Dave Grohl Rocks Local Studio — “Dave Grohl doesn’t seem terribly interested in taking a day off. Shortly after the 9:30 Club announced the Grohl-led Foo Fighters would play a surprise show Thursday, the former Nirvana drummer reunited with D.C.-based punk rockers, at Inner Ear Studio — the legendary and soon-to-close Arlington, Virginia, recording studio owned by Don Zientara.” [WTOP]
Fmr. Fire Chief on Arlington’s 9/11 Response — “‘It was truly an all-hands-on-deck endeavor,’ Schwartz said at the historical society’s annual banquet, held Sept. 9 at Washington Golf & Country Club. ‘We’re all in this together. There’s not a single agency or even a single jurisdiction that can handle this by themselves.’ Schwartz pointed to the county’s then-fire chief, Edward Plaugher, for his work building relationships with agencies like the FBI. Plaugher ‘was ahead of his time’ in being concerned about terrorism.” [Sun Gazette]
Night Paving at Busy Intersection — “Nighttime paving continues overnight this week at the Langston Boulevard (Lee Highway)-Glebe Road intersection improvements project… lasting into Friday, Sept. 17.” [Twitter]
Nicecream Hits Rocky Road — Nicecream, the handcrafted ice cream shop that expanded after finding success with its first location in Clarendon, is closing its Shaw store in the District. [PoPville]
Tower of Light Returns — From Dave Statter: “The Tower of Light at the Pentagon began tonight & continues through September 12 in honor of those killed when the United States was attacked 20 years ago Saturday.” [Twitter, Fox 5]
Road Closures for Memorial 5K — “The Arlington Police, Fire, Sheriff and ECC Memorial 9/11 Memorial 5k race will take place on the evening of Saturday, September 11, 2021. The Arlington County Police Department will close the following roadways around the Pentagon and in Crystal City to accommodate the event.” [ACPD]
Some Boundary Adjustments Coming — “Arlington’s public-school leadership has so much on its return-to-classrooms plate already – ya think? – that a massive boundary-adjustment process is just not in the cards for now. School officials are planning for ‘only those adjustments that must be done,’ said Lisa Stengle, the school system’s executive director of planning and evaluation, during an Aug. 26 briefing to School Board members.” [Sun Gazette]
Feds Add Rep from Arlington to Metro Board — Updated at 9 a.m. — A new alternate Metro Board member from Arlington was sworn in yesterday. Assistant County Manager & Director of Communications and Public Engagement Bryna Helfer is a federal appointee to the Board. Helfer previously worked for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. [U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Twitter]
Biz Booming for Local Tattoo Shop — “As more Americans resolve to change their lives after a tumultuous year and a half, many are choosing to get tattoos: D.C.-area tattoo-shop owners are reporting a boom in business, even though the pandemic all but shuttered other industries. Inside Lady Octopus, in Arlington, Virginia, artist Gilda Acosta shades in a touch of light green on the leaves of a primrose. Client Meg Little, of Alexandria, booked this appointment seven months ago.” [WTOP]
Higher Ed Booms With Amazon Arrival — “With the arrival of Amazon and a proliferation of other tech companies in fields ranging from big data to cybersecurity, candidates like Bhatia are in high demand. The problem is, there aren’t enough to go around. Universities are trying to change that, and in the process, sparking an academic explosion in and around Arlington… Virginia Tech, Mason and the University of Maryland are preparing to open gleaming new facilities here.” [Arlington Magazine]
Gavin Andersen and Steve Dierkes (courtesy Lawn Barbers)
Steve Dierkes and Gavin Andersen — co-owners of local lawn care business The Lawn Barbers — have dealt with snakes, poison ivy and swarms of cicadas when caring for the lawns of Arlington residents.
But they say the bugs and weeds were worth the experience of running a company together.
The two dabbled in lawn care in high school, and when their summer internships were canceled due to the pandemic, they decided to turn their high school jobs into a business.
“I was going to work at a big consulting firm in D.C. — so a little different than landscaping,” Andersen said. “We tried to find a silver lining in an otherwise gloomy situation.”
“I was going to work at a think tank and, frankly, I’m not too upset I ended up in landscaping,” said Dierkes.
The two built up their client base on Nextdoor, trading names with other area lawn care businesses. After starting out with tools and equipment Dierkes’ parents kept in a shed, they soon earned enough money to buy their own equipment.
Their diligence paid off. Now in its second year, Lawn Barbers offers all kinds of lawn care services — from general yard maintenance to weed control to landscaping renovations — and their business was voted in the top three lawn care businesses in last week’s Arlies.
They say their bond is the key to their success. The friends, who are both 22, met in preschool at Westover Baptist Church and went through elementary school, high school and college together. They both studied at William and Mary.
“We’ve known each other for pretty much our entire lives,” said Dierkes.
“It’s pretty crazy, Steve,” added Andersen.
Drawing on nearly two decades of friendship, the two joke around while their hands are deep in weeds. They say the customers respond well to their positivity and energy.
“What’s better than having two guys on your lawn in 100-degree weather having a blast?” said Andersen. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything I enjoy as much as waking up to do this with Steve.”
Their friendship has helped them through tough times: long hours, backbreaking work and the occasional argument. Once, they moved more than 10,000 pounds of rocks in wheelbarrows to create a drainage solution and pulled up 500-1,000 square feet of English Ivy.
“That was pretty brutal,” Andersen said. “I’ve had to mow a lawn with snakes in it and weeds up to my shoulders.”
For one job, the two scaled a steep hill that gave them a view of all the houses in the neighborhood.
“It made for a great picture,” Dierkes said.
The work gave them another view of Arlington: one through the eyes of people who have been here for decades and seen the community grow and change. Completing projects near the schools they attended, Tuckahoe Elementary School and Yorktown High School, reminds them of how they’ve done the same.
Despite now being able to call themselves an award-winning lawn care duo, Dierkes and Andersen are trading their mowers for desks and office jobs as the summer ends. Looking forward, the partners say their experience will make them better employees and people.
“There’s a lot of life lessons in doing what others consider elementary work,” said Andersen.
“I think working in landscaping, and working in the summer, you really learn resilience and persistence,” said Dierkes. “Gavin and I couldn’t just quit after six hours. You had to get the job done.”
Dierkes is now in Pittsburgh, working at a startup, and Andersen is still in the D.C. area as a consultant, but they refuse to say goodbye to the business. They say they will be available for work over holiday breaks and other times they’re both in Arlington.
“I’m not [expletive] leaving,” said Dierkes, adding that he misses Arlington and his lawn care partnership. “It’s like that corny Dr. Seuss line, ‘It’s not goodbye, it’s just see you later.'”
Bearded Goat in Shirlington (staff photo by Vernon Miles)
CHIKO in Shirlington (staff photo by Vernon Miles)
Throughout this fall, there could be a few new faces around Shirlington as high-intensity gym F45 and some other businesses plan to launch in the next few months.
The gym is scheduled to have its grand opening at 2800 S. Randolph Street on Saturday, Sept. 11, according to a press release, though staff working amid a torrential downpour earlier this week said the gym had a soft launch last Saturday.
The grand opening is scheduled for 8 a.m.-noon, and will include free classes, a chance to win a raffle after each class, and exclusive membership offers.
The gym’s fitness program centers on high-intensity interval training, circuit training, and functional training — increasing the heart rate to boost metabolism and burn fat effectively, said the press release.
Just around the corner, Bearded Goat Barber is scheduled to open at 4150 Campbell Avenue sometime this fall. The Shirlington location, next to Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub, will be the third for the barbershop, which first opened in Ballston in 2019.
Bearded Goat is aiming for an opening on Friday, Oct. 1, said co-owner Scott Parker, though the exact opening date remains a moving target.
Also coming this fall is CHIKO, a Chinese/Korean fusion restaurant at 4040 Campbell Avenue. The restaurant features a mix of dishes from both countries, like bulgogi stir fry and “orange-ish” chicken.
After its future briefly dangled over a precipice, Eagle Cleaners in Williamsburg will be sticking around.
Last week ARLnow reported that manager of the dry cleaning business, Mathew Srebrow, was given one week to either buy the business for $250,000 or shut it down. He said the directive came from the trustee who controls the ownership interest in Eagle Cleaners and had plans to sell it.
That dispute was resolved — for now — on Friday. The dry cleaning shop can stay put at least until the lease is up in five years.
“Long story short… the landlord presented the trustee with a bill of what it’d cost to break the lease,” Srebrow said. “The trustee has no choice but for us to be here — now he’s begging us to be here.”
Eagle Cleaners has been controlled by a trustee and operated by Srebrow since his father put the business in a trust before he died of cancer in 2019. While Srebrow didn’t disclose the cost to break the lease, he said it was a number that the trustee “would never have been able to afford.”
Srebrow says five years is enough time to hire a lawyer and make an offer on the business.
“We’re going to be here for more than five years,” he said. “Once I buy it, I will get another lease to stay here forever.”
Srebrow will be repurposing the money raised so far from his GoFundMe page toward that end. He started the page five days ago in hopes of raising enough money to buy the business on the trustee’s terms.
So far, the page has collected $8,760 in donations, and Srebrow recently set a new goal of $25,000 to fund his new approach.
“The community has pulled together and shown amazing support,” he wrote on the fundraising page. “We are open for business with our normal business hours. Thank you all who have donated! It’s looking like legal advice with the option to buy the store will be needed to keep the store on [its] current path of staying open. Funds raised will be going towards this effort.”
Srebrow said he wants to hire a lawyer to ensure that his bases are covered, that the GoFundMe passes muster, and that last week’s events are not repeated.
“This was my dad’s store,” he said. “One of his wishes before he passed from cancer was to keep the store running. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Earlier: After operating for 25 years and weathering the worst of the pandemic, Eagle Cleaners in Williamsburg is on the brink of closing.
Manager Mathew Srebrow is pinning his hopes on community support to pull through.
His father opened the store at 6402 Williamsburg Blvd in 1996. Before his father died in 2019, he put the business in a trust — but now, the trustee who took over ownership plans to sell Eagle Cleaners and retire. He said the trustee told him on Saturday that he has until Wednesday, Sept. 1 to buy the business for $250,000, or shut it down so that the equipment can be sold.
“It’s really unfortunate what’s happening,” Srebrow said. “I have a lot of customers in tears, some offering legal advice… The way it’s closing just makes no sense.”
Srebrow started a GoFundMe page yesterday (Wednesday) to raise the money. He said he believes the money can be raised, but emphasized he only has one week to reach the $250,000 goal.
“I refuse to go down without a fight,” he wrote on the page. “Let’s make this goal a reality.”
After pandemic restrictions ended, but before workers began trickling back to offices, Srebrow spoke with ARLnow about how the pandemic and remote work have nearly wiped out 25 years of stable business.
“We had so many people come in [after the article came out], bringing comforters, bedding — no one was using dress clothes, but they were bringing whatever they had, just so we could make it — and we made it.”
Now, Srebrow said he’s hoping the community will help him keep the business open and under his ownership.
“We love all our customers in the community,” he said. “Nobody wants us to go, nobody.”
Politico was founded in 2007 in Rosslyn, in the same office tower at 1000 Wilson Blvd as its former sister outlet, local ABC station WJLA. The station was sold in 2013.
Axel Springer says the addition of Politico to its U.S. digital media holdings, including Insider (formerly Business Insider) and Morning Brew, will add to its growing reach.
Politico started out as primarily a Capitol Hill newspaper, competing with the likes of The Hill (which also recently sold) and Roll Call — complete with newspaper boxes offering free copies around Arlington and D.C. Metro stations — but has since grown a large, mainstream audience for its online political coverage. It also generates substantial revenue from a high-end subscription service called Politico Pro.
Arlington is home to a number of other media companies, including Washington Business Journal, Graham Holdings, Salem Radio Network, Washington Free Beacon and Townhall Media, all in Rosslyn.
Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei, along with colleagues Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz, broke with owner Robert Allbritton in 2016 and founded a competing publication, Axios, which is based in Clarendon. PBS has its headquarters in Crystal City, while local public broadcasting station WETA, along with the PBS Newshour, which it produces, are based in Shirlington. ARLnow and its sister sites ALXnow, Tysons Reporter and Reston Now are based in Ballston.
Axios, meanwhile, has previously been discussed as a possible acquisition target for Axel Springer.
As Luke reported, Jim VandeHei was eager to sell to Axel Springer, Allbritton ambivalent. VandeHei left and formed Axios, which was reportedly in talks with AS earlier this year https://t.co/Jwn6i5A8GJ
The featured companies had a median 3-year growth of 181%. There were 31 companies on the list last year.
Rosslyn-based advertising agency Olympic Media led the way, placing 13th. The company was founded in 2018 and has grown by 20,330% over the last three years. Olympic’s explosion in growth makes it the fastest-growing company in Virginia and the D.C. area, as well as the No. 1 advertising and marketing company on the list.
“We are honored to be included in such an esteemed list which serves a ‘who’s-who’ of American business,” said founder and CEO Ryan Coyne in a press release. “We started as a one-man operation in an office the size of a closet. Now we have over thirty employees making up four departments, all dedicated to our diverse clientele and to each other.”
Olympic Media CEO Ryan Coyne (courtesy of Olympic Media)
Olympic chalks its success up to its team and its business model. The company’s clientele consists of businesses, advocacy groups and conservative political campaigns.
“There is no getting away from the talent and dedication of the team we have been able to build — as cliche as that may sound,” Coyne said in a statement to ARLnow. “We really do emotionally invest in the success of our clients. Second to that, I think it’s a combination of our unique business model that better aligns incentives between ourselves and our clients — as well as word spreading about the success our clients have had.”
The team deserves being recognized as 13th on the list, given their success and dedication, he said.
“We had gotten some indication that we would be fairly high on the list (including some fairly invasive financial disclosures) but being the No. 1 Advertising & Marketing company in the nation was certainly higher than I had expected,” Coyne said. “It’s both a validation of our business model and work quality as well as a challenge for the team to keep pushing boundaries, taking risks and raising the bar.”
Klacik raised $8.3 million in donations. Citing campaign finance filings and her campaign manager, the Washington Post said Olympic charged $3.7 million for its services. Klacik later said the fees were for advertising on YouTube and Facebook, the Daily Caller reported. Olympic told the Daily Caller that anyone arguing the company itself pocketed that much money from the race is “a competitor, a moron, or a writer for the Washington Post.”
Of the other 29 companies, some have been featured in ARLnow, such as HUNGRY, Ostendio, C3 Integrated Solutions, SweatWorks and ThreatConnect, most of which made the list previously. It was the debut, however, for Ballston-based Hungry, which managed to grow despite the pandemic being a major headwind for its office and events catering business.
“Not only is it an incredible honor to receive a spot on the Inc. 5000 list, it’s a true testament to the hustle, grit, and smarts our team has displayed over the last year and half,” said HUNGRY Co-Founder and CEO Jeff Grass said in a press release. “Despite all the challenges we faced due to the pandemic, we’ve defied the odds — relying on great teamwork, superhuman accomplishments by many people across the team, and by staying true to our Core Value #4: Positivity.”
Other repeat honorees include 540.co, Enterprise Knowledge, Sehlke Consulting and IDS International Group.
The full list of Arlington companies is as follows:
Response to robbery at Preston’s Pharmacy (photo courtesy anonymous)
Two people were hurt in an armed robbery of Preston’s Pharmacy on Route 29 this morning.
The robbery happened around 9:15 a.m. at the neighborhood pharmacy, located at 5101 Lee Highway.
“Two suspects entered the business, brandished firearms and directed employees in the pharmacy to get on the ground,” Arlington County police spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow. “The suspects then assaulted two victims and deployed pepper spray before stealing medication and an undisclosed of cash. As the suspects were fleeing the scene, they stole a wallet dropped by a witness.”
“Medics transported one victim to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries,” Savage continued. “Additional victims were treated on scene for exposure to pepper spray.”
On a local Facebook group, an employee of the pharmacy briefly described what happened.
“We were robbed at gunpoint this morning,” the employee wrote. “They pepper sprayed the employees and pistol whipped an employee. Thankfully everyone is not hurt badly but everybody’s shaken up.”
Savage said the suspects were both wearing dark clothing and masks. They fled the scene in an SVU and remain at large.
“Suspect One is described as a Black male wearing a black hoodie, black pants, black hat, blue facemask and white sneakers,” she said. “Suspect Two is described as a Black male, wearing a gray hoodie, black sweatpants, black hat, blue facemask, black sneakers and brown sunglasses. The suspect vehicle is described as a white SUV. The investigation is ongoing.”
Alvaro Pessotti, the owner of Kiko’s Professional Services, hammers on a shoe (courtesy of Philippe Pessotti)
Alvaro Pessotti, the owner of Kiko’s Professional Services, behind the counter of his shop (courtesy of Philippe Pessotti)
Alvaro Pessotti, the owner of Kiko’s Professional Services, and his son pose behind the counter (courtesy of Philippe Pessotti)
In the low-slung, pinkish Dominion Hills Centre shopping strip, sandwiched between a pharmacy and a soccer store, passers-by can find a store offering an unlikely pairing.
It’s a shoe repair place and a skate shop called Kiko’s Professional Services (6021 Wilson Blvd).
The place is run by Alvaro Pessotti, who immigrated to Arlington from Brazil in the 1980s. He started shining shoes out of a hotel in 1989, offering overnight services for customers. Then, Pessotti began shining shoes at conventions, in food courts and in Reagan National Airport.
“I provided shining to members of the House of Representatives for nine years,” he said. “That was a great opportunity, you know, it opened a lot of doors. I was right in the corridor to get to the White House. I have a lot of business here with the government.”
He has worked in D.C. and in Arlington since he moved to Crystal City in 1983. The longtime Arlingtonian said he has only moved once since then — to Cherrydale, where he has lived in the same house since 1986.
With people working from home, not traveling for their jobs and preferring casual wear, Pessotti says the pandemic has been bad for lots of shoe repair businesses, and he has watched some businesses close for good. A few places have closed in Arlington over the last year, coronavirus-related and not: On Lee Highway, COVID-19 sped up the closure of decades-old shoe repair shop Sam Torrey Shoe Service, and in January 2020 a dry cleaner in Clarendon that offered shoe repairs also announced it would be closing.
Pessotti says there are a few reasons he stays afloat.
“I like what I do,” he said. “I think that is what makes the difference. Plus, the volume is not big right now, and I can turn things around quickly.”
The other reason was a business idea his son came up with soon after Pessotti opened Kiko’s in 2000: selling skateboard supplies. The store started offering skateboarding gear when the Powhatan Springs Skatepark opened across the street (6020 Wilson Blvd) in 2004. The park reopened in 2019 after a complete overhaul.
“He came to me saying, ‘Why don’t we get into this business?’ I tell you it was a great idea,” he said.
Still, business could be better.
“If I was just in shoe repair, I should be closed by now. But even with skateboard, business, it’s much lower than it used to be,” he said.
Pessotti said he hopes that after Labor Day people will return from summer vacations and needing shine and repair services for their work shoes. At the airport, he said there is little business travel to keep shoe shine going.
“It’s interesting — it’s a lot of people traveling, but it’s no business, all casual shoes,” he said.
Locals on social media have lauded Pessotti’s ability to rehabilitate everything from leather handbags to sandals, and encouraged others to take their shoes there.
“He saved a pair of Tory Burch wedges I was about to throw out!” one poster said.
Mercedes-Benz of Arlington in Ballston (via Google Maps)
Many Arlington car dealerships are struggling to stock cars amid a nationwide shortage of computer chips.
At Mercedes-Benz of Arlington in Ballston, formerly known as American Service Center, a lot once stocked with around 130 used cars available for sale has emptied out to 63 vehicles, according to Ron Moghisi, who manages pre-owned sales. He said many of the cars were purchased at nearly 30% over the normal list price.
“There’s a lot of demand, but there’s just nothing for us to buy and to resell, because the price is so high that it won’t make sense,” Moghisi said. “Let’s say you buy a bicycle for $10 that you can sell for $12. It doesn’t make sense to buy it for $16, because you’re going to get stuck with it. Some dealers are taking the risk and buying them, and God help them.”
Employees at the Koons Arlington Toyota and Brown’s Arlington Honda dealerships in Cherrydale told ARLnow they also have fewer available new and used cars to sell. At Brown’s Honda, around 50 used cars are currently available for sale, whereas 150 to 200 cars would normally be in stock, according to a pre-owned salesman. Prices at the dealership are up between 20% and 45%, in line with used car price increases nationally.
The scarcity of computer chips can be traced back to the beginning stages of the coronavirus.
When lockdowns first went into effect, car sales crashed, leading automobile companies to reduce orders for chips and other parts. Chip manufacturers, in response, cut production in order to avoid financial losses.
The strategy helped chip companies survive the pandemic. As car sales bounced back, however, automobile companies found that there weren’t enough chips for them to maintain the levels of production they wanted, as ramping up chip production can take a long time. Ford Motor Company slashed production by 50%. Meanwhile, Jeep temporarily stopped manufacturing two of its models because it didn’t have the chips needed to make them.
As the supply of cars dwindled, dealerships around the country, including those in Arlington, suffered. At the Mercedes-Benz dealership, Moghisi said that the low supply of both new and used cars has forced the dealership to hike its prices for used cars in order to maintain profitability.
“There are not many new cars around, which really means people are not trading [in] their cars, and therefore, there’s a shortage in the market for premium cars,” Moghisi said.
According to Eddy Malikov, the manager at the used-car dealership Arlington Auto Group, consumer demand is starting to decrease as a result of the rise in prices.
“I think there’s less demand now in the U.S market at least from what our business has seen. We sold around 30 cars in the first two weeks last month. This month we’ve done around 18 vehicles,” Malikov said. “I would say demand might be going down and prices and supply are going back to where they should be.”
For Moghisi, as the shortage stretches on, the stress builds for him and his employees.
“We’ve been playing the waiting game — just have to wait and see what happens. We buy whatever we can get, which is not enough,” Moghisi said. “The way this has affected the industry is, dealerships are making less money, which has put a pressure on employees. If there are no cars to sell, we can’t make a living.”
It could be a while before the automobile industry and car dealerships have fully recovered from the ongoing chip shortage. Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger told analysts last month that the chip companies may not catch up to demand for another one to two years.
“We hear different stories. We hear it’ll be fixed by November, December, then we hear by next July. We don’t know,” Moghisi said. “I don’t think we’ll have to shut down the department. Eventually, it’ll get fixed, it’s just a matter of time. The only issue is we have to dig into our savings.”
