Lotus Blooms Among New Retail for Adams Morgan

I can't say I've done an official count, but it feels like Adams Morgan has a lot of retail vacancies. For sure there will always be turnover in a neighborhood with so many retail storefronts, but it really does feel like there's a stagnation of sorts. But now some of the empty storefronts are starting to be filled and/or have recently changed hands, and none of the new tenants are bars or restaurants.

Alexandria's Lotus Blooms looks to open soon at 2408 18th St NW. Lotus Blooms is an adult boutique known for hosting workshops & classes. And of course it's also a retail location for all things toy, corset, garter, wand, rabbit, bullet, teddy, g string, pastie, boots, so on and so forth. All the fun stuff you usually buy online. This would be only the second location for Lotus Blooms and the first in the District. The 2408 18th St NW storefront (1,700 sq ft including basement level) was last home to the very short lived Instant Noodles and Viet Thai restaurants. 

Just blocks away, Cosmo Nail Bar recently (well... actually in February) opened in the WY18 condo building. Cosmo offers a familiar slate of mani/pedi offerings, with waxing and other spa-like services. This is one of a growing number of mani/pedi choices in Adams Morgan, Dupont, and Mount Pleasant. I assume competition is good in this field? Cosmo is located at 2200 18th St NW.

When coffee pop-up Cafe Diem --operating out of the Skynear building-- closed, I thought we had lost a neat, quirky space with really good coffee. Luckily Sweet Science appears to have filled that vacancy perfectly. Sweet Science opened quietly last month and has been brewing, by all accounts, freaking excellent coffee. I've heard a few good things about this place from people I trust about coffee. That being said, I still need to make a proper visit. Here's to better coffee in DC, a dream we've been actually realizing over the past 10 years. So awesome. Sweet Science is located at 1800 Wyoming Ave NW.