local business | ARLnow.com

Published April 4, 2011 at 11:15AM

The hookah lounge/pool hall/nightclub/restaurant at 3111 Columbia Pike opened around the beginning of the year and was able to attract crowds to some events, but not on a day-to-day basis. The name has been removed from the building’s exterior and we haven’t spotted any activity there in several weeks.

Since the club has no listed phone number, we have been unable to confirm its fate. However, we hear the club had problems obtaining a live entertainment permit and was subject to several police inspections.

Around Town

For Lease: Former Quiznos Storefront in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Published March 31, 2011 at 1:00PM

The space used to house a Quiznos restaurant, which in September was replaced by a homegrown sandwich shop called Ganges Grill and Ice Cream. Ganges, which was plagued with problems from the start, did not last very long, and now the storefront is up for lease.

We hear that the rent is about $4,000 per month.

News

Poll: What Would You Like to See Return to Clarendon-Courthouse?

By ARLnow.com

Published March 29, 2011 at 2:27PM

Clarendon and Courthouse have changed — a lot — over the past couple of decades.

The arrival of Metro in the late 1970s and early 1980s heralded the demise of many small mom-and-pop retailers and ethnic restaurants that once gave the area its unique character. It also helped speed along the end of large department and five & dime stores.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 29, 2011 at 7:41AM | Updated March 29, 2011 at 11:32AM

Grand Opening for USAA Office in Pentagon City — A new USAA branch has opened on Pentagon Row. The “financial center” — in company parlance — will hold its grand opening celebration from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 2. The branch is located at 1301 South Joyce Street.

Doorways Job Featured — Arlington-based Doorways for Women and Families is looking for a new executive director. The job was featured as the MyFoxDC.com “Job of the Day” yesterday. The listing notes that Doorways’ annual operating budget has more than doubled in the past five years, to $3.1 million. [MyFoxDC]

Around Town

The Last Days of Jay’s?

By ARLnow.com

Published March 25, 2011 at 3:14PM | Updated March 25, 2011 at 4:43PM

Kathi Moore, who co-owns the bar with her ex-husband, Jay Moore, says their lease is up at then end of the year and she does not expect the landlord to renew it. The landlord, an ownership group led by Clarendon-based Buck and Associates, is under contract with a developer that plans to redevelop the land occupied by Jay’s and two small, adjacent commercial buildings.

That is not to say that Jay’s will close at the end of the year — they may be kept on a month-to-month lease until the developer is ready to proceed with its project. But one thing is for sure: Jay’s days are numbered.

News

Major Office Development Coming to Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Published March 22, 2011 at 4:31PM

The parcel is the block between Highland Street, Garfield Street, Washington Boulevard and 11th Street. It’s currently home to the T.A. Sullivan & Son cemetery monument business, Eleventh Street Lounge, Potomac Crossfit and a car dealership. All will be torn down to make way for a new ten-story office building with ground level retail space, according to a business owner, who did not want to be identified.

Penzance, a District-based developer, has land purchase contracts in place and hopes to start construction in either 2012 or 2013, according to the business owner.

Around Town

Petco Coming to Old Blockbuster Site On Lee Highway

By ARLnow.com

Published March 22, 2011 at 2:50PM

A construction crew is working to convert what was once a Blockbuster video store into a Petco pet store.

The Blockbuster closed in January at the intersection of Lee Highway and N. Harrison Street. A worker said he expects the build-out to be complete in a month.

News

Zimmerman Plans Small Business “Listening Session”

By ARLnow.com

Published March 15, 2011 at 11:30AM | Updated March 15, 2011 at 3:32PM

On New Year’s Day, County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman kicked off the year by declaring that the board wanted to be seen a “facilitator, a partner to small business” in 2011.

The subtext of his comment was that the county was looking to reverse course from 2010, when a series of mini-controversies over enforcement of county ordinances had some entrepreneurs questioning Arlington’s commitment to small business.

Around Town

Rainy Day for Snow Business on the Pike

By ARLnow.com

Published March 10, 2011 at 3:59PM

The Columbia Pike landmark will serve its last customers on Sunday. The store is moving to a new, larger location next to the Home Depot in Seven Corners.

General Manager Ryan Sasse said the store has been doing well financially and is moving into a bigger space so it can start marketing patio furniture next to snowboards and ski jackets during the summer. Despite continued redevelopment on the Pike, Sasse says rising rent hasn’t been a concern.

News

SUV Slams Into Bluemont 7-Eleven

By ARLnow.com

Published March 8, 2011 at 11:46AM | Updated July 12, 2017 at 2:15PM

An SUV came crashing through the front of the 7-Eleven on Wilson Boulevard near George Mason Drive this morning.

As customers were arriving for their morning coffee, a vehicle described as a new Toyota Rav4 hopped the curb, smashed through a low brick wall, a door and a plate glass window. Nobody was hurt.

Around Town

Photo Tour of Swank New Crystal City Hotels

By ARLnow.com

Published March 7, 2011 at 4:00PM

The new 300-room Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel and 325-suite Residence Inn Arlington Capital View will open to the public on Wednesday, but public relations staffers have been busy showing off the properties over the past week. Located on the south end of Crystal City, the hotels offer rooms with expansive views of Reagan National Airport and the Potomac River.

We’ll talk about what each hotel offers guests in a minute, but first let’s discuss the stuff that locals can take advantage of.

Around Town

Trader Joe’s Signs Lease in Clarendon (Finally)

By ARLnow.com

Published March 1, 2011 at 9:44AM

So it was with the grocery chain’s new Clarendon location. For months now, the company has kept observers wondering when they would finalize the lease for 11,000 square feet of prime retail space on the ground floor of the Clarendon Center project.

First, the store demanded concessions from Arlington County, which were granted. Then, we hear, they insisted on holding off on the lease until they were granted certain county permits.