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.”
The pandemic has brought tough times for many local business owners. In some cases, it’s driving them to try to sell their businesses.
Listing aggregator BizBuySell generally doesn’t name the business that’s for sale, but the descriptions in each listing provide some clues.
With the pandemic causing financial hardship for many small businesses, while prompting older owners to contemplate retirement, the list of businesses for sale has remained relatively long since the two times we checked in last year.
Below are some businesses that are currently listed in Arlington. Note that some listings may be for businesses that already closed and thus no longer active.
Restaurant & Carry Out Fits Most Menus — $120,000 — “Fast casual Japanese restaurant for sale in Arlington VA. This restaurant currently serves Japanese food and sushi but can be converted to fit most menus/concepts. Located in a shopping center on a very busy road. The current owner is ready to retire. This can be a great opportunity for a new owner/operator to take this restaurant to the next level. PRICED TO SELL!!”
Independent and Profitable Optician in NoVA — $685,000 — “Very well established optician in dynamic Arlington VA with decades of satisfied customers and an excellent reputation for providing professional service and high quality eyewear. Valuable referral network. Fully turnkey operation with Virginia Licensed Opticians on staff and a full finishing laboratory. Extensive frame inventory featuring dozens of luxury lines and classic brands to suit all needs.”
Nails Salon-Arlington — $279,000 — “Nice, modern, contemporary designed nails salon available for sale in great area of Arlington. Located in right in the heart of retail district, restaurants, offices and residential apartments. Fronting and highly visible on major thoroughfare with heavy traffic and foot traffic. Walk to metro subway. Large database of customers exceeding 6,500. Room to grow. Low employee turn-over. Easy to attract nail artists due to location. Cost to build $450,000. Free garage parking.”
Beer,Wine Mart with Gourmet Deli — $120,000 — “Fast growing prime Location. Currently under Poor Management. It has High potential if under right Management. Rent only $25.50/sqft.”
Northern VA’s #1 Creamery and Dessert Shop! — $89,000 — “A unique, one of a kind, creamery and dessert shop. Located in a first class, shopping center in the Arlington, VA area. This award-winning, establishment, specializes in a unique, wonderful, hand-crafted ice cream from Thailand! Opened in 2017, in a first-class build-out, it could be an ideal concept to develop into franchising in the DC metro area.”
Two Upscale & Modern Group Fitness Centers in Northern Virginia — $399,995 — “Great opportunity to own two top-rated and innovative group fitness centers that provide a proprietary group exercise program, personal training, and open gym services. The Arlington location was opened in 2017 and has established a large loyal client base, and the Alexandria location opened in October of 2020 in a new upscale mixed-use plaza. Each facility is outfitted with the latest cardio, strength training, and functional fitness equipment as well as wearable heart rate technology that can display on screens throughout the facility.”
Ice Cream business in a high income area — $37,500 — “Unique and Very well established Ice Cream business in a very nice area surrounded by businesses and residentials. VERY high-income area with limited dessert choice. Seller’s initial investment was more than $350K about 2 years ago. High End Establishment. Great Reputation. Seller is looking for a experienced and passionate buyer who can utilize this business and location to make a very profitable business.”
Asian Fusion-Carry Out Restaurant for Sale — $ 49,000 — “On the main road of Arlington county Asian Fusion Carry-Out for sale. Easy to change the menu to Pizza, Rotisserie, or Sushi Restaurant. 1500 sf. 16 seat capacity. 8 parking spaces. (4 in front,4 in the back) Big basement. Decent size kitchen. Walk-in cooler.12 feet hood in place. Pandemic forced to close this business but a great opportunity for other concepts. 5 years lease remaining and 1-5 year option. Low rent and good location is the key to success.”
$3M Allstate Agency in Arlington, VA — $899,000 — “Established 20 plus year agency is located in a very desirable location. This $3M plus earned premium agency consistent of a preferred auto/homeowner customer base with excellent opportunity for growth in cross sales as well as life/financial services. Good potential to increase revenues through new & renewal commissions as well as performance bonus based on growth, retention, etc. Customer retention and loss ratio is great. This area has a heavy transfer in business which bodes well for this location.”
Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse (staff photo by Vernon Miles)
Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse remains committed to its full slate of upcoming shows scheduled for the fall, owner Tim Clark says, but he’s it taking it week-by-week.
As Covid rates rise once again in the county and masks are back to being strongly recommended indoors no matter vaccination status, Clark acknowledges this is cause of concern for the decades-old Columbia Pike theater and venue. He says he’s already had one prominent comic push back performance dates.
“I don’t know if there’s going to be others. I think we’re just going to see where this thing goes,” Clark tells ARLnow. “Either way, we will have to adjust.”
What’s currently online represents the most up-to-date bookings, he says.
The schedule lists a number of well-known comedy acts that will be taking the stage, including:
There’s also a special screening of the cult classic movie “The Room” with co-star Greg Sestero — who wrote the book The Disaster Artist about his experience making the “so bad it’s good” movie — in attendance.
Clark notes that while people are coming out, business and audiences are not back to what they were pre-pandemic.
“Comics that typically have a pretty good draw are a little bit lighter,” Clark says. “The comics that have a really good draw are not quite fully back to selling out shows.”
Arlington Drafthouse is still limiting capacity to about 65% in order to space out tables and give audience members a bit more room. The initial goal was to go back to allowing full capacity this month, but Clark admits that he’ll have to see what happens over the next few days in terms of any mask or capacity mandates.
“I don’t think it will change what we do a whole lot, but we will have to keep making adjustments,” he said.
It’s been a trying 18 months for the Drafthouse. Management closed up the theater in mid-March 2020, like many other businesses, and re-opened in August 2020 with severely reduced capacity.
In late winter, the theater started screening favorite, older movies like Lord of the Rings and Notting Hill, but it was barely sustainable with only 30% capacity allowed.
“I don’t think many restaurant theater business operations are built to run on 30%,” said Clark at the time. “And that’s 30% if we sell out, and we’re not selling out every show. If you take averages and you’re at 20%, it’s really not sustainable.”
Clark says now they are pivoting again away from movies, at least temporarily, and are concentrating on booking comics.
“I think comedy is the long term for us, especially those primetime weekends,” he says. Right now, Drafthouse is booking big name acts on Friday and Saturday nights and leaving Sunday open for “up and comers.”
Clark also says private rentals have helped the business significantly and has seen an influx of them in recent months, with smaller groups renting out the entire theater for screenings, parties, and performances
At this point, Clark says, all they can do is stay patient, take one day a time, and adjust when needed.
“The way things are going, it’s like every time we try to get [ahead of things], it’s like totally opposite,” says Clark. “We’re just going to ride the wave and do what we need to do to stay afloat and just continue to hope that this thing clears up and gets better.”
Pints of ice cream from Nicecream (courtesy of Nicecream)
Arlington-based Nicecream will be celebrating National Ice Cream Day this Sunday (July 18) by offering free scoops of its frozen-to-order ice cream.
Guests can get one free scoop all day at any of Nicecream’s four locations across the D.C. area, including its original spot at 2831 Clarendon Blvd in Clarendon. For founder Sandra Tran, it’s a nice gesture after weathering COVID-19.
“The past year was scary and very, very tough for us. We are happy to have be on the other side of the pandemic and want to celebrate with the community,” she said.
Nicecream uses liquid nitrogen to freeze servings of ice cream right in front of guests. Popular flavors include Nutella, Wild Blueberry, Cherry Bourbon Chocolate Chunk and Sweet Corn.
Nicecream’s Clarendon location closed for about a month and a half last year due to the pandemic. Adapting to the decline in in-person customers, Nicecream introduced national shipping and expanded its delivery capacities.
The company opened its first storefront in Clarendon in May 2014.
Arlington Getting Hipper Restaurants? — “Clarkson said the Clarendon-Courthouse area is drawing some bar and restaurant operators from the District who previously haven’t had any locations in Virginia. He said he has seen this type of interest as his team has begun to lease the 17,500 SF of retail in the Landmark Block project. ‘You’re starting to see good retail from D.C., Shaw-type retailers, plant flags in the R-B corridor in Clarendon,’ Clarkson said. ‘Folks I never thought would consider the R-B corridor are now interested… Hopefully there will be some names that haven’t necessarily been seen in Virginia yet, especially on the [food and beverage] and bar side.'” [Bisnow]
Committee Critiques HQ2 Phase 2 Plan — “‘I am still seeing three — on the bulky side, seems to me from the rendering I’ve seen – office buildings at 22 stories high,’ Siegel said. ‘I think the community — certainly, speaking for myself — had hoped for more of a varied skyline.’ James Schroll, the committee chair, said he agreed with Siegel’s concerns. ‘While we appreciate the modifications, I don’t think they achieve what folks were after in our last discussion,’ he said.” [Washington Business Journal]
Environmental Review for ‘CC2DCA’ Bridge — “Arlington County, in coordination with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), has initiated a study to explore the possibility of providing a multimodal connection between Crystal City and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). An online community meeting on July 15 will serve as the public kick-off for the study, which is anticipated to take approximately three years to complete.” [Arlington County]
Va. Lauded for Business Climate — “A year of pandemic and social reckoning has changed the nation in countless ways. But one thing has stayed the same: America’s Top State for Business is Virginia. The Old Dominion captures top honors in CNBC’s 2021 competitiveness rankings, just as it did in the previous study published in 2019. It is Virginia’s fifth win since the study began in 2007, more than any other state.” [CNBC]
Legendary Recording Studio Sets Closing Date — “For all the punk-fueled emotion packed into music recorded at Inner Ear, and social media angst that the Arlington, Virginia, studio will close Oct. 1, Don Zientara — as always — is the calmest one around. ‘We’ve been in that location for 32 years, it’s been a long run, and a good run,’ Zientara told WTOP, shortly after announcing the studio on Oakland Street in South Arlington will shut down this fall. ‘It needs to come to an end, at least at that location.'” [WTOP]
Mars Helicopter Company Moving to Arlington — “An unmanned aircraft firm is moving its corporate headquarters from Simi Valley to the Washington, D.C. area. AeroVironment, Incorporated announced last week it is relocating its HQ to Arlington, Virginia… The defense contractor created NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter that flew on Mars two months ago. It was the first powered flight of an aircraft on another world.” [KABC]
Conviction Upheld in Unlawful Filming Case — “Virginia’s Court of Appeals has confirmed the Arlington County conviction of a man for taking a nude video of a woman, rejecting his argument that she had no expectation of privacy because they were in a relationship.” [WTOP]
Old Local Newspapers Digitized — “Spanning the years from 1935 to 1978, the materials include historic articles, photos, and news clippings from four Arlington newspapers: the Columbia News, the Daily Sun, the Northern Virginia Sun and the Sun. Previously, these publications were only available in the Center for Local History as microfilm and digital scans, which were not easily searchable.” [Arlington Public Library]
Beyer Visits With ACPD — From Rep. Don Beyer: “I had a very productive meeting with [the Arlington County Police Department’s] recently appointed Police Chief Penn, Deputy Chief Cassedy and Deputy Chief Vincent today. I appreciate their commitment to transparency and collaboration to keep Arlington a safe community.” [Twitter]
Yorktown Hockey Wins Championship — “The Yorktown High School spring ice hockey club team won the recent Northern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League championship. Yorktown defeated McLean in the title match, 4-3 in overtime, finishing with a 7-0-1 record. The team was 2-0 in the playoffs.” [Sun Gazette]
Freddie’s Beach Bar on 23rd St. S in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Freddie’s Beach Bar on 23rd St. S in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Freddie’s Beach Bar on 23rd St. S in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Freddie’s Beach Bar on 23rd St. S in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Freddie’s Beach Bar on 23rd St. S in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Freddie Lutz has a lot of stories.
One of his favorites was a time when several men came into his bar, Freddie’s Beach Bar (555 23rd Street S.), and started stirring up trouble. As they started causing trouble and making crude remarks, all Lutz had to do was pick up the phone and a few seconds later a few burly, “football player” friends showed up from a nearby sports bar and gently escorted the troublemakers away.
For Lutz, it’s a story that marks the kind of support he’s had in Arlington County since the start. This year marks the 20th anniversary Freddie’s Beach Bar, which he proudly calls “Northern Virginia’s only LGBTQ+, straight friendly restaurant and bar.” While many gay bars across the country had to fight for their place from the beginning, Lutz said he’s been lucky with mostly positive experiences in Crystal City.
The bar got started 2001, but Lutz said his history with the neighborhood goes back further.
“Prior to losing my mind and opening Freddie’s, I was a maître d’ and manager at an Italian restaurant nearby called Cafe Italia for 25 years,” Lutz said. “I grew up in the neighborhood and was pretty well known. Folks knew me and knew I was gay. We did drag shows at Halloween. That part of my life was no secret, even back then.”
Lutz said opening Freddie’s was partially a matter of finding the right timing.
“The timing was good, because that was when the police department was doing diversity training and people were trying to be more accepting,” Lutz said. “It’s not like we were opening some sleazy bathhouse, we were a respectable bar. I think once we did open, everybody realized we had a very class, respectable clientele.”
Lutz said there’s been “very little trouble” over the years, apart from the earlier crowd escorted out and one time early on when Lutz said the bar had a brick thrown through the window. The bar has expanded a few times over the years, and Lutz is in the process of opening a new “Freddie’s” in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware sometime in the next few months.
“It’s gotten bigger and better,” Lutz said. “We’ve gotten better with age.”
Over those years, Lutz said he’s also seen increasing gay representation at non-gay-specific bars; with pride flags decorating venues throughout the region. While a boon for the gay community, it also has also created questions of identity for venues that made their mark as isolated islands of acceptance — but Lutz said he isn’t concerned.
“A lot of gay bars seem to be fading out because gay people and straight people go to the same bars, but I think it’s nice to have specifically a gay bar, particularly with our history,” Lutz said. “Like with gay folks from the Pentagon who early on considered Freddie’s to be a safe place for them to hang out, even before the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I advertised as straight-friendly, which gave them cover even before the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Lutz said Freddie’s, like other gay bars, also stands out as a safe place and overall haven for the still under-threat transgender community.
Fifteen months after closing its sales floor during the pandemic, One More Page Books is set to reopen its doors next Tuesday.
Marking the opening day on June 15 will be a virtual book launch with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the global hit musical “Hamilton” as well as “In the Heights,” which was turned into a movie that’s being released this week. A new book from the musical’s three creators is called “In the Heights: Finding Home,” in which the trio tells the origin story of the bilingual musical that predated “Hamilton.”
The independent bookseller at 2200 N. Westmoreland Street in East Falls Church reopened for appointment-only shopping last Thursday, after celebrating its 10th anniversary while still closed to customers.
Masks will still be required and the number of shoppers in the store at one time will be limited to seven until more people, including young children, are able to be vaccinated.
“Arlington and Falls Church neighbors — plus shoppers from around the world — kept us in business this past year through website sales. We are thankful to have weathered the pandemic with a healthy staff and a strong customer base,” said store owner Eileen McGervey. “After shifting the way we did business several times during the last year, we were so happy when we were able to turn the store back into a welcoming place for book, wine and chocolate lovers.”
When the pandemic hit, One More Page pivoted to online sales and delivery, offering home delivery through the holiday season and curbside pickup. An employee at the time said the store had “the best problem” of being overwhelmed with orders, reaching 10,000 orders in June 2020.
“Customers greatly appreciated all the options we offered, and we will continue to offer 24/7 online sales with curbside pick-up and shipping options,” McGervey said.
The bookstore got by with help from its friends pre-pandemic, too, when it faced rising rents and held an auction to cover the bigger bills.
And COVID-19 did not halt events with authors, although it did take them online. McGervey said One More Page has a full slate of virtual activities to be streamed on Facebook and YouTube this month.
According to the bookseller, no plans have been made for in-person events.
Saturday, June 12 at 6 p.m. — Author Angelina M. Lopez will talk with bodyguard-to-the-stars, Clif Kosterman in honor of the reluctant prince bodyguard hero in her newest book, “Serving Sin.” For more than 13 years, Kosterman was a bodyguard to “Supernatural” stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, and has also protected Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake and Selena Gomez, among others.
Tuesday, June 15 at 8 p.m. — Lin-Manuel Miranda, Quiara Alegría Hudes and Jeremy McCarter will hold a virtual book launch of their new title, “In The Heights: Finding Home,” which tells the story of the show’s humble beginnings, from rehearsals in a bookstore basement to the Broadway smash (and soon-to-be feature film!) that created an unbreakable community and a new kind of family for everyone involved. The musical shook up Broadway with its hip-hop and salsa soundtrack and big, bilingual heart. A ticket and book bundle costs $42.40.
Thursday, June 17 at 7 p.m. — George Mason University alum Matthew Norman will celebrate the release of his latest novel, “All Together Now,” with author Jessica Anya Blau, whose latest novel, “Mary Jane,” was released in May. Both of their books, set on the east coast, will be great summer reads.
Tuesday, June 22 at 7 p.m. — One More Page Books welcomes back a NoVA TEEN Book Festival alum, Tracy Banghart, for the release of her new book, “A Season of Sinister Dreams.” She will talk with Intisar Khanani, author of the “Dauntless Path” series. Fans of young adult fantasy will definitely want to tune in.
Tuesday, June 25 at 7 p.m. — Eileen McGervey welcomes Melanie Rigney and Meg Gilroy for a discussion about middle age, menopause and Rigney’s latest: “Menopause Moments: A Journal For Nourishing Your Mind, Body and Spirit in Midlife.”
Del. Alfonso Lopez, Sol Schott, Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, and Terry McAuliffe talk about small business at Acme Pie Co. (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
Candidate for Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe checks out the pies at Acme Pie Co. on Columbia Pike (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, Terry McAuliffe, and Del. Alfonso Lopez check out Acme Pie Co. on Columbia Pike (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
Democratic frontrunner for Governor Terry McAuliffe, center, poses for a photo with Sol Schott, left, and his wife Laura Fox, below a photo of the three of them at Acme Pie Co. on Columbia Pike
Candidate for Governor Terry McAuliffe at Acme Pie Co. (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
Less than a week before the primary, gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, Del. Alfonso Lopez, and Virginia Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn paid a visit to Acme Pie Company on Columbia Pike.
All three Democrats are running for office in the upcoming primary, set for Tuesday, June 8 — with early voting happening now. (Filler-Corn is unopposed in the primary.)
Around slices of blueberry and lemon curd pie, joined by Acme’s owner Sol Schott, they discussed small businesses, economic recovery, and their love of pie.
“The best pie in America,” Lopez said about Acme’s offerings. A few moments later, McAuliffe bought a whole pie.
“I got five kids,” the McLean resident and former governor said as his reasoning.
The campaign stop was intended to highlight the plight and hoped-for recovery for Virginia’s small businesses.
“Almost 41% of Black and Brown [owned] businesses have closed. How do you rebuild? How do you bring small businesses back?,” McAuliffe asked. “We do microloans, access to capital, and working on the regulatory structure.”
While Acme Pie has found ways to survive over the last year, it’s been rough going with the shop losing a large slice of its wholesale business.
The business did get a Paycheck Protection Program loan and Schott said that one of the most frustrating aspects was dealing with paperwork and navigating the legalese.
“I would like to see some more hands-on help with paperwork,” Schott told ARLnow. “I did get help from Alfonso personally on that.”
Lopez, who is facing an intra-party challenger in his run for re-election in the 49th District, agrees that the paperwork and amount of work that small business owners need do to gain access to loans and capital can be a barrier.
“What we need to be doing is dealing with procurement reform… and changing the definition of what a small business is,” Lopez said in an interview with ARLnow. “There’s so much more we could do to help these folks who are literally putting everything into their dream of a small business and be able to take care of their family.”
McAuliffe, who is seen as the front-runner for the competitive Democratic gubernatorial nomination, told ARLnow in an interview that the Commonwealth needs to be directly involved in providing access to capital to small businesses.
“We as a state should stand up our own, basically, investment bank structure to help small businesses, to get them off their feet, and work with them,” he said. “The state being involved in micro-financing and other lending opportunities, I think is very important for us.”
The four spoke about other issues impacting residents in Arlington and across Virginia, including education and affordable housing.
“We’ve got to invest in education… You’ve got to have the best education system if you’re going to recruit businesses in the 21st century,” McAuliffe said. “Today, [Virginia] is 50 out of 50 states in average teacher pay. That’s disgraceful… so, raising pay above the national average.”
