Serving platters, tea kettles and kitchen towels line the perimeter of the 14th Street shop 聽A quirky sink display overflows with glittery gold sponges, and shower curtains hang from the ceiling.
The small store, no larger than a studio apartment, stocks everything one might need for the home 鈥� from bathroom mats to cake pans. But perhaps the most important thing it houses is a mosaic of broken window glass mounted to the checkout counter.
The shop鈥檚 owners discovered the glass when they renovated the space 20 years ago. The front of the building had been boarded up after the 1968听谤颈辞迟蝉,聽and the shattered windows went untouched.
鈥淸The glass] is an incredibly important part of D.C. history, and we loved the idea of the metaphor 鈥� piecing it back together,鈥� said Home Rule co-owner Rod Glover.
The counter is one thing Home Rule founder Gregory Link plans take with him when he closes his 20-year-old shop at the end of March.
Memories from the community he helped to build are another.
Revitalizing after the riots
Today, the 14th Street corridor is one of the city鈥檚 most vibrant neighborhoods. It鈥檚 filled with coffee shops, restaurants, music venues, art galleries and luxury apartments.
But when Link opened his home goods store near the corner of 14th and S Street NW back in 1999, the landscape was much different. Link remembers an auto repair shop nearby and an unusual number of parking lots.
鈥淚 remember my first tour of D.C., I鈥檇 asked, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 the deal with all these parking lots?鈥� And someone said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 where buildings stood, but they鈥檇 all been burned in the riots,鈥欌�� he said.
But the desolate and somewhat depressed surroundings didn鈥檛 deter Link from opening a store there. At the time, he lived a few blocks away and said there wasn鈥檛 a place in the neighborhood to buy everyday household items, other than Safeway and a hardware store. Plus, real estate was affordable, and he had a good feeling that the community was ready for change.
鈥淚 got asked 1,000 times: 鈥榃hy would you put a store on 14th Street?鈥欌�� Link said.
鈥淚 just had that sort of sense that something was going to happen to that street.鈥�
He was right.
Shortly after Home Rule opened, other retailers followed. The furnishings store was already across the street; moved in next door, and Pulp, Garden District and Vastu followed.
鈥淎nd I think at that point, I began to say, 鈥楬ey, it鈥檚 happening,鈥欌�� Link said.
鈥淭here was that sense that we were all doing something together.鈥�
The neighborhood鈥檚 development hasn鈥檛 stopped since Home Rule opened, but many of the original stores that ushered in its revitalization have closed. And on March 31, Home Rule will join them.
Link said the store鈥檚 closure is not about profit loss or increased rents. He owns the building and sales are still healthy. The three co-owners (Link, Glover and Grace Allison) decided 鈥渋t鈥檚 just time.鈥�
鈥淲e wanted to do it while we were still having a good time; we wanted to do it while the store was still making a profit, also when we could make the decision before someone else had to,鈥� said Link, who now lives in Davis, California.
But closing on their own terms doesn鈥檛 make it any easier to say goodbye to the store鈥檚 customers 鈥� many of whom have become close friends in the last 20 years.
鈥淐hristmas became really difficult for us because all the neighbors would invite us to their Christmas parties and you鈥檇 be so tired (from being) on your feet all the time, but we still wanted to go celebrate Christmas with these friends,鈥� Link said.
鈥淧eople really had a vested interest in that neighborhood and seeing things grow and improve.鈥�
The 14th Street neighborhood is one thing that has changed in the last 20 years; the retail industry is another. A 2016 Pew Research Center found that 80 percent of Americans shop online, and in cities such as D.C., where real estate is hot, it鈥檚 not unusual for brick-and-mortar business owners to be pushed out by escalating rent prices.
鈥淭he name Home Rule was really important to me because I didn鈥檛 want to be somebody who worked on somebody else鈥檚 land or whatnot, and I鈥檓 really happy to be owning the property,鈥� Link said.
Several small businesses still operate along the bustling 14th Street corridor, but most of the neighborhood鈥檚 new retailers are restaurants. Doi Moi, Compass Rose and Ted鈥檚 Bulletin are all just a few doors down.
鈥淚 think small retail is a really big question for the country as a whole, not so much this neighborhood or this city. You see it surviving very strongly in San Francisco and places like that, but I think it鈥檚 going to depend on the place and the community and how the support of their independent retailers will maintain them,鈥� Glover said.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a critical time and there will be a lot of changes, and I think it鈥檚 a difficult environment for retail, generally.鈥�
Home Rule will remain open through the end of March and will run closing sales throughout its last few weeks. As for what comes next, Link is still figuring out what to do with the building he owns and how to say goodbye to a home store that鈥檚 become a home.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been so thankful and lucky over the last 20 years,鈥� he said.
Glover added, 鈥淭he neighbors just made it a really rich and rewarding experience.鈥�
