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(Updated at 11:05 a.m.) A new boozy barbershop is under construction in Ballston, setting up a coming battle between a growing national chain and a homegrown, expanding local shop.

Scissors & Scotch is currently under construction on the 4000 block of Fairfax Drive, about halfway between the Ballston and Virginia Square Metro stations.


News

A new coworking space has come to the Courthouse area, amid the pandemic-era boom in working from home.

Venture X Arlington-Courthouse Metro opened this month and is hosting an open house from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at its 25,000 square-foot space at 2300 Wilson Blvd, also known as the Navy League Building


Around Town

A new combination veterinarian service, dog daycare and grooming business is being unveiled at the Ballston Quarter.

Heart + Paw’s grand opening is this Saturday, at 700 N. Randolph Street, marking the company’s first location in Virginia. Company co-founder George Melillo said the spot was a natural choice.


News

Locals are going to have a new spot to cool off this summer.

A new 935-square-foot ice cream parlor is opening at Westpost, formerly known as Pentagon Row. It’s expected to open in a former restaurant space at 1201 S. Joyce Street “in late summer,” says a press release from Federal Realty Investment Trust, owner of the retail plaza.


Around Town

Lorton-based and women-owned Rāko Coffee is opening in the Courthouse area later this spring or summer.

This is the coffee roaster’s first official bricks-and-mortar location, according to the Washington Business Journal, after focusing on wholesale roasting operations since opening in Lorton in 2019.


News

Arlington has long had a childcare shortage problem. During the pandemic, strangely, that helped its programs survive.

Although childcare programs across the nation have shuttered due to the coronavirus, in Arlington, only three licensed programs have closed, said County Board member and childcare advocate Katie Cristol. One is reopening in a new location better equipped for social-distancing, while two others closed permanently (one of those closures was virus-related).


Around Town

A new print shop has taken over a building in Green Valley that has housed a revolving door of bar and lounge spots.

An employee confirmed that ABC Imaging opened at 2620 Shirlington Road two weeks ago on April 12. ABC Imaging is headquartered in nearby Fairfax County, and the new Arlington location joins a roster of nearly 30 outposts across the U.S., in addition to four global hubs.


News

Ballston Quarter is getting several new businesses, a new art installation, and a weekly bingo night.

The “Beer and Bingo” nights are taking place at the Quarter Market food hall on Wednesdays through the end of May. Registration is free on the shopping center’s website. Individuals or small groups will be sat at tables spaced apart, for safety’s sake.


News

A new local business owner is taking over the troubled, former Purple Lounge location and is pledging to make it family-friendly.

Layth Mansour will be opening a restaurant and hookah lounge called “Eska” at 3111 Columbia Pike, the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) announced earlier today.


Around Town

A new fitness studio called SPENGA is set to open in Ballston in late April.

The studio at 4040 Fairfax Drive will teach a proprietary blend of spin, strength training and yoga — which are also blended together in the name “SPENGA.” The fitness brand has more than 300 franchise locations in operation or opening across the U.S.


Around Town

(Update at 11:50 a.m.) A new Bearded Goat Barber shop is opening in Shirlington this fall.

The full-service barber shop — from local entrepreneurs Eric Renfro, Jon Dodson, and Scott Parker — is opening its third location, at the Village at Shirlington. It will be located 4150 Campbell Ave, next to Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub and across the street from Damn Good Burger Co.


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