Crystal City Wine Shop’s second location, at 220 20th Street S., is now open, less than two years after its first location opened its doors.
Located next to McCormick and Schmick’s, the new location is “officially open” after holding a “soft opening” on Tuesday, according to owner Jim Barker.
“It’s in the heart of Crystal City, in the heart of the retail district,” Barker said. “We expect that it will be a very good location for us and for Crystal City.”
Barker said the interior will look similar to the first store at 401 12th Street S., but the building’s architecture will be different, and the store’s inventory will vary slightly.
“We have a premium wine selection in our new shop,” Barker said. “We’ll have more expensive and higher-end wines.”
Barker, who also owns the Washington Wine Academy, said the 1K beer and wine walks the organization has been organizing in recent years will now be more tightly tied-in to the physical stores.
The 20th Street location of Crystal City Wine Shop has an outside entrance — it’s not part of the indoor Crystal City Shops — and will open at 11:00 a.m., an hour earlier than when the 12th Street location opens. It will host tastings from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
Photos courtesy of Jim Barker