Around Town

The owner and chef behind a longtime French restaurant in Alexandria is introducing a new galetterie and crêperie in Alexandria this week.

Maison Breizh is a new concept launching behind Bastille Brasserie & Bar, with a “soft opening” starting tomorrow (June 4) at 1205 Pendleton Street. The galetterie’s eponymous menu item, the galette, is a French-style savory crepe made with a buckwheat-based batter.


Around Town

The West End Business Association continues to look for ways to raise the visibility of West End businesses with its returning festival in a larger-than-ever format.

Best of the West will return for a third year from 12-6 p.m. Saturday, June 6 in Ben Brenman Park (4800 Brenman Park Drive) in the Cameron Station neighborhood. The free event will have restaurants and other business vendors, community organization booths, a Port City Brewing Company beer garden, arts and crafts and a live music stage. Ben Brenman Drive will be closed for booths leading up to the park’s gazebo.


Around Town

Thai Peppers Restaurant will say farewell to Del Ray after more than 27 years.

The restaurant, located at 2018 Mount Vernon Avenue and dating back to 1998, announced it will have its final day of business on Monday, June 15. The owners cited their plans to retire and “hopefully relax on a beach in Phuket sipping Singhas and Mai Tais.”


Around Town

An earlier version of the story said “Analog Bag Weekend” would occur this weekend, but businesses have updated the event timing to June 12-14.

Five local businesses in Old Town are hosting a weekend of discounts to encourage hands-on, screen-free activities.


Around Town

After 20 years in journalism, Beth Lawton says she’s traded the stress of deadlines for the stress of owning a business in Old Town.

In addition to being a mom with two kids, Lawton has spent the last five years selling handmade items from dozens of local artists at her shop, Made In ALX. At the end of 2024, she had to hang up her journalism hat as the publisher of Alexandria Living Magazine and at least temporarily left behind a long career in journalism.


Around Town

As another Fresh Market store in the Northern Virginia region prepares to close, the Alexandria location isn’t going anywhere.

A Fresh Market spokesperson told ALXnow no changes are planned for the Alexandria store at Bradlee Shopping Center (3680 King Street). The store is one of the anchor businesses at the shopping center, adjacent to a Safeway grocery store to the east.


Around Town

A new “passport”-inspired promotion to generate support for Duke Street businesses has launched, the city announced Friday (May 22).

The program encouraging residents to shop local is a lighter side of the Duke Street Land Use Plan, a process updating the land use vision for the Duke Street corridor. Christian Brandt, an urban planner for the city, told ALXnow 19 businesses have signed up to participate in the Duke Street Business Passport Program, with more to be added. Businesses within a half-mile of Duke Street are eligible to join.


Around Town

Two local businesses in Del Ray held ribbon cuttings at their new storefronts Saturday (May 16).

The Del Ray Business Association hosted the ribbon cuttings for Lifestyle & Performance Fitness (202 E. Custis Avenue) and the Department of Beer and Wine (2805 Mount Vernon Avenue). The events were attended by City Council Members John Taylor Chapman and Sandy Marks, along with DRBA president Lauren Fisher and board member Gayle Reuter.


Around Town

In 2023, Jess Moak left behind a career as a program manager for large nonprofits to start her own interior design shop in Old Town.

The New York native opened her store Eries Interiors opened Eries Interiors at a 300-square-foot space at 101 S. St. Asaph Street in October 2024. The following month, a fire next door at 103 S. St. Asaph Street temporarily shuttered three women-owned businesses. The landlord spent nearly a year renovating the 1,800-square-foot space and approached Moak with a proposal to help design the interior and move in. Last October, Moak signed a lease and opened in time for Black Friday at 103 S. St. Asaph Street.


News

Despite multiple failed attempts over the past decade, two Alexandria City Council members advocated Thursday (May 14) for bringing a Business Improvement District to Old Town.

Under a challenging economic outlook, City Council Members Sandy Marks and John Taylor Chapman said that Old Town’s business community needs an organized push to attract visitors. The council members made the remarks during the Chamber ALX’s annual City Council Breakfast, which was held at the Hilton Alexandria Old Town (1767 King Street).


News

The Alexandria Economic Development Partnership announced today that Arlington-based FedTech will help launch and manage the city’s new business accelerator this summer.

AEDP received more than 20 proposals from companies to help manage a “high-touch cohort program for up to 15 Alexandria start-ups in high-growth sectors, including robotics, aerospace, quantum, AI, energy tech, computer services, cybersecurity, and defense,” AEDP said in a release. The accelerator is the first strategy outlined in the ALX Forward framework, a roadmap for Alexandria’s economic future approved by City Council in January.


View More Stories