After being open for a year, a vintage gift shop in Del Ray is closing at the end of June.
Amy Sills Eggers, the owner of Stardust Vintage and Gift (1904 Mount Vernon Avenue), told ALXnow that she needs to focus on her family. She said she’ll be selling all of her merchandise and fixtures at a discount.
An opening date is on the horizon for a queer-owned, family-oriented café hoping to establish itself near Alexandria.
Friends of Dorothy Cafe founder Dorothy Edwards has raised about $25,000 for the café’s creation since launching a crowdfunding campaign last June. As the campaign’s first anniversary and Pride Month approach this June, Edwards told ALXnow the new business is aiming to open sometime next year.
A family that opened a coffee shop inside a recently closed Italian restaurant in Old Town North has launched a GoFundMe.
In January, Dream Chasers Coffee owners Leo and Brittani Maggio opened Valletta Espresso Bar inside Italian restaurant Valletta Port at 682 N. St. Asaph Street. On Friday (April 17), the restaurant abruptly closed. Maggio told ALXnow that he arrived at work to find the doors locked and the business shut down.
A sweet new release is coming soon to Old Town Books — although it isn’t the latest summer romance or nonfiction read.
The independent bookstore is preparing to enter the confectionery world this summer with Fabled Ice Cream, a new ice cream brand by store founder Ally Kirkpatrick. The brand is planning weekly drops of literary-inspired flavors, available in small-batch pints at Old Town Books (130 S. Royal Street).
Alexandria City Council has a full docket at its upcoming meeting Saturday as final budgetary decisions approach.
City Council will conduct a number of public hearings, including setting the real estate and personal property tax rates for the next fiscal year, additions and deletions to City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposed $977 million Fiscal Year 2027 budget, an increase to the stormwater utility fee, new parking fees and the addition of paid metered parking on Sundays.
After being open for less than two years in Old Town, Italian restaurant Valletta Port has permanently closed.
The business’s last social media post was on Thursday, April 9, announcing live music that weekend. The business’s website now says that the restaurant is permanently closed.
A family-owned bakery and café from Arlington has officially expanded to Old Town, offering French pastries with Lebanese flavors.
Eclairons held a soft opening in February at 430 S. Washington Street and is now spending its first spring in Alexandria. The business replaced a vacancy left by Firehook Bakery, bringing a fresh look to the space with new outdoor pergolas and flowers.
After two years away from the ring, Alexandria world champion Muay Thai kickboxer Amine “The Lion” Ballafrikh has announced his comeback.
Earlier this month, Ballafrikh announced on social media that he’d spent the last two years with his young family, building his Atlas Muay Thai gym (2395 S. Dove Street) and coaching his fighters.
Alexandria City Council members have submitted their proposed additions — and one deletion — in their Fiscal Year 2027 budget deliberations.
The proposed additions to the budget include a 5-cent increase to the city’s Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax; $200,000 for a jail operational efficiency study; and $350,000 for improvements to the pedestrian zone in the 200 block of King Street.
Crooked Beat Records will officially close its Del Ray location Sunday, May 3, following the adverse effects of flooding earlier this year.
Owner Bill Daly said in a social media post he has tried to stay in Alexandria and has placed bids on several rental properties in and around the city, though there is a chance the business could move outside Alexandria.
A Del Ray eatery’s Instagram post promising free milkshakes has collected more than 4 million views.
In the March 17 post from Holy Cow Del Ray (2312 Mount Vernon Avenue), customers were told they could get free milkshakes by dancing. What followed is a compilation of adults and children dancing their ways through the burger joint’s front door to the counter. The post also got 388,000 likes, and the restaurant’s Instagram followers have since climbed from just over 4,000 to more than 10,000.
