Oct 24, 2008  |  By: AMY CAVANAUGH  | COMMENTS     

At Home Rule, it means cutting back on inventory. At Go Mama Go, it means re-painting and re-designing the shop. At Artfully Chocolate, it means putting tables outside and offering wireless Internet and sandwiches.

Local businesses are adapting to survive the recent economic downturn, despite many business owners insisting that Washington is a recession-resistant town.

Greg Link, co-owner of 14th Street design shop Home Rule, said that he has been “struggling” lately.
“Business is down 10 percent since July,” said Link, who is gay. “Business in August was good, but I noticed a drop in July and September.”

He said he expects sales to improve over Christmas, since they’ve grown each holiday season.
“We don’t expect to grow this year,” Link said. “We have lowered inventory expectations, and we’re being careful about how much we’re buying, though most of our Christmas inventory has already been bought.”

David Von Storch, who owns restaurants and businesses around Washington, recently opened Vida Fitness in Logan Circle. He said his sales expectations at the gym have been “far exceeded.”
But his other businesses haven’t been so lucky.

“Business at Capitol City Brewing Company was very strong through mid-September, but about a month ago I noticed a softening, and profits are trending down,” he said.

Von Storch, who is gay, said that while the financial crisis “exploded in public consciousness in the last two weeks,” he’s been feeling a tightening of credit throughout 2008.

“The credit crisis affected my plans for growth,” he said. “It doesn’t matter that cash flow is strong, if there’s no credit, there’s no credit.”

Artfully Chocolate, the 14th Street chocolate café also known as ACKC, has been battling the economic downturn since opening last December.

“We opened three months behind schedule,” said co-owner Rob Kingsbury, who is gay. “And chocolate is not a summer product, so sales dropped off.”

Kingsbury and his business partner Eric Nelson, who is gay, teamed up last year, closing their respective businesses to open ACKC. They also opened a second outpost in Alexandria that offers retail sales.

Although the Alexandria store “isn’t making money,” Kingsbury said, “it pays for itself, so I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Kingsbury said that ACKC’s location in the 14th Street corridor means that most of his business comes from people who live in the neighborhood.

Kingsbury said that at last year’s Art on the Avenue, an annual event in Alexandria, Nelson’s store, which is located behind a coffee shop, did 30 percent more sales than ACKC did this year, despite its location on the main drag.

“We’re feeling a huge economic impact, and we’re seeing that in real numbers,” Kingsbury said.

‘Everybody hurting’

Local nightlife promoter Mark Lee said he’s seeing “everybody hurting, and hurting dramatically.”

His event, Lizard Lounge, is held once a week, which Lee says has helped his business stay strong.

“In tough economic times, people seek out camaraderie and entertainment, and hopefully they’ll continue to do so,” said Lee, who is gay. “The hospitality businesses provide an important element in community life, and if people want them to survive, hopefully, they’ll make an extra effort to support them.”

Jonathan Chudnoff of 14th Street store Go Mama Go, which caters to many gay customers, said his business has suffered this year.

“All of 2008 has been lower than the previous year,” said Chudnoff, who is straight. “Comparing month to month, I’d say business has been 25 to 50 percent lower. Some months have been pretty horrible.”

In an effort to boost sales, Chudnoff said he last month repainted the store and rearranged merchandise.

“We’ve also been ordering new things in anticipation of the holidays, new lines of accessories and things,” he said. “Where we can, we are actually reducing prices on some items since some of our vendors have lowered prices.”

Chudnoff said he isn’t optimistic that business will improve soon, but he’s “hanging on and hoping for the best.”

“I think it is going to continue to be difficult at least for the next few months,” he said. “It’s noticeable that people are being more careful about how they shop. I’ve seen an increase in people using cash instead of credit cards, and I think that’s a sign they’re being more careful with debt.”

On 17th Street, Jack’s Restaurant has also been experiencing a drop in business. Latif Guler, the co-owner and general manager, said that while business at the bar is “OK,” sales from food are declining.

“Comparing September 2007 to September 2008, we’re down 20 percent,” he said. “But we’re actually doing 5 percent better on alcohol sales.”

Guler said that even though prices are going up, he and his co-owners have ...