Around Town

(Updated at 3:58 p.m.) After four years of business, Executive Menswear at the Crystal City Shops will soon sell its last necktie. The store is at 2117 Crystal Plaza Arc, but not for much longer.

With all inventory reduced to 70 percent off and a sign thanking customers for “several years of business,” the shop is set to close its doors “very soon,” said an employee who preferred not to be identified. “It could be today, maybe tomorrow, but very soon.”


News

Arlington’s population of engineers and project managers will grow by 100 by 2017 as San Francisco-based disruptive technology firm Shift builds a technology operation in Crystal City.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced today that Shift will invest $20 million in its East Coast engineering center in Arlington as part of its national expansion. The announcement was made during a reception at Crystal City business incubator 1776, where the company will have its local headquarters.


News

(Updated at 5:17 p.m.) Two mature trees along Washington Boulevard at Pershing Drive were given severe trims earlier this winter, leading at least one nearby resident to call the trimming “vandalism.”

The trees in the sidewalk in front of Texas Jack’s Barbecue, Second Ascent Consignments and State Farm Insurance — until recently, home of the longtime Corner Cupboard antique shop — were subject to the harmful pruning method called “topping.” The leaf-bearing crowns and the lower limbs have been removed, leaving behind what are essentially 10-foot tall stumps.


Around Town

The seasonal ritual of stocking up on pre-blizzard household goods began in earnest this afternoon as shoppers clamored for bread, milk and other perishables in advance of Friday’s predicted double digit snowfall. Toilet paper, although not technically perishable, was also in high demand.

“I’ve been doing some recipe planning and planned out the week,” said Brittany Yam at Mom’s Organic Market at 1901 North Veitch Street. The mother of three from Donaldson Run was pushing a nearly full basket loaded with bread, fruit, frozen chicken strips and her daughter.


Around Town

It’s hardly camping weather, but Lisa Peregory, owner of the new Second Ascent Consignment shop at 2757 Washington Boulevard, says business has been as brisk as the temperatures in the two months since the store opened.

The store specializes in casual clothing, outerwear and footwear for men, women and children, as well as specialized gear for camping, hiking, paddling and climbing, sold on a consignment basis. Customers bringing in clothing receive 45 percent of the sale price when the item sells. For items over $150 the split is 50-50.


News

County staff members are being trained this week on the long-awaited “text-to-911” capability and the service is nearly ready to go, said Office of Emergency Management spokesman John Crawford. “The only thing we’re missing is an exact launch date,” he said.

The technology was unveiled in 2010 during a press conference with then-FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and county officials. Refining the technology and coordinating implementation with other regional emergency systems delayed the launch.


News

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced a $750,000 award to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) today during a ceremony at the Arlington Mill Community and Senior Center in south Arlington.

The funds, said APAH president and CEO Nina Janopaul, will go toward the construction of Columbia Hills Apartments, a new 229-apartment building scheduled to begin in May at South Frederick Street and Columbia Pike. The building will be erected in the parking lot of Columbia Grove Apartments, another APAH property.


Sponsored

It didn’t take long after the merger of two high-profile Realty firms into one powerhouse brokerage to become a dominating force in regional — particularly Arlington — real estate.

Last year Rosslyn-based Optimé Realty sold more volume in Northern Virginia — more than $220 million — than any other realty team combined, says Dan Lesniak, founder of Orange Line Living. That accounts for 369 homes bought and sold in the market with the Keri Shull Team, headed by prominent realtor Shull.


Sponsored

A home inspector needs to be knowledgeable in everything between the foundation of a house and the roof. They need to be willing to cram into creepy, dark crawl spaces looking for compromising cracks, and they often need to climb onto dangerously high roofs to check chimney masonry at the topmost point, something many home inspectors decline to do.

Ed Snope, the sole proprietor of Arlington’s Atlas Home Inspection, has been doing all those things, and everything in between, for three years. His business is the culmination of more than 30 years in all aspects of home building, beginning when he was a teenager learning the fine points of landscape construction with a contractor.


Feature

Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is a Metro-accessible space featuring a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces and a stage for formal presentations.

When Christopher Doorley was looking for a content management system (CMS) to help build a mobile application for a large membership-based client, he couldn’t find anything that fit the bill.