Trapped by Change, Economy

In past years, the strip averaged three to four vacancies a year, and those would be occupied within a few months, said Tom Litke, who monitored small businesses across the city as a consultant to the District government from 2004 to 2007.

"I'd be concerned if I was Mount Pleasant," Litke said. "The current businesses need to adjust to the changed market. If the tides change, you have to adjust the sails."

In recent days, workers began renovating one storefront that a laundromat vacated six months ago. They said another laundromat is supposed to open in January. A couple of blocks away, another storefront became vacant Tuesday when a fast-food restaurant was evicted. The vacancies, merchants say, sour the mood along Mount Pleasant Street and hurt remaining businesses.

"There's less flow of people," said Alex Kramer, owner of Dos Gringos, a cafe she opened nine years ago. Since last year, Kramer estimates, her revenue has declined 20 percent.

"If you have all these vacancies and all this darkness, people don't want to come," Kramer said. "No one wants to buy the last cookie."

Yet others see a silver lining in the emptiness. Sean Flynn, 38, a neighborhood homeowner who teaches law at American University, said the strip has long been dominated by "two kinds of establishments -- laundromats and mom-and-pop groceries that sell to" Latinos.

"I love those things, but I don't need 10 of them," he said. "We've always wanted more diversity in the retail. So, frankly, when some businesses close, we're happy."

When Flynn passes a vacant former supermarket on Mount Pleasant Street, he imagines a "really cool, vibey restaurant/bar" or a market that sells cheese, meats and wine.

Not everyone shares his vision of the gourmet life. Alex Maldonado, 35, considers the possibilities for the empty grocery as he hangs out in front the Mount Pleasant Street rowhouse in which he grew up.

"McDonald's," he said. "The food may not be healthy, but it provides a social structure. It's a way to bring people together."

Even if an entrepreneur wants to start a business, the economic realities are daunting. Tom Natan, 48, has scouted Mount Pleasant Street storefronts to open a wine business that he operates online. But he said the rents and the difficulty of obtaining a $100,000 bank loan have forced him to defer his plans.

"I didn't expect that it would be so difficult to get money," he said.