The Phoenix

The Phoenix at 1514 Wisconsin Avenue NW has been there since 1955, which makes it one of Georgetown’s oldest continuously operating businesses. Bill and Betty Hays founded the shop after falling in love with Mexican folk art and handcrafted goods during their travels, and the original inventory reflected what they found on those trips: textiles, ceramics, jewelry, and clothing made by artisans whose work was not widely available in the United States at the time. That sensibility has persisted through three generations of family ownership.

Samantha Hays Gushner, granddaughter of the founders, is the current owner. The transition to the third generation preserved the shop’s focus on sustainable sourcing and close relationships with designers and artisans, which is how the Phoenix has been operating since before sustainability became a retail marketing concept. The contemporary clothing section, which anchors the first floor and makes up the largest portion of the inventory, carries Eileen Fisher as its primary brand alongside designers from California and New York whose work aligns with the shop’s design sensibility. San Francisco-based Isda and Company has been part of the selection for years. The common thread is clothing designed to be worn rather than photographed.

The jewelry selection extends from fine pieces to more accessible options and reflects the same sourcing logic as the clothing. Some pieces come from the artisan relationships the shop has maintained since the Hays era. Others come from contemporary designers who share the boutique’s interest in craft over production. The Mexican folk art and home goods that gave the shop its original identity still appear in the inventory, grounding the contemporary clothing and jewelry in the aesthetic that Betty and Bill Hays brought back from their travels seven decades ago.

The Wisconsin Avenue address is on the upper stretch above Dumbarton Street, in the part of Georgetown where the boutiques are more specialized and the foot traffic is predominantly neighborhood rather than tourist. The Phoenix has occupied this block since the shop’s founding, which means the surrounding businesses have cycled through many times while the Hays family stayed in the same address. Third-generation ownership of a brick-and-mortar retail business in a neighborhood that has become progressively more expensive over sixty-five years is not a common story.

Hours run Monday through Saturday from 11am to 6pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm. The website thephoenixdc.com carries an overview of current inventory and brand relationships. For visitors who want to understand the shop in a single visit, the best approach is to look at the Mexican folk art pieces alongside the Eileen Fisher section: together they describe the aesthetic range the Hays family has maintained since 1955. The Phoenix went through a significant renovation in recent years that updated the retail floor while preserving the Mexican folk art pieces and the family aesthetic that have defined the shop since Betty and Bill Hays returned from their first trip to Mexico. The renovation was covered by The Georgetown Dish, which noted that the third generation’s commitment to the original sourcing philosophy was the through-line of what changed and what stayed. For gift shopping specifically, The Phoenix has an advantage over most Georgetown boutiques: the combination of clothing, jewelry, folk art, and home goods makes it possible to find something for someone who is difficult to buy for, which is not a problem most clothing stores can solve.