A Rose Is A Rose

Whether the sole department store downtown is called Hecht's, Macy's or Bloomindale's could make a big difference in how and when retail reemerges at Metro Center.

You see Federated Department Stores Inc., which owns Hecht's wants to do away with the Balt0-D.C. brand. Considering hoopla surrounding Bloomies and Macy's on Federated's webside and how little attention Hecht's gets (none!) , it is should come as no surprise that Federated wants to do away with the brand. Ending the speculation, Federated
announced in July that the F Street store would in fact become Macy's.

O.K. so what does Bloomies have to do with all of this? They have been shopping around, possibly downtown or Georgetown, for a new site to house a trimmed-down, boutique store. Obviously, if Hecht's became Bloomie's they would not put their boutique concept downtown. But now with Macy's about to take over, the long-dreamed return of a second department store could happen.

A downtown with two department stores would certainly speed up the reignition of the historic shopping district. If that happened the big, big loser would not be Georgetown, but Pentagon City, which depends so heavily on D.C. shoppers.