local business | ARLnow.com

Coming Next Month: ARLive Startup Smackdown

Published June 30, 2014 at 1:50PM | Updated June 21, 2018 at 4:58PM

Crystal City BID, in association with ARLnow.com, Click, Disruption Corp, The Falcon Lab and Grade A Marketing, will be hosting the ARLive Startup Smackdown on Tuesday, July 22 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Held at the Crystal Tech Fund (2231 Crystal Drive) space in Crystal City, the event will arm attendees with Monopoly money and invite them to check out more than a dozen local startups. Attendees can invest the faux funds in their favorite startups, and the company with the most fake money at the end wins lunch with venture capitalist and Crystal Tech Fund founder Paul Singh.

Around Town

New Chamber President, 29, Says Her ‘Age is a Positive’

By Ethan Rothstein

Published June 25, 2014 at 4:35PM | Updated June 26, 2014 at 9:29AM

“My age is a positive,” Roche told ARLnow.com, days after her new promotion was announced. “It’s a change for the business community. When people traditionally think of business, they think of older men, not younger women. Appealing to more demographics makes it a more welcoming place.”

Roche replaces now-retired President Rich Doud, 71. Doud hired Roche as the chamber’s director of member services and development in 2007 after she worked at D.C. nonprofit Women in Government. Roche called Doud “a great mentor and leader,” and said Doud was in tears when they spoke last Friday after she was officially given the job.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 24, 2014 at 8:00AM | Updated June 24, 2014 at 9:48AM

New Homeless Shelter to Open in March — Arlington County’s new year-round homeless services center is now expected to open in March. That means the existing emergency winter homeless shelter in Courthouse is likely to be open much of the winter. [InsideNova]

Competitors Agree on Sign Change — Competing commercial real estate companies have joined together in support of a proposal for Arlington to allow rooftop signs on two new Rosslyn office buildings, one already built and another set to be built if the signage is approved. Company officials say that Arlington’s reputation with the business community is at stake, especially at a time of increased competition with areas like Tysons Corner. [Washington Business Journal]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 23, 2014 at 9:15AM

Arlington Wages, Employment Falling — The average weekly wage in Arlington was $1,588 in the fourth quarter of 2013, the eighth-highest wage among large U.S. counties. However, the average wage was down 2.4 percent compared to one year prior, and the number of people employed in Arlington was down 1.1 percent. [InsideNova]

Peet’s Sets Opening Date — The new Peet’s Coffee and Tea in Shirlington has reportedly set June 28 as an opening day. Peet’s replaced the former Caribou Coffee store. [Shirlington Village Blog Spot]

Around Town

South Block Cafe in Clarendon to Expand

By ARLnow.com

Published June 19, 2014 at 9:45AM

Owner Amir Mostafavi explained he decided to expand because South Block’s line of raw, unpasteurized, cold pressed juices — called South Block Juice Co. — has enjoyed a tremendous response from customers. South Block opened in 2011 and the juice line launched more than a year ago.

“This brand has sort of taken on a life of its own. So we have decided to give the juice its own space, and we are putting our first South Block Juice Co. location in the Clarendon Alliance Spot next door to us,” Mostafavi said. “I refer to South Block Juice Co. as a ‘micro-juicery,’ so we are having a little fun with this and taking on some traits of a microbrewery.”

Around Town

UPDATED: Cafe Caturra May Close, Reopen as Tazza Kitchen

By ARLnow.com

Published June 18, 2014 at 2:00PM | Updated June 19, 2014 at 5:56PM

(Updated at 5:50 p.m. on 6/19/14) Cafe Caturra (2931 S. Glebe Road) is expected to close in order to be converted into a Tazza Kitchen restaurant.

The restaurant opened in the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center in September 2011. It is expected to close for renovations in the near future, though no timeline has yet been set, according to co-owner Jeff Grant, the founder of Cafe Caturra. The restaurant has applied for but has not yet been granted building permits.

News

A-Town Faces Grilling on Permit Renewal

By ARLnow.com

Published June 17, 2014 at 4:30PM | Updated June 18, 2014 at 3:45AM

Earlier: A-Town Bar and Grill is facing scrutiny over noise and crime as it seeks to renew its live entertainment permit tonight (Tuesday).

The restaurant, located at 4100 N. Fairfax Drive in Ballston, has been drawing the ire of neighbors who complain about loud, drunken patrons. It’s also the subject of an investigation by Arlington County police and the Virginia Dept. of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), over a violent episode at an employee-only party on Feb. 12.

Around Town

New Irish Bar Coming to Columbia Pike?

By ARLnow.com

Published June 17, 2014 at 2:05PM

A restaurant called “The Celtic House,” from a company called “Green Brigade LLC,” has applied for a permit to serve wine, beer and mixed beverages at 2500 Columbia Pike, in the Arlington Village Shopping Center. That’s the current home of Manee Thai restaurant, which has been open for 13-14 years.

“Mo,” a man identifying himself as the owner of Manee Thai, told ARLnow.com today that he is in talks to sell the restaurant and retire. But he said nothing has been finalized.

News

Food Trucks Hampered by Rosslyn Construction

By Morgan Fecto

Published June 11, 2014 at 4:45PM

Skyscraper construction near the Rosslyn Metro stop may force some food trucks to relocate or scale back their visits to the lunch hot spot.

“It sucks,” Louie Hankins, the co-founder of the Rito Loco truck, told ARLnow.com. “We can only park two or three trucks here where we used to park seven to eight.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 28, 2014 at 9:00AM | Updated May 28, 2014 at 9:28AM

Arlington CEO Pleads Guilty to Hacking — Ariel Friedler, the 36-year-old CEO of Arlington-based Symplicity Corporation, has pleaded guilty to federal computer hacking charges. Prosecutors say Friedler and his Chief Technology Officer gained access to the customer section of two competitors’ websites using hacked user credentials in order to steal customer and product design information and gain “an unfair business advantage.” [Pacific Standard, USDOJ]

Wizards Player Helping Clarendon Ice Cream Shop — Washington Wizards swingman Martell Webster tweeted last week that he is working part time at Nicecream Factory, the new Clarendon ice cream store. It turns out that Webster is merely helping out with the store’s marketing effort, which is being led by a long-time friend and former collegiate basketball player. [Washington Post]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 27, 2014 at 9:20AM | Updated May 27, 2014 at 1:44PM

Firefighters Battle Three-Alarm Blaze — Firefighters from Fairfax County and Arlington battled a three alarm fire at a senior living community Friday night. The facility, Lockwood House, is located on the 600 block of N. Madison Street, just across the Arlington border in Fairfax County. The building’s nearly 100 apartments were evacuated as the fire spread from an electrical transformer to a utility room containing a diesel generator and fuel tanks. [WUSA 9]

Three More Schools to Get FLES — Updated at 1:45 p.m. — Three additional schools will be getting Arlington Public Schools’ Foreign Language in Elementary School program, starting this fall. Tuckahoe, Nottingham and Oakridge will be getting the program, which provides Spanish language education to elementary students. The program also eliminates early release Wednesdays at schools that have it. Parents have been pushing Arlington elected officials to fund FLES at all elementary schools; the school system is planning to do so, but over a period of a couple years. [InsideNova]

Around Town

Artisanal Pickle Makers Flourish in Lyon Park Basement

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 22, 2014 at 10:00AM | Updated May 23, 2014 at 11:17AM

There are barrels, buckets, plastic bags and containers all over the Lyon Park headquarters of No. 1 Sons, a company that sells fermented pickles, kimchi and other products at farmer’s markets and stores around the D.C. area.

No. 1 One Sons has occupied a tiny space underneath the 2720 Washington Blvd shopping center — which houses the new Mocha Cafe & Pastry — since 2012. That’s when No. 1 Sons was founded after owner Yi Wah Roberts, drinking with a friend, decided to make pickles on a whim. Later, he built the “factory” himself with a group of friends.