Show Business in Olney Businesses

Names of many Olney businesses and organizations bring to mind of famous movies, plays, TV shows and songs. Three recent allusions that I noticed include:

• Sardi’s Fusion: When I first heard a Sardi’s was opening here, I wondered if by any chance it was related to the legendary theatre district establishment Sardi’s. After all, Olney does have its own Equity theater (see #3). 
• My Fair Lady Consignment Boutique: Decorated with Audrey Hepburn photos, the shop conjures up images from the delightful film and musical where  “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!”
• Tallulah Bankhead cottage: A 9/28 OBX discussion revealed this nickname for the tiny house next to the Olney Theater Center where Bankhead, Ian McKellen and other actors stayed.

In addition to this trio of pop culture references,  I found more connections: 

1. Over the Rainbow Spa: one can't help but hear Judy Garland warbling this ballad from The Wizard of Oz 
2. Serenity Zone Med Spa: Find tranquility here or watch Frank Costanza (Seinfeld) yell “Serenity now!” 
3. Mamma Lucia: Mamma Mia! the musical, movie and the original source, ABBA’s hit song 
4. Field of Screams: a Clueless Joe would miss this reference to the movie Field of Dreams 
5. The Solana Olney: Solaris, an early George Clooney vehicle directed by Steven Soderbergh 
6. Sisters’ Sandwiches & Such: Making Sandwiches, a short film written and directed by Sandra Bullock 
7. Blueberry Garden Healing Center: a person can seek wellness here but “I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill” 
8. Five Guys Burgers and Fries: Five Guys Named Moe, a rollicking Broadway revue soon to play at Arena Stage 
9. Mannequin Pis: Mannequin, an 80’s flick movie starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrell 
10. Our House: a residential training center probably saner than U.K. band Madness’s tune Our House 
11. For Three Sisters: a breast cancer awareness and support group more uplifting than Chechov’s play Three Sisters 
12. The Big Greek Café: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a romantic comedy with Nia Vardolas and John Corbett 
13. Rescued by Girl Friday: the Howard Hawks classic His Girl Friday with Cary Grant and Rosaline Russell 
14. Cutt n’ Loose: a barbershop whose name conjures up Kenny Loggin’s song from the 1984 Kevin Bacon hit Footloose (later adapted into a musical and remade with Dancing with the Stars’ Julianne Hough

Who knew that Olney was infused with so much pop culture?

Social Giant

I first heard of grocery shopping as a way to meet people back in the 1990's with upper Georgetown's "Social Safeway". Attracting young singles, the Social Safeway was a hot spot for romantic grocery runs. 

Cut to Giant Food in Olney, 2015: another time, another place, but also a hot spot or hub of mingling. The main differences now are 1) tired moms, dads and other family members instead of young singles cruise the aisles and 2) the encounters are platonic reminiscences, not romantic pick-ups. 

My weekly grocery runs are on early Sunday mornings, when I spy the regulars: a neighbor, an administrator from my kids' preschool ... and other people whose faces I recognize but whose names I can't readily recall. If I go later on Sunday, I often see more familiar faces: parents from my kids' preschool and elementary schools (my kids are now teenagers), parents from kids' long-abandoned activities, former fellow MOMS Club members, and others -- most of whom I would never see unless we happened to shop in the same place at the same time. Our paths rarely cross anymore, except at the Social Giant. 

Before our town's Safeway underwent renovations, I even saw a Safeway cashier shopping at Giant! "What are you doing here?" I asked to which he merely smiled silently and put his finger to his lips,  gesturing "shhhh". I spotted the always upbeat Olney post office worker at Giant on another visit.  

My grocery runs often turn into hour-long mixers -- here's to Olney's own Social Giant (and Social Safeway, Social Harris Teeter, Social Shopper's, and Social Roots. I always bump into someone familiar there too)!