D.C. businesses leave downtown during pandemic

D.C. business owners left downtown, major corridors for survival, flexibility

May 24, 2022 at 1:06 p.m. EDT

Katie Stack, owner of Stitch & Rivet, sews leather bags that she is preparing to sell at a crafts fair. Stack moved her business from a storefront to her home during the pandemic. (Robb Hill for The Washington Post)

Jamie Morton was one of the first to feel the effects the coronavirus pandemic had on small businesses. She runs a company in D.C. that provides portable toilets for events and construction sites — so when gatherings stopped and construction slowed in 2020, so did her cash flow.

“I was at a standstill,” Morton said. “We went from making $10,000 a month to $100.”

The situation forced Morton to give up her downtown K Street office in favor of Ward 8 in Southeast D.C., where she now rents space at The Hive, a co-working nonprofit.

“It forced my hand,” she said. “It was either that or go out of business. And that was one thing I…