater combo - collar and sleeves were sown into the sweater :p and uncomfortable materials is 1/2 @ssed.
Away from the clothes, I love the suggestions for something to be available as basic as a Nordstrom, a Gamestop or Best Buy in the local area would be awesome!
As to your question Jen, my living situation is comfortable, I bought a house in the area that I can more than afford meaning my consumption has not changed… Guess I’m one of the lucky individuals, any modifications that I have made such as riding the bike to work, cutting back on spending has been driven by personal commitment to help the environment.
Editor’s note: Please refrain from using the “at” symbol (@) when spelling “assed”. Thank you. — JD (Apr 22, 2008)
April 22, 2008 at 11:37 am
Nancy is right, there is more downward mobility across the country.
I am one health care disaster away from serious debt. I am still paying off my grad school student loans ($250 per month). My next car repair will eat up a considerable portion of my next paycheck and leave me with little savings at the end of the month. I don’t dine out much anymore. I don’t shop for clothes much. I like Springvale’s ideas about saving $$$$$$$….hmmmmmmm muffins!
I am glad to hear that many Silver Spring residents are “comfortable”. Of course they are. Thanks to generous federal government spending, many people living in Silver Spring are doing well. It’s amazing how our region’s economic wealth comes from federal tax dollars and not through entrepreneurship in the B2B or consumer-oriented arena.
Also, the fact that Silver Spring has a decent number of two-income couples earning professional level salaries ($150,000 combined and upward), is causing more INEQUALITY and hardship for many people. If you are single and earn a moderate income (like me), you have to scrimp on expenses. Not a worry if the husband is an architect and the wife is a corporate lawyer.
Ugh.
April 22, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Well, thank G-d, we’re doing very well financially. We’re also moving out of the area (to Rockville, alas!) because neighborhood apartment rents are extremely high and it makes more financial sense to buy a house elsewhere than rent a 3 bedroom apartment (or buy an equivalent condo). Family-friendly housing is simply not a good value in DTSS. :(
As for IHY’s comments… it’s not exactly a new fact that families with a pair of married working adults tend to be better off than singles. I’m not saying “get married, you’ll make more money”, but it’s not a grand conspiracy, either. I like the gentrification downtown, too - it’s a much nicer place now, even if it’s priced us out to some extent.
April 22, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Nancy…I probably should have been more specific when I said a developer should reposition an entire block (or two). The art store and similar quality independent business are wonderful. Three barbers/salons, a wig store, two nail salons and a few more non-functioning storefronts are not.
Anyone hoping for a quick turnaroud of these blocks will be dissapointed unless a developer adresses it cohesively.
And though the Cleveland Park project “wiped out a beloved ice cream shop”, the redevelopment overall has been wildly successful, bringing in vast numbers of new customers to this area that would not have been there otherwise. They go to dinner/shops in that stretch, then walk around and spend money in the surrounding businesses. Who wouldn’t want that for Silver Spring. Every small business cannot/will not survive.
My point about Pieces is that they relied almost entirely on the (very limited) foot traffic and they had virtually zero marketing/promotions. Had they been on Ellsworth (not my scene, for sure), they would have probably been quite successful, especially during the daytime when it is thronged with people of their target market.
April 22, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Nancy, I’d like to hear more about the “legendary community bulletin board” that was wiped out to make way for the development in Cleveland Park. Given that the commercial strip along Connecticut Avenue by the
Cleveland Park metro stop is one of the most charming and vibrant commerical neighborhoods in the Washington DC area (in my opinion) it must have been a heck of a bulletin board to arouse such controversy.
April 22, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Hey, Woodsider and everyone,
About the Cleveland Park ice cream shop, I was only in there a few times. The whole shop was just incredibly charming, and I am sorry I didn’t enter it more often. Guess I am part of the problem.
But speaking of foot traffic, the intersection of Ga. Ave. and Silver Spring Ave, where the Pieces building is located, is just awful for pedestrians. Drivers get VERY aggressive about making left turns. I shudder when crossing Silver Spring Ave., and never try to cross Ga. there.
The only somewhat acceptable intersection is Thayer and Ga., at Dale Music. The ped signal on the eastern side of Ga. was removed a couple of weeks ago. A MoCo transportation staffer told me they plan to replace it, but didn’t put up a temporary thing in its place.
Ga. Ave. is awful for pedestrians, period. No one, regardless of how many — or few — discretionary $$ they have to spend, wants to make a death-defying dash to do so. Drivers need to stop at crosswalks and give peds the right-of-way. If you want foot traffic, those feet have got to get through the vehicle traffic safely.
April 22, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Oh yes, I’m sure the decision to redevelop an entire area of Cleveland Park into a vibrant, fledging neighborhood over keeping an ice cream shop and bulletin board generated alot of controversy.
In all honestly IHY, I am sorry to hear that grad school debt is eating up so much of your finances. Its a problem that many are facing across the nation, youth exiting grad and law schools with considerable debt and finding jobs aren’t offering high enough salaries to balance it out.
April 22, 2008 at 5:19 pm
IHY,
Last I checked everyone was free to pursue the career/lifestyle of their choice. I’m going to assume no one forced you into the profession you’ve chosen or the area of study you chose in grad school. If you are truly embracing of the artistic bohemian spirit you seem to crave in your fellow Silver Spring denizens and businesses, you wouldn’t be pointing a blaming finger at people who, like you I’m sure, work hard for their income and have no interest in sticking it to the everyman (or woman).
Maybe you could step outside your pity party to consider that the people who owned and operated that store are now out of jobs and may be closer to serious financial hardship than you, if they aren’t there already.
Editor’s note: This comment was edited for content. — JD (Apr 22, 2008)
April 22, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I read here a lot and don’t post much, but I’m too tempted not to jump in. To Easley et. al. who are a bit dismissive of the controversy surrounding closing an ice cream shop to make way for the new development, I’d say let’s remember that they didn’t know exactly how that new development would turn out, or exactly who or what it would bring into the neighborhood. Even the best laid plans don’t go down exactly as you think.
I can’t agree about the high cost of living in Silver Spring. I am one of those with a supposedly “comfortable” income, but it would be a long ways away before I’d want to shop at Nordstrom for all of my clothes. Stores like S&B and NY&C are crazy necessary in order for us to keep living comfortably. And still, my fiance and I have gotten rid of one of our cars, keep our driving to a bare minimum (using the local shops and walking whenever possible, etc), and constantly fight temptation to out in DTSS all the freakin’ time.
If I wasn’t so daggone lazy about it, I’d do the research to check it out, but I’d say there are far more couples/families/etc making <100K a year that those that are your stereotypical lawyer/executive power couple. I think those are a small minority in SS… or is that a totally distorted view? Are those the people buying the new condos and so on?
Editor’s note: Thanks for your comments, LittleFoot.
Here are some good demographic tidbits, courtesy of 2006 census data for below-the-Beltway Silver Spring:
Enjoy! — JD (Apr 22, 2008)
April 22, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I don’t think that’s a distorted view at all Littlefoot. I think that the reason most people can afford to live in Silver Spring is because they bought here long before the spike in housing costs. My theory has long been that if you were a power couple that made 150k and up, you would be living in an established affluent area like Potomac and/or Bethesda as opposed to an up-and-coming area like Silver Spring. Especially in this housing market. To be honest, I have no clue whatsoever who is buying or bought the 300k condos, I guess at the height of the boom maybe they were a bargarin? All I can say is that I hope that whoever has a $1750 a month mortgage for a studio at Mica (with condo fee!) plans to live there for awhile and wasn’t looking to flip it.
To respond to be dismissiveness against the shop, I completely agree that developments don’t always turn out the way you’d expect. I just feel that it works both ways and people are often too dismissive of the benefits of a new development because it displaced one or two niche shops, local or not. I feel like alot of the people who spew venom at DTSS forget how bad crime was in their community before it came around.
April 22, 2008 at 10:51 pm
That $1750/mo mortgage equates to about $2100 + in apartment rent (assuming in both you have to pay all your own utilities).
April 23, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Oops… I meant “can’t agree ENOUGH” about the high cost of living. That changes the meaning a ton, eh? I’d love to be able to buy one of the condos in the area, but am scraping by on a rent that is actually fairly low compared to what I could be paying, and translates into a mortgage that might get me into the “up and coming” neighborhoods around SE and SW DC. And I like SS too much to leave.
The average household income is exactly where I thought would be… three cheers for having instincts confirmed! Especially if that household is more than one person, that is just not a lot of money to be spending on clothes and stuff.
April 29, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Just a note about the Plaza art store (which, by the way, I also love– had a beautiful custom framing job done there a few months ago): in the interests of accuracy, we should observe that it is, in fact, one of the Dreaded Chains: http://www.plazaart.com/. (I don’t know if the wonderful sloth-like kitties in the window are part of the franchise package, or simply a local touch.)
It just goes to show that “chain” doesn’t ALWAYS equate to “bad”– a well-managed outlet of an equally well-run franchise can become a mainstay of a vibrant neighborhood. (Especially if local management is given the freedom to tailor the store to the needs of the clientele.) And since chains can often weather a rough economic patch better than an independent business, a few (notice I said “a few”– don’t jump all over me, now!) chains sprinkled strategically throughout an area can help keep foot traffic moving through, drawing in shoppers that can help keep smaller businesses afloat.
I don’t want a completely Disney-fied Silver Spring by any means, but I do think a judicious mix of local and national businesses is the way to keep both character AND economic activity flowing in SS. Then when the masses are lining up with their buzzers waiting for a table outside Macaroni Grill, I can go around the corner and get my homemade pasta at Da Marco!
(Too bad about Pieces. Their clothes were hip and cool, but not conducive to my own lifestyle or budget. Guess the rest of SS must have concurred. . .)
April 30, 2008 at 10:30 am
“get my homemade pasta at Da Marco!”
How is that place by the way? I’ve meant to go try it out for a year now and keep forgetting.
April 30, 2008 at 12:04 pm
JG, I’m sure that if you buy your pasta from DeMarco and cook it yourself, it will be excellent, but my wife and I ate there for the first time last Saturday and thought the food and service were mediocre at best.
June 11, 2008 at 8:08 am
It took me 2 seconds and one quick walk by the Pieces store to realize it wasn’t going to work. No way, I said to anyone who would listen. I moved to Takoma/Silver Spring area the same year the JCPenney’s left (late 1980s) and about 5 years before City Place was built. A good start for City Place would be to bring back some of the great stores that left. .. .Nordstrom’s Rack, a Hanes Outlet. Throw in a big Best Buy or Bed Bath and Beyond and you might have folks not having to run up to Wheaton for a Macy’s or over to Montgomery Mall for Old Navy and the Gap. Steve and Barry’s was better than I expected (really not too different than Old Navy). Burlington Coat Factory has some good deals if you can see through the dust and grime—why hasn’t the City Place management notified the national chain of Burlington that this local store is in need of some real clean up! Speaking of clean up, is it just me or last time I walked through DSW there was a lot of mess–shoes, empty boxes in the aisles, etc. I didn’t see that kind of mess when I used to shop at the Bethesda DSW. … .
When are we going to realize that SS is a real mix–low income to moderately high incomes. We need a mix of big chains and small shop owners–but the small shop owners have to cater to more than just one group to stay alive. Pieces catered to only one small segment–young, hip, and fairly well-off. I don’t think there will ever be a large enough bloc of these types in SS. There’s plenty of us older, less hip, and comfortable but still not going to pay $60 for a t-shirt folks!
June 24, 2008 at 3:29 am
Longtime Resident, I really enjoyed your story about how you moved to Silver Spring during the JC Penney, Nordstrom days. When I moved here, Silver Spring was just after its worst state, when City Place was truly “Shitty Place” and my B-CC classmates were not allowed to venture into it.
Best Buy? Have we all forgotton about the Best Buy 2 metro stops away, (10 min drive) in Wheaton? We don’t need a big electronics store, Best Buy is all over DC too. We need a Dave & Busters on the top floor of Shitty Place. That mall was not planned very well, its confusing on the inside with nothing but hair, shoe and nail places. Silver Spring will never support anything like a Nordstrom or Barneys New York lol, we have Chevy Chase for that.
What we need is to stay true to the demographics.
July 6, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Some the analysis here about why PIECES failed is flawed. Many of you are too fixated on the totally bogus marketing rubric that claimed the store was focused on “young, hip, urbanites with disposable income”. That’s common clap-trap that entrepreneurs write in their business proposals. It makes bankers feel good about extending loans.
The truth is, poor to middle-income teens are the primary market for “high-fashion tee-shirts”–just like they’re the primary market for brand-name athletic shoes. Look around. Poor teens and low income people in general spend a lot money on alleged “high-fashion” items such as jeans, footwear, and t-shirts. But you’ll never hear Nike or Adidas talking about targeting “urban poor”–even when this demographic makes up a big portion of their sales. Why? It doesn’t have the right ring to investors’s ears.
Anyway, my point is that PIECES failed for two reasons:
1) Location. As many of you have pointed out, that strip along Georgia is the last place you’d expect to find a hipster clothing store. Who walks over there??? I believe PIECES would have done much better it had been located in somewhere closer to DTSS–perhaps on Ellsworth or on Fenton–but MUCH closer to all the hub-bub. That leads to the next problem…
2) (THIS IS IMPORTANT) PIECES’s owners believed their own press releases. There target market (young, hip urbanites with disposable income) barely exists in Silver Spring. Sure, they were supposedly coming. But they ain’t here. Pieces would have done better to drop their attitude and target the people who are here, who also happen to buy what they were selling.
July 6, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Haven’t heard from you in eons, Johnny Blaze! You wrote:
In my opinion, urban teens are just as interested in tee shirts, jeans and footwear as Hollywood’s trust-fund babies. They’re all subjects (victims?) of pop culture.
Also, anyone can have disposable income, keyword being “disposable”. The same credit-card companies that target community college students work the Ivy League circuit, too.
July 6, 2008 at 9:17 pm
But WHICH demographics are you talking about? The demographics of Silver Spring? The demographics of the neighborhoods adjacent to DTSS? The demographics of northwest DC (east of 16th street)–and Silver Spring combined?
It’s always been my contention that Silver Spring is too much of a nebulous middle-ground (not overwhelmingly rich, middle-class, or poor) for marketers to get a handle on. That’s why there are no “anchor stores” here yet. People in corporate marketing departments are accustomed to (and comfortable) dealing with MONOLITHIC neighborhoods, towns, etc. In my opinion, Silver Spring would be less of a gamble for certain retailers if it were, say, uniformly lower-middle class.
Here’s some data I would love to see: The zip codes of all the people who shop, eat, and attend movies in DTSS. I bet there’s some really surprising information there. My guess is that the DTSS isn’t really serving the “needs” of the neighborhoods that are closest to it–and that the overwhelming masses of people down there aren’t from “around here”. If that’s true, “demographics” don’t mean JACK because the group of people who frequent DTSS is a different mix that what you’ll find in Silver Spring at large. What’s happened is that mix of businesses in DTSS (a bad mix in my opinion) is attracting a demogrphic that has nothing to do with locale.
July 6, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I agree that Silver Spring has a way of confounding marketers. Are we rich or poor? Are we urban or suburban? Did our ancestors arrive on the Mayflower, or did they just step off the plane at Dulles? All of the above?
Further confounding things are the demographic differences between those who live in Silver Spring’s central business district (CBD) and those in the surrounding neighborhoods. (Incidentally, the triangular CBD is bordered by Spring Street to the north, Fenton Street to the east, and Eastern Avenue to the west.) CBD dwellers tend to be younger, less affluent and more ethnically diverse than those in adjacent neighborhoods.
That leads me to drop this whopper on everyone: Whose central business district is it?
July 7, 2008 at 9:30 am
Jennifer, you are right about Silver Spring’s demographic diversity. My own amateur analysis of the Census data on Thayer Avenue, at http://www.thayeravenue.com/?p=158 shows that a great variety of people live on just one of the streets adjacent to the CBD.
July 7, 2008 at 11:32 am
Wait…you mean Silver Spring is not all yuppies? Oh man, I am going to have to change my name.
The clique of pro-development, pro-gentrification forces cannot come to grips with the demographic realities of Silver Spring. We will never, ever become Bethesda or Arlington, VA (i.e. predominately white, high-income professional). There will always be a strong middle-class African-American, Latino and immigrant community here.
July 9, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Psst, IHATEYUPPIES… [Johnny Blaze leans in and whispers.] Middle-class African-Americans and Latinos can be “yuppies” too.
Back to the topic of Silver Spring’s burgeoning retail fashion economy, anyone see this news?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121556183997437589-search.html
Holler back