To See and Be Scene

Some customers aren't waiting for the party. Program manager Jay Jackson recently brought a fabric swatch from his khaki microfiber sofa to Aberg's shop in search of accessories for his Clarendon condo. He spent $235 on two striped silk pillows. "I've been coming here since the beginning. I like to come to the stores to get ideas, to see the displays."

Down the alley, a guy in a black Mercedes dropped $350 on pale green hydrangeas at Relish, a designer clothing boutique and flower shop. "I knew the place was a little hidden and I liked that," says Relish owner Nancy Pearlstein of her move to Cady's Alley. "Everyone here has a certain sense of style, and they care about what they put in the stores and how the stores look. You want a place people enjoy coming to that has entertainment value as well."

Aberg already has noticed a different breed of customer from those who shopped her stores a few blocks away on Wisconsin Avenue. They are not "just stumbling around, but are coming armed with measurements, photos and fabrics at the ready. . . . These are people who have moved on from the chain stores. They are ready to buy the pieces they want to live with for the rest of their life."

Meanwhile, the design community has taken note of the new style resource.

Debra Lehman-Smith relocated her architecture and interiors firm Lehman Smith McLeish from downtown to new quarters across M Street from Cady's shops last December. "We underestimated how great this part of Georgetown is. It's not touristy, it's very private, and it's only going to get better," she says.

Until now, the city's only major concentration of high-end home furnishings shops has been at the Washington Design Center in Southwest, where a customer must go through a designer or architect to buy in most of the 70 showrooms. Since its opening in a converted refrigerated warehouse more than 20 years ago, most of those showrooms have remained "to the trade," open only to design professionals during the week, closed on weekends. (About a third of the showrooms now allow "consumer browsing," but purchases must be made through a designer or architect.) In 1998, the building added a dozen kitchen and bath showrooms downstairs that sell directly to the public, six days a week.

James F. Caughman, vice president and general manager of the center, says he welcomes Lanier's venture. "I live in Georgetown, and I find Cady's Alley to be a charming retail experience. The more exposure to good design that the consumer has access to helps to cultivate an aesthetic sensibility."

Cady's Alley lacks one major draw of the Washington Design Center: a showroom of high-end designer fabrics and wallpapers. Although a few of the alley shops sell fabrics, Lanier is openly coveting one of "the big fabric houses" that the WDC seems to have locked up.

To be sure, the Cady's Alley experience is not without its kinks. Take Georgetown parking. Lanier offers valet parking at a stiff $20 a pop; but so few have used it, he's planning to drop the price next month.

Moreover, shopping days and hours vary. Despite their commonality of place, merchants do not want to be saddled with uniform schedules, so there are none. Certain shops are open every day, others are closed on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. "They can do whatever they want to do," says Lanier. "I don't want to be a mall manager."

For Georgetown resident Dale Loy, a walk through the alley is its own reward. "It's like something in the most beautifully redone part of Munich or Copenhagen. It's on a human scale. It's got sexy shops and great contemporary design. We hope it brings a lot of people here, but not so many that we can't come back."