By Caroline Angelo
Back in April, local blogs were abuzz about a Yes! Organic Market opening up shop on H Street in the old H Street Playhouse property at 1365 H Street NE. With a new Giant just down the road, it seemed like other companies were interested in staking out a location in the area, and Yes! sounded like a great fit.
But, alas, owner Gary Cha’s plans did not go as expected, and he announced this week that he is canceling plans to bring a Yes! Organic Market to 1365 H Street. Mr. Cha cited difficulties in dealing with various historic preservation issues associated with the property that would have limited any possibility of expansion and/or made it extremely costly, as well as unexpected loan conditions recently imposed by his lender that made going forward too expensive.
It’s possible we’ll still see a Yes! on/around H Street sometime soon, as Mr. Cha says he still hopes to open a store in the area. There’s certainly demand for it, as the topic of grocery stores is always a popular one on local listserves. Even with a new Giant on H (and the relatively new Harris Teeter in nearby NoMa), many people in the area believe we could sustain even more options, particularly of the Whole Foods/Trader Joe’s/Yes! Organic variety (in fact, one of the immediate responses on the ANC 6A listserve was “Trader Joe’s Trader Joe’s Trader Joe’s”). With rumors swirling of a possible Whole Foods on H and/or Navy Yard, and Mr. Cha’s insistence that he would like to open one of his stores nearby, Captiol Hill residents may get their wish soon enough. But for now, we have to continue to wait.