Greater Goods, the eco-friendly retail store located at 1626 U Street NW, will be closing its doors at the end of February. The store, which opened in 2006, had earned glowing reviews from customers. Greater Goods founder Daniel Velez sent the following message to subscribers of the store’s listerv this afternoon:

Dear Friends,
After almost 4 years at U Street we have decided to close the retail store. This wasn’t an easy decision but we did not feel we could continue under the current circumstances. There were a variety of factors contributing to our closing but in the end we could not acquire funding to grow or expand. Over the last year we have juggled our budget but it was painfully obvious that we could not get the shelves restocked quickly enough.

This has been a great experience for me, though of course I wish it would have ended differently. I learned a lot about my family, friends, and myself. I experienced tragedies and the greatest joys while running this place. I got to know interesting people doing interesting things. If I could have done it differently I would have made it better, but I would not have changed my decision to open our doors.

Thanks to all you folks who shopped and talked to me about whetever came to mind.
Sincerely,
DV

PS – I’m keeping the online store open and anything that doesn’t sell out will go to the website. Furnishings will go as well.

This afternoon, Velez — who was taking things off the store’s walls when I called — said he wasn’t sure what he would do after the store closed, other than take a break. “I haven’t taken a vacation in four years,” he admitted, adding that he had talked with Amicus Green Building Center in Kensington about working together in the future.

The store is having a “25 to 50% Off Everything Sale” from now through February 27th to clear out inventory.