After more than 45 years of business, Ship’s Hatch is lifting anchor from its place in Crystal City’s underground mall.
The eye-catching store founded in the 1970s will still sell merchandise and take personalized engraving orders online at shipshatch.com. But at the end of this month, its whimsical porthole windows and array of military gifts and souvenirs will set sail from the subterranean shopping plaza at 1677 Crystal Drive.
“We’re leaving because we’re moving online. Online seems like a good fit for us now,” said owner Becky Shagdarsuren.
Shagdarsuren said the store’s lease is ending but she did not elaborate on details. JBG Smith, the owner of Crystal City Shops, declined to comment on this story.
Ship’s Hatch joins several other businesses in departing Crystal City’s underground alleys.
JBG Smith notified San Antonio Bar & Grill last year that, after three decades, the Tex-Mex restaurant’s lease would be expiring in December, according to co-owner Amparo Magne. The real estate company did not provide a reason for the closure.
Signage at D.C. Men’s Wear, another Crystal City Shops business, indicated on Tuesday that it, too, is leaving. The jewelry and clothing store Coqui Boutique likewise announced last year that it was clearing house after nearly four decades in business.
“Seems like everybody is leaving,” Shagdarsuren said.
Although the subterranean mall is increasingly vacant, it does not appear on JBG Smith’s “development pipeline” for the next two years, per an investors report for the third quarter of 2023, the most recent posted on the developer’s website.
Located less than a mile and a half from the Pentagon, Ship’s Hatch found its niche selling hats, pins, mugs, decanters and other memorabilia emblazoned with military and patriotic symbols.
It charted a course through major changes in Crystal City over the decades, including the impacts of Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC), which closed numerous Dept. of Defense offices in the neighborhood, starting in the late 2000s. That’s not to mention the financial hit wrought by pandemic.
Shagdarsuren bought the soon to be online-only business when its former owner and founder, Mary Beth Cox, retired in 2018.