business closing

Loyal Companion no more as both Arlington pet stores set to shutter later this month

By Matt Blitz
Loyal Companion is closing all local stores, including this one at the Mosaic District (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Both Loyal Companion pet stores in Arlington are closing within a few weeks.

Parent company Independent Pet Partners announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this week and is planning to shutter all of its stores outside of Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois by the end of the month.

That includes Loyal Companion locations in Clarendon at 2509 Franklin Road and in the Lee Harrison Shopping Center at 2501 N. Harrison Street. All Fairfax County and Alexandria stores are closing as well.

The plan is for the stores to be shuttered by Tuesday, Feb. 28, per the website, but “final days of business may vary by location.”

An employee at the Clarendon location confirmed that Feb. 28 will be the final day for that location, but there was no answer at the Lee Harrison store.

The company published the following letter to customers.

To our Loyal Companion community,

With a heavy heart, we want to inform you that we’ve made the tough decision to close our Loyal Companion stores.  We have loved serving the community and supporting you on your pet wellness journey. ​

Our stores will be open through the end of February.  We will be offering liquidation discounts and we encourage you to take advantage of these great offers to get all the supplies you need.

While it’s hard to say goodbye, it’s easy to say thank you. Thank you for being part of our family. Thank you for caring about pet wellness. And thank you for supporting your local community. ​

We’ve enjoyed all the hugs and belly rubs along the way. ​

Grooming services and self-wash stations will likely be stopped in the middle of the month, the website notes.

It’s not immediately clear what liquidation sales and discounts will be available at the Arlington locations, with an employee declining to provide more information.

In 2017, Kriser’s Natural Pet Store opened at Lee Harrison Shopping Center. Less than two years later, both Arlington locations were rebranded as “Loyal Companion.”

Gallery Market & Cafe on N. Oak Street in Rosslyn seems closed

By Matt Blitz
1/5

A well-regarded corner market in Rosslyn appears to be closed.

When ARLnow stopped by Gallery Market & Cafe at 1800 N. Oak Street earlier this week, the lights were off, chairs were stacked, and the majority of the equipment was cleared out. The phone number is disconnected as well.

It’s not immediately clear when the convenience store, deli, and dry cleaner might have closed at the corner of N. Oak Street and Key Blvd, though a tipster said it happened at the beginning of the year.

ARLnow has reached out to both the property owner and business owner but we have yet to hear back definitive word about the status of the market as of publication.

There are other Gallery Markets & Cafes in Rockville and in D.C., but they are not associated with the Rosslyn location per an employee at the Rockville store.

The small business had been open for more than a decade at least, per Yelp reviews, most of which have been positive.

“Amazing sandwiches and the nicest owners. Love coming here to support local,” reads one from this past March. “Staff is always courteous about making substitutions (: try the club combo!”

Elsewhere in Rosslyn, a newer, higher end twist on the traditional corner market opened earlier this month nearby. Foxtrot, which describes itself as a “boutique” market, cafe, and convenience store, opened its doors at 1771 N. Pierce Street. It’s about a two-block walk from Gallery Market & Cafe.

Hat tip to Matt Sinisca

Columbia Pike’s Rincome Thai is set to close this month after nearly 40 years

By Matt Blitz
1/5

After nearly four decades, Rincome Thai is set to serve its last pad thai this month.

The Columbia Pike mainstay is closing up shop in the coming weeks, co-owner Mihee Pansiri confirmed to ARLnow.

“We’ve been here since 1985. Since the pandemic, we’ve lost some customers and some staff,” she said, who owns the restaurant with her sister Miok An. “It’s just too much for us to go on. It’s time for both of us to retire.”

It remains a bit unclear exactly when Rincome Thai’s last day might be at 3030 Columbia Pike, occupying a corner space inside of the Days Inn. Pansiri said they are talking with the landlord about getting out of the lease, but she expects they’ll stop serving some time in mid to late February.

While secure in the decision they’ve made, it’s still tough for the owners and locals alike.

“My customers are really sad. They want us to be here forever, but that’s not possible,” Pansiri said. “I just really appreciate them, they always came out even during the pandemic and even did a GoFundMe to [help me] keep my staff.”

As a thank you, she is giving out her recipes to regulars and is considering putting on a workshop in the coming weeks to teach those who are interested how to prepare some of Rincome’s most popular dishes.

“Some chefs don’t like to give out their recipes, but my customers are like family,” she said. “Some have been coming here since they were dating and now they are grandparents. Their kids are bringing their kids. I don’t mind giving away my recipes.”

Pansiri and her sister opened the restaurant in 1985 with Pansiri’s husband, who has since died. She explains they did it with just “a few dollars” and a generous loan from her parents. The sisters are Korean-American, but Pansiri’s husband was Thai. So, they created a restaurant that eventually infused both cultures onto its menu.

“We offer kimchi fried rice. It’s delicious,” Pansiri said. “It’s mom’s recipe. I don’t buy it from the store.”

The hot sauces, too, have Korean influences, she said. Pansiri can still be seen in the kitchen, working alongside a cook that’s been with her for 35 years.

To this day, Pansiri and An both live a three-minute walk from Rincome. It’s these walks to work, she said, that made her realize it was time to finally close.

“My sister and I can still walk and enjoy going on vacation,” Pansiri said. “I don’t want to quit when I can’t walk. Then, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

She’s also clear that Rincome closing doesn’t have much to do with all the development going on around Columbia Pike in recent years. Pansiri said it’s generally been a good thing for business, getting new customers and having “younger couples” discover her small Thai restaurant, even if she doesn’t have the heart to tell them they’ll be closing soon.

While sad that Rincome is in its final weeks, Pansiri knows it’s time to finally hang up the apron.

“I love what I’m doing,” she said. “It’s really sad and I wish I could go, but… it’s time.”

The Old Bike Shop in Lyon Park is closing soon

By Matt Blitz
1/3

The Old Bike Shop in Lyon Park is closing next month after a decade in business.

Owner Lawrence Behery told ARLnow that he’s shuttering the used bike repair and sales shop on N. Pershing Drive because of a decline in business and family health challenges.

While Behery said he doesn’t know the exact date of the closure yet, he expects it to happen at the end of February. Additionally, the shop is now only open three days a week from Friday through Sunday. The Old Bike Shop first opened in 2013.

It’s been a bumpy road for Behery and the Old Bike Shop over the last two years.

The pandemic was “crazy” for the bike business and sales were good at first, Behery said, but then his mom was diagnosed with cancer and business began to decline. Last year was particularly tough with sales dropping to the point where the shop “cost me money.” Then, his mom suffered a stroke and Behery became her caretaker.

“Learning to do that with the business not doing so well… it was really tough,” he said. “I really love serving the community, but it’s a delicate balance. I’m trying to fight the fight, but I have both hands tied behind my back and I’m just a little guy.”

Another reason for the closure is the soaring costs related to warehousing and storage. Behery said that storage unit prices have “skyrocketed” leaving him making tough decisions about what parts and inventory to have on hand.

Rent at 2647 N. Pershing Drive, however, has stayed consistent, something that has allowed the shop to survive as long as it has. Behery called his landlord “fair” and a “very decent human being.”

Over the last several days, ARLnow has received notes from readers and loyal customers, asking about how the community could help to keep the shop around. Behery said while that’s a very kind sentiment, he needs to take a step back to help his loved one.

“This is hard for me because I love it, but can’t digest it all… running a business and taking care of mom,” he said. “I just want one hand free. I can’t concentrate on everything.”

He does hope that someday he’ll be able to return to selling and repairing bikes for the Arlington community. As Behery put it, now is the time to take care of his family so that he can come back stronger in the future.

But he’ll always have the memories and is thankful for the community support.

“It feels like that little shop is sorta like a neighborhood bar… I’ve seen kids grow up, from their first bike to the one they take to college,” Behery said. “I have had gratitude to this community since day one.”

Nespresso closing at Pentagon City mall, while Korean corn dog eatery coming soon

By Matt Blitz
The Nespresso store at the Pentagon City mall is closing (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 2:00 p.m.) The Nespresso store is closing at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.

The international coffee brand announced it will be closing its Pentagon City mall location early next month with its final day on Sunday, February 5. The reason, per a company spokesperson, is “shopping trends.”

“Nespresso evaluates the marketplace and shopping trends regularly to determine how we can deliver superior customer service and a high-quality coffee experience,” the spokesperson wrote ARLnow via email. “Following our latest evaluation, we have decided to close the Pentagon City boutique.”

The decision to close this location is part of “our long-term business strategy and reflects evolving consumer trends,” said the spokesperson.

They also noted that all employees affected by the closure and are “in good standing” will be given the option of taking another role at Nespresso or a severance package. The Nespresso stores at Tysons and in Bethesda will both remain open, so presumably, employees at the Pentagon City location could be moved to those locations.

“While we are confident this is the right step for our overall business operations, this is a decision that affects real people and their families, and we know it causes challenges and uncertainties for our employees,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, a new Korean corn dog eatery is coming to the mall.

Kong Dog is expected to open within the next two months, per a company spokesperson, though it’s unclear exactly where and when. The mall’s website initially said February 15, but that specific date has since been removed from the site.

Kong Dog serves up Korean-style corn dogs with toppings like cheese, fried potato, and ramen. With U.S. locations mostly centered in Illinois and New Jersey, the Pentagon City eatery appears to be the first coming to this area, though a new Georgetown location is also “coming soon” per the company’s website.

Panera ‘temporarily’ closed at Pentagon City mall

By ARLnow.com
Panera Bread closed in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City food court (staff photo)

The Panera Bread location in the Pentagon City mall food court is shuttered, but the closure may only be temporary.

The eatery was closed as of last week. ARLnow is told that the closure is “temporary at this point,” though a reopening date was not given.

The location has been removed from the list on Panera’s website. It first opened in 2013, as did a Rosslyn location at 1700 N. Moore Street that remains open — the only currently open Panera Bread in Arlington.

A Panera location at Tysons Corner Center mall closed permanently late last month, while a Ballston mall location closed in 2016.

SCOOP: New District Brewing in Green Valley on tap to close in May, looking for new location

By Matt Blitz
New District Brewing in Green Valley (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington’s only production brewery is set to close in late spring, but its owners remain hopeful about moving to a new location.

New District Brewing Co. in Green Valley is closing at the end of May, co-owner Mike Katrivanos confirmed to ARLnow. Memorial Day weekend is currently scheduled to be the brewery’s last days of operation at 2709 S. Oakland Street.

“Arlington’s first production brewery in one hundred years” was unable to renew its lease due to a rent increase and the landlord wanting them to lease the whole building, a large industrial space near Four Mile Run and the Shirlington Dog Park.

“It would have been more than two and a half times the current rent that we pay,” said Katrivanos. “Plus, an all-new build-out for the unrenovated portion of the building that we didn’t have when we initially moved in.”

Despite the brewery being profitable, those extra expenses are not tenable for New District, Katrivanos said.

“We are being priced out,” he said.

Even during rough times, New District — which opened in early 2016 — has had a consistent community presence in Arlington. That includes a beer garden at the county fair, a stand at the Columbia Pike Blues Festival, and organizing the Valley Fest, an arts and music festival in Green Valley.

The community stepped up for the brewery last year, helping it to purchase its own canning line. But then last month, an indoor dog park and bar announced it was coming to 2709 S. Oakland Street with an opening planned for August 2023. This led to some confusion since that was the same address as the well-known, local brewery, which had not yet announced its own closure.

Katrivanos clarified that this was simply a gap in communication and timing, noting that new tenant locked down its own lease before New District was informed about what was happening.

Now, with a few weeks to digest the news, the brewery is looking to the future and remains hopeful that this simply will result in a move as opposed to full-on closure.

Katrivanos said he no longer wants to rent and is looking to buy a commercial property in Arlington, where he spent much of his childhood. It’s something he’s “made no secret” about wanting to do since the brewery first opened seven years ago.

A number of years ago, New District put in an offer to buy the old WETA building on 27th Street S., not far from the brewery’s current location. But that building and land ended up being sold to the county and demolished for the expansion of Jennie Dean Park.

More recently, there was an offer to buy a building on Columbia Pike, Katrivanos said, taking advantage of code changes approved last year allowing breweries to move in. But that also didn’t pan out.

Nonetheless, Katrivanos is still optimistic they’ll find a new home for New District in Arlington and is seeking a 4,000 to 6,000-square-foot commercial property priced around $1.5 million.

If a new home isn’t secured by end of the May, a tough decision may be on tap for New District.

“Either, we’re going to have to relocate out of Arlington or, something even worse, like probably shut down,” Katrivanos said.

For the moment, though, the brewery is focused on celebrating its seventh anniversary on Thursday, January 12. There are going to be limited bottle releases, half-price growler fills, and music throughout the weekend.

With the end of May in the not-too-distant future, Katrivanos is focused on finding a way to keep New District in Arlington.

“We’ll see how the fortunes of fate treat us,” he said.

County puts equipment from Courthouse’s Rāko Coffee up for public auction

By Matt Blitz
1/3

Items from Rāko Coffee in Courthouse were put up for public auction by Arlington County tax authorities.

ARLnow reported last month that Rāko Coffee at 2016 Wilson Blvd had closed, though a sign claimed the closure was “temporary” and blamed a broken espresso machine.

Several readers had reached out to ARLnow asking if the closure was, in fact, permanent due to how long the sign had been up. A couple of days later, green seizure tags were seen placed on equipment and furniture at the shop, suggesting the coffee shop owed the county money.

Now those items are being sold. The Arlington County Treasurer’s Office announced yesterday a public online auction for equipment and supplies left at the cafe.

“By order of Arlington County Treasurer all equipment, furniture, and fixtures will be liquidated from this location,” reads the auction page. The sale will go towards paying the business’s tax bill to the county.

Items like an espresso machine, food dehydrator, commercial refrigerator, patio tables, and five-pound bags of coffee were on the block. The auction ended this morning, providing would-be commercial fridge owners less than 24 hours to get bids in.

The cafe’s La Marzocco espresso machine sold for $17,350, according to the auction page, which raises the question of whether it was ever actually broken.

Meanwhile, Rāko Coffee’s opening of a planned location at Amazon HQ2 is in doubt. Just over a year ago, Amazon trumpeted that Rāko Coffee and several other local businesses had signed leases to move into the retail space at its second headquarters in Pentagon City.

ARLnow has reached out to Rāko Coffee representatives via email and phone but has yet to hear back as of publication. Amazon also has not responded to several inquiries about what this could mean for Rāko’s planned location.

Rāko Coffee, which started as a Lorton-based coffee roaster, opened the Courthouse cafe — its first brick-and-mortar shop — in August 2021.

The company was founded by sisters Lisa and Melissa Gerben. Their LinkedIn profiles note that they ended their tenures at Rāko this past June and August, respectively.

Bar inside of Ballston Quarter food hall is now boarded up and closed

By Matt Blitz
Ballston Service Station is now closed at Ballston Quarter (photo courtesy of Ray Caputo)

Bar and snack spot Ballston Service Station located inside of Ballston Quarter Market is now closed

The bar at the center of the food hall shuttered several weeks ago, Ballston Quarter Market’s general manager tells ARLnow, confirming several reader tips received by ARLnow.

Ballston Service Station was one of the first businesses to commit to the newly-revamped Ballston Quarter in late 2018.

The low-key watering hole was designed to look like “your hometown gas station.” It had a bar, a tap, and several televisions. Now, there’s only plywood and paneling covering the bar.

ARLnow reached out to the owners of Ballston Service Station about why it closed but has not heard back. Ballston Quarter management also declined to comment on if another tenant is lined up to replace it.

Recent months have seen several comings and goings at the food hall inside the Ballston mall. In August, British-inspired Salt Pop Kitchen closed while, in September, Kung Fu Tea opened on the other side of Ballston Service Station.

Meanwhile, the Macy’s next to the mall is set to undergo a huge redevelopment after County Board approval this weekend.

JUST IN: Ballston’s Philz Coffee is closing Friday

By Matt Blitz
1/2

Philz Coffee in Ballston is closing at the end of the week.

The San Francisco-based coffee shop located in the Ballston Exchange development is set to shutter on Friday, a note on the door confirms.

“We have loved serving this community over the last 4 years,” reads the note. “While this Philz location has permanently closed as of December 16, 2022, you can find other locations and shop our blends online at: philzcoffee.com.”

Philz is known for its pour-over coffee and specialty iced coffees.

The location along Wilson Blvd in Ballston first opened in early 2019, as part of the coffee chain’s expansion in the D.C. area. At one point, there were five Philz locations in the region.

With the Ballston one closing there will only be two remaining, in D.C.’s Adam Morgan and Navy Yard neighborhoods. The location in Dupont closed earlier this year.

Ballston still has a number of coffee options, including Compass Coffee, Good Company Doughnuts and Cafe and multiple Starbucks locations. Just down the street from the soon-to-be-closed Philz, D.C.-based Slipstream is currently expected to open early next year.

It’s not immediately clear why Philz is closing, with a manager saying they were “not authorized” to share the reason.

We reached out to the Philz marketing department but have yet to hear back as of publication. On multiple recent visits, ARLnow observed few open tables inside the coffee shop but a relatively lower volume of customers compared to Compass Coffee or nearby Starbucks locations.

Shirlington’s Taco + Pina is closed and it’s unclear whether it will reopen

By Matt Blitz
Taco + Pina in Shirlington appears to be now closed (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Fast-casual Mexican restaurant Taco + Pina is closed in Shirlington, at least for now.

Neither the restaurant nor the Village of Shirlington has confirmed whether the closure of the eatery at 4041 Campbell Avenue is permanent.

The door was locked, a ladder was inside the eatery, and no employees were present when ARLnow went to the restaurant late last week around lunchtime. When calling Taco + Pina, the phone rings for a while before going to a full mailbox.

The website also notes that every item and dish is “out of stock.”

Taco + Pina opened in Shirlington at the height of the pandemic, in May 2020. It moved into the former location of Lotus Grill and Noodles. Owner Graham Bartlett was a former executive chef under local restaurateur Richard Sandoval, who owns El Centro in D.C. and Tysons’ La Sandia.

“TACO + PINA’s is a labor of love which has been in the works for almost a year and a half now,” Bartlett said at the time. “While some may question opening during a pandemic I believe it is our destiny to launch on Cinco de Mayo, which this year also falls on Taco Tuesday.”

If it is in fact closed, it’s not immediately when exactly it happened. There hasn’t been a social media post since October, but there are several Yelp reviews from as recently as last month. (The taqueria has a four-out-of-five star rating on Yelp.)

Over the past year or so the Village of Shirlington has had a number of high-profile establishments announce they were moving into the dining-and-shopping center. Many have yet to open.

Great Falls-based Greek restaurant Our Mom Eugenia was looking to open this fall, but it appears that’s been delayed to early next year. ARLnow had the scoop that Jeni’s Ice Cream was set to start serving in Shirlington way back in April, but doors remain locked with no timeline for when the ice cream shop might open.

Astro Beer Hall announced that it was moving into the former Capitol City Brewing Co. space a year ago, but that also has yet to make its debut.

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