Northwood News ♦ June 2021

Suggestions for GameStop Half

By Jacquie Bokow

Those of you on the listserv will have heard that a Pizza Hut will be going into half of the building in Four Corners that held GameStop.  The other half hasn’t been rented yet.  After collecting suggestions from the neighborhood listserv, I sent the following list to Todd Malamut at NREB, LLC, in Bethesda.

Votes	Suggestion
21	“Real” ice cream shop (3=Rita’s or Carmen’s Italian Ice, 2=Moorenko’s, 2=Dolcezza, 1=A La Mode, 1=sweet shop)
18	Bagel shop (1=Einstein Bros. specifically)
12	Coffee shop (especially a “local” or “independent” one) (3=Vigilante Coffee)
6	Playa Bowls
3	Boba/bubble tea shop
2	Afghan cuisine
2	Bike repair shop
2	Cava
2	Halal Brothers, or restaurant offering Halal food
2	Breakfast place or Breakfast sandwich place
2	Korean BBQ place/Bibibop
2	Kid-to-Kid or other children’s clothing consignment shop
1	Eatery different from what’s already in 4C
1	Liquor store (not beer/wine)
1	Miner Taco
1	Poke place
1	Latin food place/pupuseria or Peruvian chicken
1	Something that is not a chain
1	Baked by Yael
1	Wine Bar
1	“Office location” of a service business (plumbing, cleaning, etc.)
1	South Block
1	Gourmet hot dog shop that also serves fries
1	Smoothie place
1	Quality sushi place
1	Indian restaurant
1	Ethiopian restaurant
1	Ethiopian coffee shop
1	Vietnamese banh mi (sandwich) shop
1	A sustainable goods shop like Takoma Park’s Fulfillery (ethically-sourced cleaning products in plastic-free packaging)

I also forwarded to him some of the comments that I received.  The miniscule parking lot presents a problem; whatever is there needs to be a grab-and-go type of place.  Much as we would like a decent ice cream shop, it won’t get enough foot traffic to thrive.  However, several gelato chains (Dolcezza Gelato and La Gelatteria) also serve coffee, so that might increase traffic from morning commuters, especially as all the nearby Starbucks are on the other side of the street.

I told him that the Pizza Hut is an unfortunate choice as there are four places in Four Corners now where one can grab a slice.

A business serving good coffee might do well there, especially as — I presume — the Pizza Hut wouldn’t be open in the morning.  Ideally, a place that serves good coffee and bagels in the morning and ice cream or gelato at night might be a gigantic hit!   ■