Dupont Circle Is Building Places to Gather While Its Hardware Store Counts Down

"Where do we go? Are we going to turn to Amazon? Are we going to turn to the suburbs? I don't know. We'll see." Brock Thompson has lived near Dupont Circle for 20 years. He told WTOP this while walking his dog past the True Value on 17th Street, where he has bought everything from dustpans to Miracle-Gro to nails and paint.

He asked that in the same weeks concrete trucks lined up on Connecticut Avenue to pour the deck for a new public plaza over the underpass. That timing says a lot about Dupont this fall. The neighborhood is adding places to sit, eat, drink and gather faster than it is keeping the ordinary errand shops that make the blocks livable day to day. Every change below fits that pattern.

December 31 on 17th Street

The True Value at 1623–1627 17th Street NW says it has served Washington since 1983, and it has set December 31, 2026 as its last day. The owner has worked at the store for 51 years and plans to retire.

Vincent Slatt, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Dupont Circle, has suggested that neighbors or the store's employees could buy the business and run it as a collective. "I'd like to make sure the two things happen: we keep our hardware store, and that our owner has a wonderful retirement," he told WTOP. As of early October, the reporting describes that only as an idea. No deal, petition, or organized buyout has been announced.

Katie Swafford, a 13-year resident, said the staff are "so friendly to people, helpful with questions you have," and that "they always have random things that you can't find anyplace else." For residents of a neighborhood made up mostly of condos, co-ops and century-old rowhouses, that means the place that has the odd-size washer, the right paint color, and someone who knows which picture hook will hold in plaster. None of the coverage names a nearby replacement. If you have repairs planned for the winter, that is a good reason to shop on 17th Street before the end of the year.

Food and drink this year mostly opened for the evening

The True Value isn't the only everyday business to leave in 2026. Taïm closed its only D.C. location, at 1514 Connecticut Avenue NW, in July. Eater described any connection to the avenue's construction as speculation. In September, Sol Mexican Grill closed its location at 1200 19th Street NW. Its H Street and Mount Vernon Triangle locations are still open.

Most of what opened is aimed at an evening out.

• The Riggsby came back to Dupont inside the Royal Sonesta at 2121 P Street NW. Dinner started June 4 and breakfast followed the next day.
• LYDIA Dupont, a carryout counter with a speakeasy that serves Afro-Caribbean-American food, soft-opened June 19 at 1215 Connecticut Avenue NW.
• La Merna opened August 13 at 2153 P Street NW, serving Chicago tavern-style pizza, pasta and cocktails. In August the owners said they planned to open a sandwich window next door "by October." No later report confirms it has opened.
• First Round Bar & Social moved into the former Childe Harold space at 1610 20th Street NW and held its opening night September 12.
• ala reopened its dining room at 1320 19th Street NW on March 20, after the first phase of a reported $1.5 million renovation. The patio and upstairs were planned for later phases.

Sorella, an Amalfi Coast-inspired trattoria and bar, announced a "Coming Fall 2026" opening in the former Vapiano space near 18th and M Streets. That was in January, and there has been no confirmation since.

The new businesses that aren't restaurants also lean toward places you stay a while. Dupont Barber & Spa is open on the second floor of 1706 Connecticut Avenue NW and holds its grand opening Thursday, October 8. We Make D.C., at 1140 Connecticut Avenue NW, combines a shop for local goods, an art installation, a makerspace and a rotating pop-up cafe. It was announced to run through the end of the year.

The plaza is designed as a gathering space

The clearest example of the trend is the Connecticut Avenue Streetscape and Deckover, which is covering the underpass between the circle and Q Street. DDOT's design shows a curbless, open plaza with a tree, a raised planter, a bench, bike racks and a bus shelter. The project FAQ mentions seating, plantings and shade. It also says the space is left open on purpose so it can hold tents and events, and it notes that the published rendering is not the final design. The Dupont Circle BID lists possible uses including a farmers market, outdoor movies, music, plays and cultural events.

So the plaza is a room built for gatherings, and the published plans don't promise a lawn or a fountain. The total cost of the streetscape and deckover project is about $37.8 million. That figure covers the whole corridor, not just the plaza.

Work moved quickly in September. All 49 girders were in place in July, ahead of schedule. In late September, crews made the first of three overnight concrete pours. More than 20 trucks were scheduled to fill spans 1 and 3 of the deck's five spans. The second pour, for spans 2 and 4, was set for September 26, and span 5 was due the week of September 28. In its most recent schedule note, DDOT says the project is on track to finish in early summer 2027, subject to weather and unforeseen circumstances.

Getting around the work zone this fall

There is still plenty of work to come. DDOT says that once the pours are done, crews move on to the service lanes and sidewalks in the 1500 block. Here is what DDOT and the BID have posted for the next several weeks:

1. The northbound service road in the 1600 block of Connecticut closed on Tuesday, September 8, for an estimated eight weeks. Pedestrians walk along a protected path at the outer edge of the street, with ramps up to the shops.
2. Q Street runs one way eastbound all the way through. Drivers heading from the circle to 19th Street are sent to New Hampshire Avenue and back to Connecticut by way of R Street. The northbound underpass lanes stay open.
3. On pour nights, the underpass closes from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., and traffic is detoured around the circle.
4. The Geneva Project, a residential conversion in the 1800 block of Connecticut, is under construction at the same time and has its own detours.
5. Landscaping along the finished southbound side is scheduled for later this fall and for spring 2027.

DDOT says every business in the corridor stays open throughout the work. The businesses it has named next to the deck include Kramers and Bibibop, and Comfort Shoes and Pure Green are in the 1600 block.

Kramers turns 50 next to the construction

The plaza will open right outside the neighborhood's best-known gathering place. Kramers opened as Kramerbooks on July 4, 1976, and was the District's first bookshop with a restaurant. It now has a staff of 150. The public 50th-anniversary party is Saturday, October 24, from 7 p.m. to midnight, with pop-ups from local businesses, prizes and merchandise.

That gives Dupont two long-running businesses at very different points this fall. The bookstore is celebrating 50 years and getting a plaza at its door. The hardware store is counting down to its 43rd and final New Year's Eve.

The fall calendar so far

Most of what's on the neighborhood calendar is already the kind of programming the plaza is designed for.

The Sunday market has stayed open through the construction. DDOT says it has worked with the market to limit the impact on its footprint, including reopening a service lane on weekends while crews worked between 20th and Q Streets. In the circle itself, National Park Service crews restored the benches and fountain pipes earlier this year, and water is moving in the fountain again.

By early summer 2027, Dupont is scheduled to have a curbless plaza for markets, movies and music next to a 51-year-old bookstore. Unless the buyout idea turns into a real plan, the shopping list that used to end at 17th Street will need a new last stop.

If the True Value closing has you rethinking who you'll call for the small jobs an older Dupont home always needs, Denny Horner and the Denny & Leyla Team keep in touch with the contractors and tradespeople we've worked with across these blocks for years, and we're glad to share names. Contact us anytime, whether or not you're planning a move.