Angelico Pizzeria, at 2313 Wisconsin Ave NW in Glover Park sitting between the Guven Salon and the Good Guys Club, is planning to close it's doors for good at the end of the year. The owner of the building as well as the business, Mustafa Misirci, will keep the building and seek a new tenant if he cannot figure out a plan for the success of his Glover Park business. Mr. Misirci purchased the building just two years ago for $1,250,000. He has six other Angelico Pizzeria locations in the DC area, including Tenleytown, Brightwood, Mount Pleasant, Arlington (VA) , Odenton (MD) and Fairfax (VA).
Mr Misirci would like to see this Angelico location succeed, but feels the same pressure other restaurant owners have been feeling in Glover Park and DC in general. These points have been a theme here:
1) online ordering is dominating, rather than "butts in the seats", and this is greatly impacting margins due to the delivery service fees.
2) Rents keep rising, so why not seek a new tenant rather than running the business at an inadequate margin here?
3) The closing of Whole Foods (and other nearby operations) has reduced foot traffic.
4) The number of restaurants is increasing, driving up choices while revenue declines, in particular the new Domino's across the street is direct competition.
5) Not a whole lot of support from the neighborhood.
Mr. Misirci says he will continue operating until the end of the year while seeking a new tenant, though he still is undecided on his course of action. It will depend on the interest in leasing the property and how business goes in the next few months. He will be ok, as he has the six other locations and owns this building, but Glover Park might suffer another vacancy it seems.....
By the way, the space has 3100 square feet on two floors, with restaurant on main level and office with 3 rooms up above, plus basement storage and rear driveway.
