Author: Vernon Miles

Guitar Lessons Startup ‘Fret Zealot’ Pivots to the Ukulele

By Vernon Miles

Startup Monday header

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

Whether you’ve given up on playing the guitar or just want to try something new, Crystal City-based startup Fret Zealot wants you to give the ukulele a try.

Fret Zealot is a system of LED lights linked with an app to show a new guitar player where to place their fingers to play a song. The business launched six years ago and Fret Zealot is now available in over 600 stores, according to CEO Shaun Masavage.

After the success of the company’s fret zone guitar device and app, Masavage said the company started looking at other instruments on which to apply its technology.

Ukuleles are undergoing something of a revival, with the ukulele market experiencing 10-20 percent growth in recent years. According to Masavage, the company has received a lot of requests to develop a version of Fret Zealot for the ukulele.

“The ukulele is pretty much easier to play, but still has the same barriers to entry,” Masavage said. “If they get our system, whether you’re experienced or a new player, there’s something for everybody. You can take this instrument with a fret zone on it, and it will show you how to play from day one and play in a way that will keep you interested.”

There was just one problem: no one working at Fret Zealot knew how to play a ukulele. Fortunately, they knew where they could acquire technology to teach them how to play the instrument.

“None of us had learned ukulele, we were learning cords as we went,” Masavage said. “We literally used our own technology to teach us how to play. [We would play] ‘Let it Be’ by The Beatles, which is just four chords. You can’t help but smile while playing it.”

Masavage said his goal is to have the app and the fret zone device for ukuleles ready to go in late August or September. The company is currently a little under $400 short of its $20,000 goal in Kickstarter. The full price of Fret Zealot for the ukulele will be $139.

Sfoglina Aims for Post-Labor Day Launch in Rosslyn

By Vernon Miles

Sfoglina — an acclaimed Italian restaurant run by chef and restaurateur Fabio Trabocchi, with two locations in D.C. — is planning an opening in Arlington soon after Labor Day.

Jessica Botta, director of training and culinary development at Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants, told ARLnow that construction is currently humming along at 1100 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn and the opening is expected sometime in September.

The restaurant is pronounced sfoal-yee-nah and is named for the female artisans who traditionally rolled sheets of pasta with rolling pins.

The restaurant is planned to open in a 4,500 square-foot space inside the 32-story building that also houses TV station WJLA.

The restaurant is still hiring restaurant and general managers. Those interested can email [email protected] or apply online.

Geofencing Restricts Where Scooters Can Take You in Arlington

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) Scooters are all the rage in Arlington now thanks to a newly-extended pilot program, but there are some places they can’t take you.

Geofencing is the limiting of where the scooters can ride or park. Certain areas are set as fenced off by Arlington County government as part of the Shared Mobility Devices (SMD) pilot, according to county transportation spokesman Eric Balliet.

“For now, the County is using geofencing to discourage users from ending their trip and parking these devices in certain areas,” Balliet said. “Based on agency input, the County has requested that SMD companies prohibit parking of their devices at federal lands such as the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery, National Park Service lands, and NOVA Parks.”

But enforcement of the geofencing is left to the companies running the scooters.

“SMD companies are handling the parking prohibition in a couple of ways, including charging a fine, suspending accounts for multiple infractions, as well as prohibiting riding through geofenced areas,” Balliet said. “We will soon be providing the companies a map to ensure each is using the same parcel data that accurately reflects the areas where parking is prohibited.”

Geofencing can result in scooters slowing down below a certain speed cap, stopping altogether inside certain boundaries, or not allowing the user to end their ride and park in certain areas, depending on the company’s policy.

But while geofencing is designed to keep scooters inside authorized zones, it may be a contributor to the mysterious spate of abandoned scooters littering certain trails in Arlington. One tipster told ARLnow that the geofences near the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial near Rosslyn forced him to abandon his scooter into a pile of other scooters at the border of the invisible barrier.

Another hot spot for abandoned scooters: along the Mt. Vernon Trail near Roosevelt Bridge and Gravelly Point.

Meanwhile, across the river, one government official is advocating for scooters to be allowed on one particular piece of federal land. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) sent a letter today asking U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund to allow scooters on the Capitol grounds, where they are currently prohibited.

In her letter, Norton describes scooters as an “affordable, environmentally friendly and efficient mode of transportation relied upon by increasing numbers of Hill staffers, D.C. residents and visitors to our nation’s capital.”

Photo via Bird/Twitter

New Crystal City Bowling Alley Strikes 2019 Opening Plans

By Vernon Miles
1/3

A new bowling alley is delaying its plans to open in Crystal City by a year.

“The Bowlero location is undergoing construction,” Jillian Laufer, a PR rep for Bowlero Corp., said in an email. “But there are tentative plans for the center to open in spring 2020.”

Bowlero is a bowling alley and restaurant chain with three locations in Northern Virginia. The location at 320 23rd Street S. is described as family friendly, though plans for the Crystal City location include a bar. A press release from the organization said Bowlero features blacklight bowling lanes, lounge seating, and an interactive arcade.

The Queen Ammanisa Uyghur restaurant previously in the location has since vacated, though signs for the restaurant remain in the windows. Inside, the space has been gutted.

Laufer said the delay is caused by construction “taking longer than anticipated.” The location was originally slated to open “mid-2019.”

Image 3 via Bowlero

9Round Fitness Closes in Arlington

By Vernon Miles
1/5

Almost exactly five years after it first launched in Courthouse, kickboxing gym franchise 9Round has left Arlington.

At one point, 9Round had three locations in the county, in Courthouse, Ballston and Columbia Pike. All three are now shuttered.

A letter in the window at the Courthouse location (2250 Clarendon Blvd) confirmed the closure was permanent.

“We regret to inform you that 9Round NoVa will be closing, with our last day of training on Saturday, June 22,” the sign reads. “We want to thank you all for your loyalty and patronage!”

A email address listed on the sign, for patrons to seek additional information, is no longer active. Phone numbers for the Arlington locations go straight to voicemail and their respective webpages are no longer active.

Both the locations at 927 N. Quincy Street in Ballston and the original location at Courthouse were locked up and in the midst of having gym equipment packed up.

The Columbia Pike location (2501 9th Road S.) closed earlier this year and is already in the process of being converted into an F45 gym, though the website says the gym is not yet open.

Ashley Hopko contributed to this story

County Plans to Turn Army Navy Drive into Pedestrian-Bicycle Corridor

By Vernon Miles
1/4

Proposed changes could help transform a major street in the Pentagon City and Crystal City area into a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly corridor, though it might make traffic a little more congested.

The Army Navy Drive Complete Street project would provide a physically-separated, two-way protected bicycle lane along the south side of Army Navy Drive from S. Joyce Street to 12th Street S. Changes would also make pedestrian crossings shorter and safer, with options to build dedicated transit lanes in the future.

According to the project website:

The project will rebuild Army Navy Drive within the existing right-of-way as a multimodal complete street featuring enhanced bicycle, transit, environmental and pedestrian facilities. The goal of the project is to improve the local connections between the Pentagon and the commercial, residential and retail services in Pentagon City and Crystal City.

The tradeoff for keeping all of this within the right of way is reduced motor vehicle lanes, with slowing traffic through the area billed as a feature rather than a detriment. For most of the route, traffic in each direction is at least two lanes wide, though east of S. Eads Street the plans call for it to narrow from two lanes to one in each direction.

At an open house yesterday (Tuesday) at the Aurora Hills Branch Library (735 18th Street S.), most of those in attendance were local cyclists expressing enthusiasm for the project.

“This is an unspeakably huge improvement for cycling,” said Chris Slatt, chair of the Transportation Commission. “This is a critical piece for connecting bicycle infrastructure.”

Cyclists at the meeting also took the opportunity to note that the improvements planned here were still a stark contrast to plans to realign Columbia Pike near the Air Force Memorial. Cycling advocates at the open house said the Pike plans would turn the nearby intersection of S. Joyce Street and Columbia Pike, which feeds into Army Navy Drive and is already not ideal for bicycling, into a “death trap.”

Photo (3) via Google Maps, project map via Arlington County Department of Environmental Services

‘Stone Hot Pizza’ in Clarendon Now Open

By Vernon Miles
1/2

(Updated at 1:35 p.m.) Two-and-a-half years after the initial permits were filed, Stone Hot Pizza finally opened in Clarendon earlier this year.

Staff at the restaurant said they started cooking up the first pizzas in March, though a “now open” sign still adorns the front entrance.

The pizzeria advertises a lunch special of $7.99 for a one-topping pizza with an option to add a soda for 99 cents. It also offers paninis and other sandwiches for around $8.

Located at 3217 Washington Blvd, just off Clarendon’s main drag and next to Spirits of ’76, Stone Hot Pizza is open from 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, and 10:30 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Where to Charge Your Electric Car in Arlington

By Vernon Miles
1/4

So you have a Tesla or some other electric car, but where in Arlington can you charge it?

Most of the electric car stations are grouped around Arlington’s Metro corridors, according to ChargeHub, a website that tracks charging stations. Charging stations follow a line between Rosslyn and Ballston, for instance, and there are 22 throughout the Crystal City and Pentagon City area alone.

But finding stations outside of those areas can be a hassle.

One bank of electric chargers is located along Columbia Pike at the Arlington Mill Community Center (909 S. Dinwiddie Street). In Shirlington, an electric car charging station is located at the Campbell Avenue parking garage.

Additionally, there are three charging stations in residential North Arlington:

  • Discovery Elementary School (5301 36th Street N.)
  • Harris Teeter (2425 N. Harrison Street)
  • Potomac Overlook Regional Park (2845 N. Marcey Road)

There are seven Tesla-specific charger locations in Arlington.

  • Two Liberty Center (4075 Wilson Blvd) — Four Tesla connectors available to the public
  • Clarendon Square (3033 Wilson Blvd) — Two Tesla connectors, parking fees may apply
  • Market Common Clarendon (2800 Clarendon Blvd) — 18 Tesla Superchargers
  • 2311 Wilson Blvd (2311 Wilson Blvd) — Three Tesla connectors, parking fees may apply
  • 1320 N. Courthouse Garage (1320 N. Courthouse Road) — Two Tesla connectors, parking fees may apply
  • The Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City (1250 S. Hayes Street) — Two Tesla connectors, available for patrons only
  • Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel (2800 S. Potomac Avenue) — Two Tesla connectors, available for patrons only

Meanwhile, if your car is charged and you’re looking for fellowship with other electric car enthusiasts, a local group of residents has formed the Arlington Solar and EV Charger Co-op, with the goal of making it easier to save money on the purchase of solar panels and electric vehicle chargers.

The group is planning to hold an information session on Thursday (June 27) from 6:30-8 p.m., at the Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street) to discuss solar energy, electric vehicles, and simplifying the “going solar” process.

Arlingtonian Buzzes into Jeopardy! Next Month

By Vernon Miles

If you tune in to Jeopardy! on Wednesday, July 17, you’ll have a local to root for.

Roey Hadar, a 23-year-old journalist at WETA-TV, represented Arlington during the game show taping in March, though the episode won’t premiere until next month.

Hadar couldn’t say anything about his clues or the results of the game — you’ll just have to see for yourself.

“I had tried out a few times before I got the call, and even then it took roughly two years to get to the point where they called me back,” Hadar said. “I was outside Navy Yard Metro station. It wasn’t a call I was expecting. My girlfriend was there with me, and right before she called the Uber I got the call from L.A. I know my spam calls well, so I picked up and on the other line was a contestant coordinator.”

It had been over 18 months since — the tail end of when you can usually expect to hear back if you got onto Jeopardy! after an audition — and Hadar hadn’t heard anything. And when Hadar said he’d heard about Alex Trebek’s cancer diagnosis, he was worried if he did get to play it wouldn’t be without the legendary host at the helm. Hadar was preparing to take the online test again when the call came in.

The coordinator ran Hadar through some biographical changes. There had been quite a few changes since he first took the test online in April 2017. He moved from New Jersey to Ballston, for one, and he’d gone from a student to working at the WETA show Washington Week.

Because Hadar worked for a TV station, he had to check with his office to see if it would be all right to go, but Hadar said his boss was insistent that he go be on the show. He had two weeks notice, so Hadar binge-watched the show, standing in front of the TV with a spotlight on his face and pressing down on a spring-loaded toilet paper holder to try and get the answers before the contestants.

Hadar said the TV production aspect of the show wasn’t a shock because of his work experience, and years of quiz bowl in high school and at Georgetown University prepared him for handling the buzzer, but seeing the game show from another angle was the biggest surprise.

“It felt like the game had come to life around me,” Hadar said. “It was surreal being up there and actually having to call out clues and facing the wrong way — seeing the board and set in a certain way — there was a bit of a shock seeing everything in a reverse angle.”

Despite being a competition, Hadar said everyone from the staff to the other contestants were incredibly friendly.

After getting home from the show, Hadar said he thought he’d have Jeopardy! fatigue, but instead he’s found himself locked in — watching the rise of fall of James Holzhauer in the time between his show taping and the air date.

“I always had a great respect for contestants, but now I feel like I can better put myself in their shoes,” Hadar said. “I can see how when players are stressing or when they’re trying to frantically hit the buzzer but they rang in too early; things that are a little more subtle that you’d know from playing it.”

But that doesn’t stop Hadar from shouting answers at the television like everyone else, he said.

Photo courtesy Roey Hadar

Ballston-based Cybersecurity Company Receives Investment Boost

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

Updated 3:35 p.m. — Ballston-based ThreatConnect — a cybersecurity company helping other companies fend off hackers — is planning to ramp up its operations thanks to an investment from Providence Strategic Growth (PSG).

ThreatConnect specializes in cybersecurity “intelligence,” where the information on incoming threats is collected across member organizations and spread across the network, so information gained from an attack on one company can be used to defend the others.

The company started in Shirlington but has since moved to its current headquarters in Ballston. But while ThreatConnect’s location may have changed, CEO and Co-Founder Adam Vincent said its core strategy has not.

“We have had the same vision since we released the first version of the ThreatConnect Platform in 2013,” Vincent said in an email. “We were a step ahead of the market then, and I feel we are still in front of the market today. Our vision is, and was, to improve decision-making in cyber — giving the business the ability to make smarter, faster decisions and act on them quickly — all without adding additional personnel.”

Even though the mission hasn’t changed, the client base has expanded.

“While in the beginning, we were an obvious choice for large enterprises, we see more mid-size companies choosing ThreatConnect,” Vincent said. “We are seeing more verticals — for example, healthcare, utilities — in addition to all the financial and retail companies we have served for years. Given the current security climate, all organizations are realizing that a security program is not a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘need to have’ in order to grow their own business.”

The exact amount of the investment isn’t being disclosed — a common trend among recent investments — but Vincent said PSG is fully committed to the company’s strategic growth.

“We chose them as a strategic partner, not just another investor, because we know their support will be ongoing,” Vincent said. “PSG appreciates our value proposition — to change how businesses manage their security — which was a driver for them investing.”

After the investment, Vincent said ThreatConnect will begin accelerating its current strategy. In a blog post, the company said it will be making new investments in data sources to provide more information for operational and tactical decision making.

But as ThreatConnect grows, it has no plans to leave Arlington.

“We think Arlington is a great place to work, whether in cybersecurity or another vertical,” Vincent said. “It is close and very accessible to D.C., but not too close. And, though our business is worldwide, we choose to have our headquarters in Arlington. It’s our home. It seems like a great central location for most of the staff that comes into the office. The immediate area around the office has grown and changed a great deal in just the short time we have been here — and everyone appreciates the new food/drink options that have recently opened or are about to open.”

Power Outage Planned for Clarendon Tomorrow

By Vernon Miles

A power outage planned for the 3000 block of Clarendon Blvd was canceled earlier this month, but it’s back on this weekend.

According to Binyam Gebreyes, operations specialist for Dominion Energy, the earlier planned outage didn’t occur because there were difficulties accessing the necessary equipment.

“We wish to notify you that to improve the reliability of electric service, it has become necessary to replace the switch and two transformers located in a vault at 3030 Clarendon Blvd,” Gebreyes said. “The outage was initially scheduled for June 1, however after numerous attempts to remove the concrete vault top, all efforts failed. The property management company in consultation with Dominion Energy suspended the outage until they can procure other means of removing the vault top.”

The outage is now planned to start at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday) and conclude on 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 23.

“We are expecting customers residing in the apartments to have electric service restored by 10 p.m. on Saturday,” Gebreyes said. “While we know this is an inconvenience to those residents and the impacted stores, we believe this planned outage is necessary to improve reliability and prevent an unplanned outage due to failing equipment.”

In addition to an apartment building, businesses on the block include Trader Joe’s, South Block, Members Cleaners, Massage Envy, Circa and Bracket Room. During the previous planned outage, Trader Joe’s said it would remain open while operating on generator power.

File photo

View More Stories