this is a very high traffic upscale, as well as touristy business district. it was only a matter of time before they built there.

I wonder how long before they are at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore?

This store will sell a lot of iPods, iPhones, and Macbooks to the rich people walking amongst the Georgetown shops on the weekend. It will also serve both Georgetown and George Washington University students very well. It's a good location and will make a lot of money for Apple.

But it won't be good for much other than those crowds. My drive home take me within 1 mile of there and there's still no way I'll ever be stopping. Not when there are 6 other Apple stores in Virginia and Maryland that are easier to park at and get in and out of.

It won't happen because of the district's very very strict consumer protection laws. Such laws could force apple to replace defective ipods and computers well outside of warranty conditions. For this reason, you don't see many consumer electronic shops inside the district, they all surround the district in malls like Pentagon City and Tysons Corner.

georgetown isn't downtown DC.

@Small: Just what I was thinking. The store will be a smashing success but Georgetown is hardly "the heart of D.C."

There's no Metro to Georgetown, and the location's not among any major government buildings. I don't see this location as aimed at business or government clients.

"A downtown D.C. location would assist Apple substantially in its sales success in the Federal market," sure -- but this isn't one.

That address is at the heart of commercial Georgetown, and it is NOT downtown Washington, and not reasonably close to federal buildings at the city core. In fact, it's not even accessible by Metro (DC's subway system). It's impossible to park in that area, and it's laughable to think it would be "a convenient location for briefings and demonstrations."

Downtown is much further east, around Metro Center. I have long hoped for an Apple flagship store in the increasingly vibrant Chinatown/Penn Quarter neighborhood on the Red, Green, and Yellow lines (the busiest crossing in the city). In fact, the current Urban Outfitters location in Chinatown would have been an ideal location and size for such a store. Nearby, the two story Benneton directly on top of the Chinatown subway entrance recently shut its doors and would also make for a very prominent Apple location.

It's great that there will be a store in DC - even if it is in Georgetown. They can build others - downtown, Columbia Heights, Anacostia.

But even one is LONG overdue.

David