new business

Independent Cafe Owner Expanding to New Location in Clarendon

By Airey

A new cafe and bar is coming to Clarendon.

“East West Cafe” is slated to open at 3101 Wilson Blvd, in at least part of the space that was once the American Tap Room, according to owner Mehmet Coskun.

Coskun also opened coffee-and-pastry joint Central Coffee Bar in Rosslyn (1901 N. Moore Street) two years ago. Since then he’s expanded opening hours and added alcoholic beverages to the menu.

Coskun, who lives in Pentagon City, previously told ARLnow he wanted to give Arlington a local alternative to Starbucks and had plans to expand to Clarendon and beyond.

He did not say East West would open, but that he expects the new Clarendon establishment to “open soon.” Records indicate Coskun registered East West Coffee LLC last month and applied for a county building permit on Tuesday.

Coskun said the new cafe’s namesake is its selection of both wine and coffee.

“I feel like the wine belongs to the west and the coffee comes from the east,” he Coskun, referring to Yemen’s early production of “mocha” coffee and the rise of wine in ancient Greece.

Several businesses have been rumored to fill the former Tap Room space since its closure in 2016, including a Verizon store and a gym, but thus far neither have come to fruition.

Image via Google Maps

Bearded Goat Barber Shop Set to Open in Ballston Next Week

By Airey
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A new Ballston barber business is opening next week.

Dubbed the “Bearded Goat Barber,” the shop is owned by serial entrepreneur Scott Parker, who says the business will welcome customers starting next Monday. The Bearded Goat is located at the Ballston Exchange development on Wilson Blvd.

Previously, Parker told ARLnow that he’d be opening shop with barbers Eric Renfro and Jon Dodson who were striking out on their own after working at the Clarendon’s Hendricks Barbershop, which opened in 2016.

“They’re awesome guys with a combined 20-plus years barbering,” Parker told ARLnow. “It was a no brainer.”

In addition to “awesome cuts,” Parker said patrons can expect “hot towel service and cold brew on tap.”

The barber’s location at the Ballston Exchange development was formerly occupied by the National Science Foundation. These days the development is adding eateries like Shake Shack and Philz Coffee, among others, which Parker said last year that he and his team were “really excited to be among.”

Parker launched several restaurants in Arlington — Ballston’s A-Town, Clarendon’s G.O.A.T. and Don Tito, and Rosslyn’s Barley Mac — before venturing into other businesses.

He’s also backing a new boxing studio in Rosslyn called Bash Boxing, which recently opened, and he has plans to expand the gym into Ballston as well. It will be located in the Ballston Quarter development, across from the Ballston Exchange.

It’s scheduled to open its doors in early 2019 and is now “coming soon,” according to its website.

Women’s Fashion Store Windsor Coming to Pentagon City Mall

By Alex Koma
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A new women’s fashion boutique is on the way for the Pentagon City mall.

Signs posted in a space on the third level of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City advertise that Windsor will soon open in the mall. The shop will be located next to a Lids location and the Life in D.C. store.

Windsor is set to open by April 1, according to the mall’s website.

The store is “a family-owned business dedicated to fostering a shopping environment that celebrates a woman’s unique personality,” the site says. It offers dresses, tops and bottoms, jackets, accessories and more.

This will be Windsor’s first location in Arlington, but third in the Northern Virginia area. It also operates stores at the Tysons Corner Center mall and the Fair Oaks mall.

Invicta Set to Open New Watch Store in Pentagon City Mall

By Alex Koma

(Updated at 11:45 a.m.) Invicta will soon start selling its high-end watches — well, high end to a working journalist anyway — at the Pentagon City mall.

Signs posted at a space in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City indicate that the timepiece retailer will open on the mall’s second level soon. The new shop will be in between the Pandora Jewelry location and the Papyrus stationary store.

The mall’s website says that Invicta is currently set to open by May 1.

The shop will be the chain’s second in Northern Virginia, with another location at the Tysons Corner Center mall.

Invicta offers a variety of different of watch styles for men and women, with prices ranging from around a hundred dollars to well over a thousand. That, of course, is lower end than the nearby Tourneau watch store, which carries watches worth tens of thousands of dollars and was once robbed of more than a half-million dollars worth of merchandise.

Solidcore Pilates Studio Plans Expansion to Courthouse This Spring

By Alex Koma
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A new Solidcore Pilates studio looks to be on the way for a Courthouse office building.

The company announced plans to expand to the neighborhood earlier this month. A recent Facebook post promises that the new location, Solidcore’s second in Arlington, will be open by April.

However, the company has so far been tight-lipped on where the studio will be located in Courthouse. The company’s website does not list an address for the new location, and a spokesperson did not respond to questions about the company’s plans.

But an eagle-eyed ARLnow reader recently spotted plans in the base of an office building at 2311 Wilson Blvd suggesting that the studio is bound for a ground-floor space there.

Though there are no signs up for the studio at the space just yet, county permit records do show a good bit of recent construction activity there.

The eight-story building set to welcome Solidcore replaced the hookah lounge and bar Adam’s Corner several years ago. A new Wells Fargo bank branch is bound for one ground-floor spot in the building, as is The Merit School, a daycare center.

Solidcore is based in D.C. and operates another studio in Ballston (with a new one on the way in Reston as well).

Each studio offers small group classes with core-focused workouts designed to “work your muscles to failure,” according to the company’s website.

Tech Company Yext Plans Major Rosslyn Expansion, Bringing 500 Jobs to the County

By Alex Koma

A New York-based tech company just announced a major new expansion in Rosslyn, with plans to bring 500 jobs to the county over the next five years.

Yext rolled out plans yesterday (Thursday) to lease a 42,500-square-foot office space at 1101 Wilson Boulevard. The company will occupy the top three floors of the building, and will help slash the office vacancy rate in Rosslyn, a persistent problem over the last few years.

Yext produces data management software for companies looking to manage their online presence, helping brands as large as T-Mobile and Ben and Jerry’s track and upload location information to directories across the web.

Company founder and CEO Howard Lerman, a Virginia native himself, says the move will help fuel his firm’s ongoing expansion efforts in the D.C. metro area, which he hailed in a statement as a budding tech hub now that Amazon is coming to the county.

“Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia are emerging as one of the country’s major hubs for tech talent, which was a key factor in our decision to expand in the area,” Lerman wrote. “Our new office will be a key foothold as we continue our global growth.”

Yext plans to offer an open floor plan, fully stocked kitchens and free meals to all employees at the space. The company also hopes to put up a sign displaying its name on the building, once the home of the county’s Artisphere, to adorn Rosslyn’s skyline.

Rosslyn has seen quite a few economic development victories in recent months, highlighted by Nestle bringing its American headquarters to the neighborhood last year. The tech consulting firm Accenture recently added an office in the area as well, and the We Companies recently opened a new coworking space in the neighborhood.

Rendering courtesy of Yext

Jewelry and Accessory Shop Fornash Set to Return to Ballston Quarter This Spring

By Alex Koma

The jewelry and accessory shop Fornash is now set to re-open in the Ballston Quarter development, after the mall’s redevelopment forced the store to move elsewhere years ago.

Signs posted at a Ballston Quarter storefront indicate that the shop is set to open sometime in spring 2019.

County permit records show that Fornash applied for building permits last spring. It will be located behind the CVS and Punch Bowl Social, in the outdoor section of the mall’s first level.

The store, founded by Stephanie Fornash Kennedy, got its start in Georgetown back in 2002. But Kennedy moved the shop to the old Ballston Common mall in 2012.

Fornash was forced to move out, however, in 2016 as developer Forest City began its extensive rehab work on the mall.

The store joins other businesses like Chick-fil-A, Curious Kids Toys and Refresh Therapeutic Massage in returning to Ballston Quarter now that shops are beginning to open in the development once more.

Fornash offers everything from bracelets, necklaces and earrings to gloves and handbags.

New Massage Spa Opens in Lee Highway Shopping Center

By Alex Koma

A new massage spa is now open along Lee Highway.

Bliss Massage recently opened up shop in a small storefront at 5161 Lee Highway.

The space sat vacant for months, before the spa secured permits move in in late January. It sits next to Yorktown Nails and in the same small shopping center as Preston’s Pharmacy.

Though plenty of other massage studios and nail salons in the Northern Virginia area share the name “Bliss,” this spa appears to be the first of its kind. State records show that Bliss Massage Spa, LLC was only formed back in October.

The shopping center has seen a bit of change recently, with a new vape store also set to move in nearby.

New Vape and Smoke Shop Bound for Lee Highway Shopping Center

By Alex Koma

A new shop offering up e-cigarettes and other tobacco products looks bound for a Lee Highway shopping center.

Thicker Cloudz Vape ‘N Smoke is “coming soon” to a space at 5157 Lee Highway, according to signs posted at the location.

The shop doesn’t appear to have an online presence of any kind just yet, but county permit records show that its owners first applied for permission to open up in the space back in mid-January.

The store, located in the same shopping center as Preston’s Pharmacy and several other small shops, has seen quite a bit of turnover in the past few years.

County records show that it’s been home to everything from an Indian restaurant to a cell phone store dating back to 2015.

New Nail Salon On the Way for Ballston Quarter

By Alex Koma

A nail spa is now on the way for the Ballston Quarter development.

Allure Nails Spa will soon open its doors in the former Ballston Common mall, according to signs posted at the development and a listing on its website.

The salon will sit next to the mall’s Chick-fil-A, which opened late last year, on the development’s first level. It’s also located across from the Curious Kids toy store.

There’s no exact date listed for the shop’s opening just yet — like many of the other stores at the mall, it’s listed as “coming soon.”

Still, several shops in Ballston Quarter have begun opening to customers over the last few months, though much of the development remains a work in progress.

A newly revamped food court will open later this month, according to signs posted around the mall.

The nail spa is also set to open a location in Reston in the coming years, though that development has gone through a few changes recently.

New UPS Store Set to Open in Lee Heights Shopping Center

By Alex Koma

A new UPS Store looks to be on the way along Lee Highway.

Signs posted at a storefront at 4532 Lee Highway, in the Lee Heights shopping center, indicate that the shipping store is “coming soon.”

The space has sat vacant since Bradshaw’s Children’s Shoes closed back in November 2016. The store was a fixture of the shopping center for more than 20 years, but it shuttered when its owners decided to retire.

Lee Heights has seen a great deal of change recently, with some long-time tenants closing and other new businesses moving in. Old Dominion Pizza Company is among the newest additions to the area.

The new UPS Store will be the sixth in the county overall, according to the company’s website.

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