Ayers Variety & Hardware officially closed its doors yesterday (Sunday), but not before customers gave a fond sendoff to the 78-year-old Westover hardware store.
The store was busy with shoppers yesterday morning, making final purchases at the business that has stood in The Westover Shopping Center since 1948. Two posters with notes and signatures from customers were still hanging in the windows this morning.
The owners of a beloved Westover hardware store are reflecting on a 78-year legacy of community investment and support as they prepare to close their doors.
Over the decades, Ayers Variety and Hardware — established in 1948 — built a reputation around friendly, knowledgeable staff who embraced the “small town feel” of the surrounding neighborhood. Spending time to help customers solve household problems and track down hard-to-find items, employees connected with generations of shoppers who knew the retailer as a local fixture.
Ayers Variety and Hardware, the Westover shop generations of Arlingtonians have relied on for the one screw, seed packet or odd gadget they couldn’t find anywhere else, is closing.
The family that has owned the store at 5853 Washington Blvd since 1977 announced the closing in social media posts earlier this afternoon (Sunday). Its lease ends July 31 and the doors will close for the last time “in a few weeks,” owners Kristy Peterkin and her brother, Keith, wrote.
An Arlington-based boxing studio is closing all three of its Northern Virginia studios this month, per an email to customers.
BASH Boxing will be closing its locations in Ballston, Rosslyn and Fairfax County’s Mosaic District on Sunday, June 21, according to a mass email sent to customers just before noon today (Monday).
After three decades, a family-owned Italian restaurant has announced plans to relocate as its current home is slated for redevelopment.
Il Radicchio closed over the weekend at 1801 Clarendon Blvd, where it has served wood-fired pizzas, pasta and other Italian fare since 1994. Its closure comes as the site at Wilson Blvd and N. Rhodes Street, roughly between Rosslyn and Courthouse, is set for redevelopment into an apartment building.
An all-you-can-eat sushi spot is replacing the shuttered Takohachi Japanese Restaurant on Columbia Pike.
Signs for the new restaurant, MoMoGoGo, have appeared at a storefront at 2501 Columbia Pike in Penrose Square, where Takohachi closed earlier this year. MoMoGoGo — which plans to serve “fresh sushi & Japanese cuisine,” according to its website — has received work permits and is currently hiring.
A Walgreens pharmacy in Pentagon City has terminated its lease, leaving a notable vacancy at the Westpost shopping center.
The drug store at 1301 S. Joyce Street closed on May 5, according to storefront signage. Federal Realty Investment Trust, which owns Westpost, says it is now in touch with a “national bookseller” that is interested in leasing the 11,000-square-foot space — but doing so would require an amendment to the center’s site plan.
Pike Cornerstone has closed its doors for the last time after just over two years in business.
The restaurant and bar, which aimed to create a “home away from home” atmosphere with hearty bar fare, cocktails and a dog-friendly patio, held its “final call” on Saturday. It opened at 2900 Columbia Pike, at the former site of Rebellion on the Pike, in April 2024.
A game bar and brewery in Clarendon closed its doors last week after eight years in business, citing high rent and labor costs.
The Board Room’s last day in business at 925 N. Garfield Street was Thursday, owner Mark Handwerger told ARLnow. A 35-year veteran of the D.C.-area bar space, he said that business never fully recovered from the pandemic and struggled with high overhead costs.
A well-loved sushi restaurant on Columbia Pike has closed after less than three years in business.
Bluefish Bistro is no longer in business at 950 S. George Mason Drive, owner Andy Park told ARLnow. The eatery, which offered a variety of sushi rolls and sashimi, opened in November 2023 at the mixed-use Centro Arlington development and had secured a 4.9-star average rating on Google.
Two nightlife venues have closed in Clarendon ahead of a neighborhood redevelopment project.
Arlington Beer Garden is no longer in business at 3217 10th Street N., an employee told ARLnow, and the nearby Clarendon 54 club is now fenced off, with new signage advising of “on-site construction activity” at 3200 Wilson Blvd.
A family-owned nail salon franchise that opened during the throes of the pandemic has closed for business near Rosslyn.
Paint Nail Bar, a nationwide chain franchised by local couple Kevin and Amber Donohoo, closed at 1520 Clarendon Blvd this week after more than five years in business. The salon is holding a final sale to get rid of merchandise, supplies and furniture at discounted prices through this Saturday.
