Chinatown may have a new movie theater, a bowling alley, the Verizon Center, Hooters and a lot of new stylish apartment buildings, but it doesn’t have a supermarket. And given the news today, that won’t change anytime soon.

WJLA is reporting that gourmet grocery store Balducci’s has decided not to locate a store in the popular neighborhood, opting instead to improve their existing locations. The article notes that Safeway is planning a store at Fifth and K Streets NW, though no opening date has been set.

We’ve recently realized that we spend a good amount of time writing and reporting on supermarkets. For better or for worse, they seem to reflect the state of the neighborhood they’re in — the people, the real estate market, the diversity. And the last year has been a big one for supermarkets in the District. Harris Teeter has considered three locations throughout the city (Adams Morgan, Capitol Hill and H Street NE) and Safeway has undertaken serious renovations at many of their stores, effectively putting to rest the longstanding designation of some stores as “Soviet” Safeway. Giant has even started building a new store in Ward 8, a victory for neighborhoods long deprived of good shopping options.

Everyone seems to be living large. Well, everyone except those in Chinatown. Thank God for Peapod.