Georgetown is Almost Out of Sugar's
After 85 years in operation at the doorstep of Georgetown Unversity, Sugar's Campus Store will be shutting its doors in May. According to Georgetown's student newspaper The Hoya, property owner Nabeel Audeh (who also owns Wisemiller’s Deli a/k/a
"Wisey's" -- another Georgetown tradition and the undisputed closest alcohol vendor to campus) will not renew the lease that has allowed Chol Kim and his wife to feed the milkshake-craving regulars for generations. Although some Hoya faculty, students and alums would prefer that Sugar's not go gently into that good night, another vocal camp is aggressively welcoming the legendary mom-and-pop shop's demise. And among the student community, much of the flight over the future of Sugar's is playing out over on The Facebook -- that student procrastination tool/excuse to score a poke.
Soon after The Hoya caught wind of the forthcoming closure, four Sugar’s-related groups popped up on The Facebook -- three opposing the close and one adamantly supporting it. Most folks do seem upset about losing the classic corner spot, but all camps often agree that it ain’t the happening number it was for previous Georgetown generations.
In fact, the "Close Sugar's Campus Store" group would prefer that the diner stopped serving as soon as possible, ideally before the expiration of the lease. This 35-member anti-Sugar’s brigade -- which endorses "Booey’s" around the corner -- takes issue primarily with the shop’s bizarre hours. For what some students have guessed to be religious reasons, the Kims pull a Chick-Fil-A and keep the store closed on Sundays, posing a major inconvenience to hungover, carb-craving Hoyas, not to mention those just looking for some eggs and a copy of the Post on a Sunday morning.
A separate group, the "Hungover Hoyas for Saving Sugar’s," asks students to compare the kind service and friendly atmosphere at Sugar's to those at Wisey’s -- which is apparently notorious for gruff servers and dirty looks. "Does Wisey's make you a coffee milkshake? Can you sit in Wisey's and recant last night's tales?" Perhaps unafraid of going without the "fatty hard meat of Chicken Madness" (the classic Wisey's sandwich), these students are rejecting all things Wisey’s and hoping to start an O Street revolution to make a statement to Audeh.
Although Sugar’s has definitely lost ground to Wisey’s, Booey’s, and other neighborhood options, most students on The Facebook are embracing its "overpriced bagel sandwiches, vitamin water and burnt iced coffee," and fighting to keep the fare available to future Hoyas. Indeed, the largest pro-Sugar’s camp has recognized the connection between Sugar's and Wisey's and gathered under the "SAVE SUGAR’S" banner, amassing 305 Facebook members and even printing 100 T-shirts with a "SAVE SUGAR’S - BOYCOTT WISEY'S" logo on the front. The shirts are free (some Hoya daddy just doesn’t know it yet), and interested students may e-mail the "coordinators" of the group to get one.
The Hoya's editorial staff has even gotten in on the action, joining the grassroots rally against the closing of a "place so seeped in tradition." And after having dinner with some students, a Georgetown professor came forward on foodie board DonRockwell.com to express his disappointment about the ill fate of Sugar’s. His History majors were equally enraged, cherishing the old spot just two blocks away from the Healy Gates. But his Econ majors, who realize that poor product begets little revenue, knew it was time to say "good riddance."
What will happen to the Sugar's space? Even the students who live upstairs (part of the same lease) have no idea what Audeh plans to do with it, but one tenant speculates that it will house a possible expansion of "Wisey’s," or "something like Starbucks" -- a theory that matches up with the most common rumors brewing.
Eighty-five years is an impressive run, and the tableside ketchup, egg options, classical music, weekend (I mean Saturday) brunches and the Kims' strong moral values define a Sugar’s legacy that will be missed. But despite the Facebook politics, come May, the "Preserve Sugar’s" revolutionaries will likely have only their free T-shirts to show for it.