NEWS ROOM Picked as Second Best Newsstand 
Best of D.C. » 2009 » Goods & Services » Staff Pick: Best Newsstand
Best: Hudson News
Terminal A, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Second-best: The Newsroom
1803 Connecticut Ave. NW, (202) 332-1489
Best: Hudson News
Second-best: The Newsroom
The Newsroom on Connecticut Avenue sells empanadas stuffed with Chilean-style ground beef, raisins, hard-boiled egg, onion, and ripe olives; coffees and cigarettes; and 2,000 different magazine titles, ranging in sophistication from Art Forum to Hustler. It even offers free Wi-Fi and tables at the back of the store and encourages patrons to work out of the shop. But walk in on any given day, and it’s almost as if the barista-class doesn’t know it exists. That’s because the Newsroom’s biggest clients are the diplomats who show up every 30 minutes or so in shiny black Caddies to pick up copies of their home country’s newspapers, though Ashraf Hamid, the Newsroom’s owner, says the recession has put a damper on embassy spending and that “customers [who] used to spend $150 now spend half of that amount.” The Newsroom belongs to a wire service that allows it to print out papers in 40 languages from more than 68 countries. The digital papers, combined with physical papers from the United States, Canada, and Britain, mean shoppers can choose from more than 800 newspapers from every continent except the really, really cold one. But all of the above doesn’t mean the Newsroom is without a flaw or two: With so many titles, the magazine racks can get a little messy. I once found two copies of the Atlantic’s fiction issue—already five months old—snuggled behind an old issue of Human Events. Additionally, the fax machine’s unclear instructions may have cost me a part-time fact-checking job when I placed an edited story wrong-side-down and sent five blank pages to the home office of the editor of a political magazine. That incident, along with the ecstatic follow-up e-mail in which I misspelled my own last name, really hurt my chances. I never did hear back.
—Mike Riggs
NEWS ROOM Receives 2008 Best of Washington Award
U.S. Local Business Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement
WASHINGTON D.C., June 1, 2008 -- News Room has been selected for the 2008 Best of Washington Award in the Magazines category by the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA).
The USLBA "Best of Local Business" Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USLBA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.
Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2008 USLBA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USLBA and data provided by third parties.
About U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA)
U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USLBA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.
The USLBA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.
SOURCE: U.S. Local Business Association
News Room was featured in The Washington Post
D.C. You Later
By Chris Richards
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 17, 2008; Page N01
/Documents/D C You Later - washingtonpost com pdf.pdf 