A childhood passion for building with Legos has led an Alexandria resident down an unexpected career path.
Dylan Blanco expects to open Bricks & Minifigs, a Lego resale store, in Old Town in early October. The store will open at 110 N. Royal Street, directly west of City Hall. A grand opening celebration is planned for November.
A new Olympic weightlifting gym is opening its doors in Alexandria’s West End on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Gym owner Brian Leung is opening Monument Weightlifting at 614 S. Pickett Street. The 6,800-square-foot gym will teach clients that want to learn Olympic lifts, or to continue developing their training.
A popular South Korean coffee shop chain is opening its first U.S. location in Alexandria in mid-October.
Twosome Place was founded in 2002 in South Korea, and there are now more than 1,750 locations around the world. The cafe will open at 404 King Street on the ground level of the Alexandrian hotel.
Alexandria city officials are taking aggressive action to attract and retain businesses large and small, the city’s mayor said at an Aug. 26 gathering of regional officials.
“We want to be a city where businesses feel their ideas are heard and implemented,” Mayor Alyia Gaskins said at the 11th annual Northern Virginia Regional Elected Leaders Summit.
A new brewery taproom is opening at the end of the month on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray.
Crooked Run Fermentation plans to open its taproom at 2003 Mount Vernon Avenue on Aug. 28 after a three-month interior renovation. Co-owner Lee Rogan tells ALXnow that a grand opening and ribbon cutting will happen sometime next month.
Hypergoat Coffee Roasters, an Alexandria-founded coffee shop, is planning a second location in Del Ray.
Co-owner and head roaster Rodrigo Ramos confirmed to ALXnow the second Hypergoat location is in the works. The 3,051-square-foot location at 2423B Mount Vernon Avenue and the adjacent, vacant 2423A Mount Vernon Avenue used to be home to First Agape Baptist Community of Faith and were converted into two tenant spaces.
The expansion of coffee shops continues as an international brand plans a location in Old Town.
Construction has started on Twosome Place, a new coffee shop and dessert cafe at 404 King Street.
A new wellness studio featuring saunas, cold plunges and fitness classes is opening Saturday, Aug. 15 in Alexandria’s Braddock neighborhood.
Kalm Studio is currently taking reservations at 800 N. Henry Street. The building has undergone significant renovations over the last several months, and features three private saunas and a communal sauna. For a $300 monthly fee, members can get contrast and movement therapies, like cold plunges and saunas, as well as Pilates and yoga classes.
Madame Coco’s Emporium will return to Old Town in mid-September alongside Long Dark House, a new bookstore focused on science fiction, horror and dark titles.
The new businesses will share space at 1510 King Street. Madame Coco’s Emporium is the brainchild of Meshelle Armstrong, while Long Dark House is the realization of a lifelong dream by Chanthal Harris.
The King Street corridor in Old Town is gaining another coffee shop as Mudhouse Specialty Coffee Roasters opens its doors this week.
Mudhouse will open on Wednesday (July 29) at 1119 King Street, staff confirmed to ALXnow. This will be the Charlottesville-founded coffee roaster’s sixth location, joining two in Charlottesville, and ones in Richmond, Crozet and Charleston, S.C.
Dream Chaser’s Coffee is back.
Three months after being forced to close their new coffee shop in Old Town North, Leo and Brittani Maggio have found a new home for the business. On Saturday (July 25), the shop reopened in a large commercial flex space at The Garden Alexandria at 5380 Eisenhower Avenue (Suite C), joining Building Momentum, Saltenna and Dominion Electric Supply, and guaranteeing a steady stream of customers who’ve relied for years on brewing single-cup coffee pods.
