A popular bagel shop and video rental shopped have closed their doors in Cleveland Park.
What’s a Bagel, a member of the Bethesda-based Bethesda Bagels chain, and Blockbuster Video, both located at Sam’s Park and Shop on the 3500 block of Connecticut Avenue NW, have closed in the past month. This follows the announcement that the historic Yenching Palace, located across the street from the Park and Shop, will close this spring and become the District’s first Walgreens. The Blockbuster closing is not surprising, as the chain is consolidating stores to focus on its mail service in order to complete with NetFlix. The What’s a Bagel closing, though, was unexpected and has drawn condemnation on local listservs and Internet message boards.
“The lease ran out, and the store was struggling,” said Steve Fleishman, owner of Bethesda Bagels. “It had a decent retail, but not a lot to keep it running.”
Fleishman added rumors that a Cosi would fill the Blockbuster space did not influence his decision to leave.
“We were there for 15 years, longer than any other tenant,” he said. “Competition has never scared us. It got to the point where the store needed a tremendous amount of renovation. We figured it was a good time to move on.”
Nancy MacWood, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for the area, said there is concern that national chains like Cosi could push out local chains and businesses.
Cosi “would be in a position to be more competitive than smaller operations,” she said. “There was some real concern about what might go into that space. There should not be a glut of bars and restaurants that can pay higher rent and force out mom and pop restaurants.”
