Six months after the closing of its original location in Georgetown, Appalachian Spring is shuttering two more stores as its owners make plans to retire. “Shopping is not the recreational vehicle that it used to be,” says David Brooks, who started the gift store chain 50 years ago with his wife Polly. Today’s customers have less time to browse, Brooks says, and the Virginia store in particular took a hit when Reston Town Center started charging for parking. That store and the one at D.C.’s Union Station will close this month. The Rockville store at Congressional Plaza will remain in business under new ownership, as longtime manager Blair Marra takes the reins.
