WASHINGTON — The sharing economy has trickled down to parasols in Georgetown. And what more appropriate place to stroll around on a hot day with a parasol, than Georgetown?
The Georgetown Business Improvement District will launch a parasol-share program Friday in a marketing promotion it calls “Shop Georgetown and Stay Cool.”
About 50 restaurants, shops, galleries and hotels are taking part in the program, which aims to protecting shoppers ans visitors from the hot summer sun.
Georgetown visitors can pick up a parasol for free at any of the participating businesses, and then return it to any other participating location when they leave.
To be clear, these are parasols, not umbrellas, which is a good thing.
“We know that Georgetown has narrower sidewalks. So these are actually nylon parasols, not umbrellas. And they’re smaller in circumference so that hopefully they are not going to be knocking into each other as people walk around with them,” said Georgetown BID Vice President Nancy Miyahira.
The parasols will also be branded with the names and logos of the Georgetown businesses taking part.
“This has been a really fun and creative idea for our organization to develop and to bring our community of both local, homegrown merchants and national retailers together,” said Georgetown BID president Joe Sternlieb. “If it’s embraced by the public, we’d love to bring it back next season.”
The parasol-sharing program runs through August.
Businesses taking part in the program can be found on M Street to Wisconsin Avenue, side streets and the K Street/Georgetown Waterfront.
Find a list of businesses with parasols to share at georgetowndc.com/parasolshare.
