Located on the western end of the U Street corridor, Greater Goods at 1626 U Street NW sells eco-friendly home, personal care and pet products. (Borderstan)
From Luis Gomez
Whether you call it gentrification, revitalization or simply development, the U Street corridor has changed rapidly in the past decade. The eastern end of this famous DC avenue often gets the most attention due to the new residential buildings, and restaurants and clubs that have proliferated on U Street east of 14th Street NW.
However, new businesses have also opened on the western end of U Street, one of them being Greater Goods at 1626 U Street NW. As part of an ongoing series focusing on local entrepreneurs and retail businesses, we talked to Daniel Velez, founder and owner of Greater Goods.
Borderstan: Tell us a little bit about your businesses.
Velez: Greater Goods is DC’s source for eco-friendly products and services. Our goal is to help people live more sustainably by offering “greener” versions of products they use every day.
Borderstan: When did you start your business? Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
Velez: We started in November 2007 with a very small number of products! I was thinking a lot about our dependence on foreign oil, energy independence, and global warming. There was no place in DC that sold the green products I was looking for, so I decided to open one myself.
Borderstan: Many entrepreneurs, business owners have had other start-ups and businesses. What was the most unusual job you ever had or most interesting business you owned?
Velez: A friend and I created a company right out of college so we could take on a video editing project. I had no idea what I was doing, but we got the project and then didn’t sleep for weeks working on it. We called it Front Stoop Productions. The company lasted just one project.
