A few readers have noticed that there are signs up in the DCUSA space next to Panda Express that say Panera is coming soon. We heard in February that it was confirmed they were coming, and the target date is still October.
Any Panera fans out there? I like Potbelly better, but we shall see.
At first I was a bit worried about Panera coming, as I thought there were too many chains in DCUSA, but then I realized that’s basically going to happen no matter what. As long as they are useful, as in they generate foot traffic and aren’t dead spaces like a bank or something, and as long as the interesting local, independent spots keep coming to the rest of the neighborhood, I’m happy.
Along those lines I made a map of local and national businesses in the area, and it doesn’t look too bad. Red are national chains, blue are local, independent places, and green is local chains (i.e. Z-Burger). Those with dots are food, those without aren’t.
UPDATE: Per a question, this map is only things that have arrived recently or are arriving soon.
View Columbia Heights New Businesses in a larger map
