The long-vacant space on lower King Street is a dynamite location for attracting pedestrians. The colorful merchandise is appealing and uplifting. Tiko, a five-year-old beagle, is napping by the register as neighboring business owners stop by to shoot the breeze at Jake’s of Old Town.
Life, indeed, is good.
"It’s about appreciating the good things in life," said Jeff Schwartz, owner of Jake’s of Old Town. "It’s a brand that about celebrating the great outdoors, sports, grilling, golf, whatever."
Schwartz remembers the day seven years ago when he first noticed a T-Shirt in Pentagon City. The shirt said "Life is good," and showed a stick figure named Jake playing golf. He immediately connected with the shirt and bought one for himself. He also bought several others for his golf playing buddies. It was a first step in something that would later become a life-changing venture into retail.
"The brand is definitely a glass-is-half-full view of life," he said. "And it’s a national brand, although it may not be a household name yet."
A NATIVE OF West Hartford, Conn., Schwartz moved to Northern Virginia in 1985 to start a career on Capital Hill working for members of Congress and their committees. In 1997, he left the Hill to work for a defense contractor, following the familiar path of many in the area. Yet when the contractor was bought out, he began thinking about thinking about his options.
"That’s when it hit me," said Schwartz, snapping his fingers. "Life is good!"
It was like an epiphany. He was already familiar with the brand, and he knew people in Connecticut who recently opened a store to sell the merchandise. In August, he hazarded into the difficult world of retail — a world he admits he knew little about at the time. His real-estate agent found a location in the 100 block of King, one that was perfectly situated to maximize foot traffic. The doors opened on St. Patrick’s Day and — perhaps it seems cheesy, but it’s true — life has been good.
"The response has been phenomenal," he said. "We have people who come in just to see the dog!"
THE BRAND WAS created in the 1990s by Bert and John Jacobs. Since creating their first T-shirts in 1989, they had been hawking shirts in the streets of Boston — later traveling the East Coast selling shirts door-to-door in college dormitories. They were having fun, although business was slow. According to a history of the brand posted on their Web site, the brothers lived on peanut butter and jelly, slept in their van and showered when they could.
"Chicks were not impressed," the history explained.
By 1994, the business had become tiresome. The brothers were looking for something that would keep their dream alive. They found it in Jake — the grinning cartoon stick figure would later become the mascot of their business. In September 1994, the brothers printed 48 shirts for a street fair in Cambridge, Mass. By noon, all 48 shirts had been sold. His grinning visage now appears on shirts, pants, footwear, sleepwear, underwear, bags, coffee mugs, picture frames, hats, jewelry and even pet accessories. But his main product is optimism.
LIFE IS GOOD’s new home on lower King Street has a long history in Old Town. The land where the building is located used to be part of the Potomac River when Alexandria was founded in 1749. The early days of the city saw a number of infill projects in which wetlands were drained and filled in to create a thriving seaport industry. The land on lower King Street was created by William Ramsay, who was one of the original trustees of the town from 1749 until 1780.
"This land was originally a cove," said Fran Bromberg, a preservation archeologist with the city. "There was a need to get further into the Potomac so ships could get to the dock."
The building where Jake’s of Old Town set up shop last March is an early 19th-century building originally owned by Alexander Smith, John Dunlap and Andrew Flemming. By the late 19th-century, according to an 1877 insurance map, the building was commissioned by a merchant named Samuel Boush. But they weren’t the kind of buildings where average consumers would wander in from the street.
"All the warehouses on lower King Street originally housed wholesale merchants," said City Archeologist Pam Cressy. "So the building where Jake’s is located would have held products that were being sold to other merchants."
In the 20th century, the building became a grocery store and later warehoused tires. Then it was part of a seafood restaurant for a while before being vacated. The historic warehouse was unused for several years until Schwartz’s real-estate agent recommended the property for Jake’s of Old Town last year.
On the register, Schwartz keeps a relic from the early days of Alexandria’s history — an 18th century nail that was uncovered as he was preparing to open the shop earlier this year.
"I bet this nail has some stories to tell," he said, returning it to its cradle on the cash register.