Garrison restaurant closed its doors a couple of weeks ago. It just never seemed to catch on in the neighborhood or the larger community.
About the same time that City Bikes gave up – maybe a victim of dockless bikes and scooters.
The close up of the sign on the door is below.
It’s been fun…. (click to enlarge)
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
Garrison was an excellent restaurant and I will miss it.
I find it interesting and a bit unsettling that there are empty stores on Capitol Hill, a generally wealthy area during an economic expansion. Yes, there’s a shutdown, but that has little or nothing to do with the vacancies. Something seems disjointed. Sign of an impending recession? High rents? Overbuilding?
Amazon, Trader Joe’s, and other big retailers (both online and in suburban locations) are the biggest competitive threat.
A close second comes from ever increasing costs of doing business in the city. Raise the minimum wage, increase property taxes, add Paid Family Medical Leave, require multiple business licenses — each individual cost is relatively small, but they all add up quickly.
Don’t leave out the outrageous rents exacted by greedy landlords–a major expense for retailers/restaurants.
Oh, spare me the “greedy landlords” who are villainously “extracting rents.” Nobody is forcing the tenants to pay that amount and if nobody is renting their building then the landlord lowers the rent. It’s the beauty of the market –both think they are better off as a result of the transaction.
More fundamentally, why is it incumbent on landlords to prop up retailers by subsidizing them with artificially low costs? What nonsense! If 8th St. cannot support retailers then landlords (and retailers!) will get into some other business.
I am so tired of the “greedy landlord” accusation. Would you rent your property out for less than it was worth? I didn’t think so.
So Phil, then why are there so many empty buildings on Barracks Row–some for years? The 400 block has at least three empty that have been empty for a long time, the 600 block still has three that are empty and have been from some time, and the 700 block has at least two. So spare me the bs about landlords subsidizing anyone and renting below value. They bought the properties a long time ago and are milking it for all they can–which is fine, except when it makes the area look so derelict. They obviously don’t need the income, so they are immune from your “beauty” of the “market forces” otherwise they would be renting them out instead of leaving them to rot without tenants.
Well if you don’t like the increase in retail vacancies, stop buying stuff on amazon. The decline in retail leasing activity is directly related to the rise of online shopping.
Really bummed about Garrison’s closing. I thought it was the best resto on the Row.
City Bikes didn’t fold due to bike shares or scooters. They folded due to diminishing customer base due to lousy service. I’ve purchased multiple bikes there and I’ve since written them off (all locations) because they’re totally unreliable despite doing decent quality work. There are better mechanics around and FAR better customer service providers
Agreed!
This place was AWFUL. Good Riddance!
As much as I want a local bike shop, City Bikes was terrible, with the worst customer service possible. I tried to resist ordering parts on Amazon, but my last two efforts to buy even basic parts from this place ended up being lots of wasted time. They drove customers away.