A look inside Teaism Restaurant in North Old Town Photo by Vernon Miles.
After four years as part of the first wave of the North Old Town renaissance, the Teaism Restaurant on on N St. Asaph Street will close on April 24. Co-owner Michelle Brown said that sales had been flat, with no growth, and that the restaurant couldn’t continue to support a space that had been too big for them.
The North Old Town branch was the first foray into Alexandria for the 20-year-old, D.C.-based Teaism franchise, and Brown said she believed initially that the brand would build attention and interest in the restaurant, but that when they arrived they were virtually unknown. Brown says the restaurant had to struggle against that, and a series of misconceptions, throughout the restaurant's life.
“People saw ‘Teaism’ and thought ‘I don’t drink tea, so this isn’t really a place for me,’” said Brown.
Brown said that they had added resturaunt onto the name, but by then it had already been almost a year and the first impressions had been made. The owners had hoped a Harris Teeter arriving down the street would bring new people into the area, especially with new apartments going in over the grocery store, but Brown said the store actually had the opposite effect.
“The Harris Teeters actually sapped our lunch crowd,” said Brown. “We saw sales go down after the Harris Teeters opened.”
With a $750,000 investment in the build out, Brown said the franchise is taking a loss on the property. Brown noted that the city had done very little in terms of outreach to assist other than to cater one event.
“The Alexandria Economic Development Partnership is in the same building,” said Brown, “[they] sat there and watched us crumble.”
In the meantime, Brown says the store has a small but dedicated core of regulars, and will continue operating until the end of April.
“It’s sad, because we have a great team and a hard working staff,” said Brown, “but I still believe, in about three years, the new developments around here will make this area viable.”