14th and Q NW: Well Built is having a retail store liquidation sale, Tuesday through Thursday. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Well Built furniture store at 1541 14th Street NW is having a store-closing sale starting today and lasting through Thursday. The business is not going closing, just the retail store.
Owner Ann Blackwell said they will be offering discounts of 50% or more on most items remaining in the store. Hours are noon to 6:30 pm, January 24-26.
As for Blackwell’s future plans she said in December, “WellBuilt has gone commercial! We will still offer our residential customers our online services and an office/showroom by appointment only — but commercial sales to the office and restaurant sector continue to be our main focus. I have loved having a storefront on 14th and hope to find an office space here.”
Standard BBQ owner Tad Curtz has applied for a liquor license for the Well Built space, with plans to open an Italian restaurant.
Well Built is closing its store January 31 and will shift its focus to the commercial sector with a showroom and online presence. (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Tom Hay. Questions for Tom? Send him an email. You can follow him on Twitter @Tomonswann.
Last week we reported on the posting of an Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration application for the space currently occupied by the Well Built furniture store at 1541 14th Street NW.
The news broke just before the Christmas holiday weekend and we could not get in touch with store owner Ann Blackwell about her plans for the store. This week we got more details from Blackwell, whom we profiled last December. It turns out that the retail location will close at the end of January 2012.
Borderstan asked Blackwell if she was going out of business when her 14th Street location closed. She said, “WellBuilt has gone commercial! We will still offer our residential customers our online services and an office/showroom by appointment only — but commercial sales to the office and restaurant sector continue to be our main focus. I have loved having a storefront on 14th and hope to find an office space here.”
Fans of the store, which features high quality, sustainably-produced furnishings, can take advantage of discounts on January 25 and 26, just before the store closes. We will keep monitoring for details on the Italian restaurant that owner Tad Curtz of Standard BBQ plans for the space.
Earlier this week we reported that neighboring Artfully Chocolate (ACKC) at 1549 14th Street NW would be closing this Saturday.
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Well Built owner Ann Blackwell. (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Tom Hay
For Borderstan‘s continuing series on business owners and entrepreneurs I spent some time with Ann Blackwell, owner of Well Built at 1541 14th Street NW in Logan Circle. She opened the specialty furniture store in April 2010, occupying the space of the former travel bookstore, Candida’s World of Books. The common themes among the various furniture lines in the gallery-like showroom are beautiful design and sustainability.
The themes are a natural progression for Blackwell who has a degree in art, an early career in marketing, an LEED AP green building certification and several years of experience at national furniture retailer, Design Within Reach. Blackwell left the Georgetown DWR last fall and within a week had written a business plan for Well Built.
Blackwell says her customers are mostly from DC, represent all demographics and recognize that exceptional quality in design and construction are a luxury.
Borderstan: Can you tell us about a few of the manufacturers and designers you sell?
Blackwell: We have a Portuguese company, De La Espada, that only uses sustainable woods — we also carry Russell & Mackenna out of Jessup, Maryland, that does many classic forms in fun colors — many people also recognize the Autoban line, which is by a Turkish architectural firm.
