Pentagon City mall

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Post-storm sunset over the Air Force Memorial 6/23/15

Graduation Live Streaming Nixed — Arlington Public Schools canceled internet live streaming of its high school graduation ceremonies this year due to budget cuts. Graduation ceremonies has been streamed online for the past two years. [InsideNova]

Police Foot Chase in Pentagon City — Last night, after the Pentagon City mall was evacuated due to a power outage, mall security spotted two men lingering and entering closed stores. Police were given a lookout and one of the alleged suspects was spotted outside the mall. A foot chase ensured and the man was apprehended behind nearby Pentagon Row. No word yet on any changes.

Economic Chief Has a Plan For Arlington — New Arlington Economic Development Director Victor Hoskins says he has a plan for economic growth in the county that will reduce the county’s office vacancy rate from the current 21 percent to 10 percent over the next six years. The plan includes “a mix of much more aggressive marketing efforts, incentives and other government aid, and the help of ‘frenemies’ in competing local governments such as the District and Alexandria.” [Washington Business Journal]

A-Town Plans ‘Sunday Funday’ Summer Kickoff — “Ballston’s rowdiest bar,” A-Town Bar and Grill, will be kicking off its summer “Sunday Fundays” this weekend with “squirt guns, beach balls, popsicles, barbecue, water balloons” and multiple DJs. [Clarendon Nights]

Which Wich Coming to Pentagon City Mall

By ARLnow.com

Which Wich in Ballston (photo by Joy Asico)Which Wich Superior Sandwiches is planning to open its second Arlington location in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City this summer.

The eatery is noted for its selection — it offers over 50 sandwich varieties and more than 60 toppings.

Dallas-based Which Wich has an existing location in Arlington, adjacent to Ballston Common Mall at 4300 Wilson Blvd, and seven other locations in Virginia.

The new sandwich shop within the Pentagon City mall will be owned by a team of two brothers who are gunning to make it the company’s highest-grossing location in the U.S.

“Franchise owners and brothers Faisal and Irfaan Lalani are particularly excited about the expansion opportunity in Pentagon City because with the high traffic in the mall with tourists and commuters, it has the opportunity to be the highest grossing Which Wich location in the country,” said a PR rep. “The brothers have prior business experience, owning over 53 Little Caesar’s locations across the country and employing nearly 1,000 people.”

The restaurant will be located in the mall’s food court and is expected to open in August, we’re told.

Zara Coming to Pentagon City Mall

By ARLnow.com

Rendering of changes to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon CityThe fashion retailer Zara is coming to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.

The Spanish company plans to open a 27,000 square foot store inside the mall’s new 50,000 square foot expansion along S. Hayes Street, which is part of a larger $70 million renovation of the busy shopping center.

Zara is expected to open in the spring of 2016, offering “European-style clothing, outerwear, shoes and accessories for men and women, as well as children’s clothing.”

Also announced today: Kiko Milano Cosmetics, an Italian makeup brand, will be opening a 1,100 square foot store on the mall’s ground level.

“The additions of Zara to the mall’s 50,000 square-foot expansion area and Kiko Milano Cosmetics to our general store inventory allows us to continue to provide Fashion Centre at Pentagon City shoppers with the best, most diverse experience possible,” Laurie Van Dalen, general manager of the Fashion Centre, said in a press release. “We can’t wait to share more updates to the mall’s renovation progress as well as our ever-expanding store offerings.”

Mall owner Simon announced in March that restaurants Matchbox and The Sugar Factory will be opening in the mall’s Hayes Street expansion in the spring of 2016.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Two men in religious garb walking through Rosslyn

Renderings of Proposed Ballston High-Rise — Ahead of Wednesday’s Arlington Site Plan Review Committee meeting, developers Lionstone and Penzance have released new renderings of the 22-story, 330-unit apartment tower they’re proposing to build on the Carpool site in Ballston. The tower is sleek metal and glass, with a retail pavilion on the ground floor. In a second phase, the developers are proposing to replace an aging, adjacent office building with another 22-story, 362-unit residential building. [Washington Business Journal]

Free Cone Day at Haagen-Dazs — The Haagen-Dazs store at Pentagon City mall is offering free ice cream today from 4:00-8:00 p.m. as part of the company’s nationwide Free Cone Day. [Facebook]

Coalition for Minority Affairs Honors Students — Eighty-seven African and African-American Arlington Public Schools students were honored last week by the Civic Coalition for Minority Affairs. The Northern Virginia group “endeavors to foster high academic achievement through its annual awards ceremony.” [Arlington Public Schools]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Flowers outside a Rosslyn office building

Mercedes Catches Fire After Lightning Strike — An Arlington man’s beloved Mercedes 430 CLK convertible was “burned to a crisp” Monday night after a lightning strike. The lightning apparently struck a power pole, which then fell over. A sparking power line ignited the Mercedes. [Washington Post]

Arlington Honors 16 Trees — The Arlington County Board recognized 16 “Notable Trees” around the county at its meeting yesterday afternoon. During the 10-minute ceremony, details about each tree were read individually as the tree’s owner came up to the front of the room to collect a plaque or certificate. Of the 16 trees, 14 are located in north Arlington and only 2 are located in south Arlington. [Arlington County]

Shirlington Apartment Building Loses Power — Io Piazza, an upscale apartment building in Shirlington, had been without power for more than 24 hours as of last night. An underground transformer that serves the building failed during Monday’s thunderstorms. [Patch]

Year-Round Gift Wrapping at Pentagon City Mall — Starting May 8, the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City will be offering year-round complimentary gift wrapping service. The service is available for purchases of $250 or more at luxury stores. Previously, the service was only offered during certain holidays.

Fmr. Treasurer Endorses Fallon — Frank O’Leary, who retired as Arlington County Treasurer last year, has endorsed Peter Fallon for County Board. “Peter Fallon is a mature, thoughtful, fiscally responsible candidate with an amazing grasp of the issues that confront our county,” O’Leary said in a statement. “I enthusiastically support his approach to improving Arlington.” [InsideNova]

Cristol Published Buzzfeed Listicle — County Board candidate Katie Cristol has published a Buzzfeed listicle, complete with animated GIFs, highlighting “7 Reasons to Vote in Arlington Virginia.” Among the reasons are “housing is getting less affordable,” “over 50% of Arlington is under 35,” “women need a strong voice in Arlington” and “it’s fun.” [Buzzfeed]

JUST IN: Matchbox, Sugar Factory Coming to Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Matchbox (photo via Facebook)Matchbox, the popular D.C. pizza restaurant, is expected to open a new location in Pentagon City next spring.

The restaurant, noted for its wood-fired pizza and craft beer selection, will be located in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, in a yet-to-be-built two-level expansion near the mall’s current S. Hayes Street main entrance.

The new Matchbox will be a whopping 11,000 square feet, with outdoor seating along Hayes Street.

Also expected to open in the spring of 2016 is Sugar Factory, a “famed candy and sweets purveyor.”

Rendering of changes to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon CityThe Sugar Factory location will have both “retail features and an upscale dining area.” The dining area will serve “classic American fare and incredible sweet treats, including the King Kong Sundae, a dessert with a whopping 24 scoops of ice cream, two cupcakes, heaping of toppings, lollipops and sparklers.”

Matchbox is in the midst of an expansion and now has half a dozen locations in D.C., Maryland, Virginia and California. Sugar Factory has stores and restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas, Miami and Orlando.

Fashion Centre owner Simon Property Group announced the new retail and restaurant additions this afternoon, along with several other store changes. The mall is currently undergoing a $70 million renovation project that includes the new S. Hayes Street storefronts.

The full press release, after the jump.

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Pentagon City Mall Hosts Lunar New Year Celebration

By Ethan Rothstein

Crowds of shoppers at Pentagon City mall (file photo)The Lunar New Year celebration in Asia is fully underway, and the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City is hosting a lineup of events tomorrow to celebrate.

From noon to 6:00 p.m. at the mall (1100 S. Hayes Street), there will be dancers from a range of Asian countries, an “Asian fashion show” and goodie bags from stores like Aveda and LUSH.

Starting at noon, the first 100 shoppers on the Metro level will get goodie bags. At 1:00 p.m., the Asian American Chamber of Commerce will make a presentation, after which the performances begin.

There will be Chinese and Indian musical performances and forms of traditional Lion Dance and Dragon Dance and dancers organized by Filipino-American group Mabuhay, Inc. All the while, visitors can meet with Miss Vietnam D.C., Loney Nguyen and make a traditional paper lantern and spin a wheel for prizes.

Stores throughout the mall will be offering specials in honor of the holiday, which started on Feb. 19 and will last until March 5.

File photo

Pentagon City Mall Offering Valentine’s Day Giftwrapping

By ARLnow.com

Crowds of shoppers at Pentagon City mall (file photo)For those in the market for Valentine’s Day gifts, who like spending but not wrapping, the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City has a holiday promotion for you.

Today through Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., the mall will offer free, full-service gift-wrapping, complete with a variety of wrapping paper, ribbons, and red and pink bows.

The only catch: you have to spend more than $250 at any of a handful of pricey stores. Those stores include:

  • Armani Exchange
  • Apple
  • Coach
  • Hugo Boss
  • Kate Spade
  • Michael Kors
  • Microsoft
  • Stuart Weitzman
  • Tourneau
  • Tumi
  • Vince Camuto

Shoppers who want to take advantage of the service are asked to bring proof of purchase to the Guest Services kiosk.

RadioShacks in Crystal City, Pentagon City Are Closing

By Ethan Rothstein

The closed RadioShack in the Crystal City ShopsThe RadioShack in the Shops at 1750 Crystal Drive in Crystal City is closed and the RadioShack in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City is expected to close by the end of March, if not sooner.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, and plans to close thousands of its locations by March 31, including the storefront in the Pentagon City Mall. Employees at the Pentagon City RadioShack could not say when that location would be closing, only that it was relatively imminent.

The RadioShack on the second floor of Ballston Common Mall is expected to be the last remaining location of the national electronics retailer in Arlington by the spring.

That Ballston store will likely be part of the newly formed consortium between Standard General, a private equity fund, and Sprint, the cell phone provider, keeping between 1,500 and 2,400 stores open nationwide, according to Forbes. Whenever the deal is finalized and the transition occurs, the leftover stores will be selling a mix of Sprint products and the electronic goods like cords and adapters for which RadioShack has become known.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Radio antennas in South Arlington at sunset

Pedestrian Struck Near Eden Center — On Saturday around noon, a pedestrian was struck by an SUV in front of the Eden Center in Falls Church. The pedestrian became trapped under the SUV, prompting an Arlington County Fire Department technical rescue company to respond to the scene. [Twitter]

Power Outage at Pentagon City Mall — The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City closed two hours early Saturday night due to a power outage inside the mall. Police assisted in the evacuation of the mall, which was largely orderly but resulted in traffic jams at the exit to the parking lot due to non-working parking gates. [MyFoxDC, WUSA9]

Board Support Unlikely for Wilson School — The Wilson School in Rosslyn, which was built in 1910 but underwent significant changes in the 1950s, is unlikely to receive support for a historic designation from the Arlington School Board. Preservationists have been lobbying to save the school, but School Board members have expressed skepticism about whether the school actually is historic in its present state and whether it would be practical to preserve it. A vote is expected on Feb. 17. [InsideNova]

Wet Seal Closes in Ballston as Company Faces Default

By Ethan Rothstein
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Wet Seal, the national young women’s clothing store chain, has closed its location in Ballston Common Mall amid serious money trouble at the corporate level.

The Ballston location closed over the weekend, and pieces of merchandise were still strewn about the store despite most of it laying empty yesterday.

According to a tipster, there was a handwritten sign in the window that read along the lines of, “check the internet if you want to know why we are closed. wet seal sucks! liars!” (Update at 6:30 p.m. — BuzzFeed has a photo of the sign and an interview with its creator.)

Other Wet Seal stores around the country were closed abruptly, and employees of the location that closed in Durham, N.C., also posted a sign complaining about the fashion in which the store closed and how it treated its now-jobless employees.

Bloomberg News reported last week that Wet Seal received a notice of default and owes its creditors $28.8 million by Jan. 12. The financial news site says the company’s stock price has plummeted to 5.7 cents a share, having lost 97 percent of its value in the last year. If the company’s projections hold up, it will have lost almost $240 million by the end of the fiscal year.

According to the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio, 350 Wet Seal stores nationwide are in line to be closed. Employees in many of those stores were give just one day’s notice.

The Wet Seal location in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City remains open, and a store employee told ARLnow.com today that the Ballston location’s closure and any problems at the corporate level are “news to me.”

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