Joy by Seven Reasons has closed at 5471 Wisconsin Avenue at the Collection at Chevy Chase in Friendship Heights. The contents of the restaurant will be auctioned off beginning on March 25, 2026. Conceived as a more-affordable spinoff of Seven Reasons in Washington, D.C. to better match the sinking median income level and stagnant economy of Friendship Heights, online reviewers noted that prices were still too high for their wallets, and that the restaurant was not exactly packing in the crowds.
With empty storefronts ticking upward again at the Collection, and Saks Fifth Avenue departing by summer, property owner CCLC could look to reimagine this massive and prime site as a mixed-use "town center" development. As the Montgomery County Council damaged the area once known as "Montgomery County's Rodeo Drive" by encouraging the very wealthy to flee to lower-tax jurisdictions in the region, high-end retail and restaurants suddenly began vanishing in Friendship Heights. The collapse would give CCLC an argument to go big with a redevelopment plan, likely starting with the Saks end of the property.
9 comments:
Empty storefronts eerily remind me of when we all boarded up from the DC line to downtown Bethesda preparing for the rioting hoardes that don't matter.
Their big sign somehow always turned me around, a segment was unlit and it looked cheesy. When I did venture over to that 'b side'of the Avenue, the menu prices looked to me to be so over the top that I could've been nothing but underwhelmed.
Joy, in addition to having very high prices, tacked on a 22% service fee, another 5% fee + tax and tips!!
And the usual Proof By Assertion.
60 years ago?
For whatever reason, too many businesses don't understand the Friendship Heights area consumer very well. I think they look at demographic data that shows a fairly high amount of wealth, but don't understand it's a ton of elderly people who just aren't big users of restaurants or high-end boutique fashion places. Only reason Saks and Bloomingdales attract crowds is because those are the only locations for miles...so lots of people driving in to specifically visit those stores. Joy was way too high priced and niche food for the area...while Clyde's is like the perfect restaurant for the area and continues to do gangbusters business.
The closing of Saks is due to bankruptcy not age of the clientele. No surprise. The prices were astronomical! They're also closing in Tysons Galleria. Bloomingdales is moderate in price point and will hopefully remain open. As for restaurants don't forget Lia's - like Clyde's, always packed!!
I wish Clyde’s was a good as it was before being sold. Seems run down and food has gone downhill.
They sure mattered in the summer of '20 when paid Democrat agitators trashed stores in Friendship heights and further down Wisconsin.
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