A technology company has officially opened 10,000-square-foot offices in Herndon.
Eqlipse Technologies, a company that provides products and engineering services to the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, is set to celebrate its grand opening tomorrow (Thursday) at 2350 Corporate Park Drive.
Paul Frommelt, a spokesperson for the company, said the Herndon location was chosen because of its strategic location near major roadways, including Route 28, the Dulles Access Road and Fairfax County Parkway.
“The location…allows for employees from across the D.C. Metro area to conveniently commute into the office while enjoying our hybrid work options,” Frommelt wrote in a statement. “Additionally, we were able to build out our first-floor suite, taking advantage of modern workspace amenities, like collaboration spaces, vehicle charging stations and a gym for employee health and wellness.”
The company was formed by Arlington Capital Partners, a private equity firm, in March of this year.
“Eqlipse is launching with a strong foundation built on decades of history and experience working with our customers, a growing portfolio of proprietary technologies, and a cadre of world-class subject matter experts pushing the art of the possible every day,” David Wodlinger, a managing partner of Arlington Capital Partners, said in a statement.
District Taco’s first franchise location has opened for business.
The Mexican fast-casual chain began serving customers at its new McLean restaurant on Tuesday, Aug. 15, an employee told FFXnow.
The 2,063-square-foot restaurant is located at 1334 Chain Bridge Road in the Lidl shopping center, which added Big Buns Damn Good Burgers and Matchbox Pizza in the spring. Operating hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day, according to District Taco’s website.
The launch will be formally celebrated with a grand opening next Wednesday, Aug. 30. District Taco previously announced an Aug. 23 grand opening but later said that would be delayed.
The McLean restaurant is owned by Hicham El Abbassi and Isalmou Boussaa, who signed an agreement in August 2022 to open five franchise locations in Northern Virginia. That includes an upcoming site at Old Keene Mill Shopping Center (8432 Old Keene Mill Road) in West Springfield.
After initially anticipating an Aug. 3 opening for the West Springfield location, District Taco now says it’s “looking to open in the near future.”
According to the Washington Business Journal, El Abbassi and Boussaa both immigrated to the U.S. from Morocco and first encountered District Taco in 2015 through its Alexandria location. They also have experience franchising with Arlington burger chain Five Guys.
“I was truly inspired by the entrepreneurial story of District Taco’s Founder, Osiris Hoil, and his pursuit of the American dream,” Boussaa said in a press release. “Hicham and I are living out our own American dreams by opening our two new District Taco locations and we are so excited to begin serving high-quality meals to the local Springfield and McLean communities.”
Started more than a decade ago as a food cart in Arlington, District Taco has expanded to 16 locations across the D.C. area and Pennsylvania, including the new franchises in McLean and West Springfield. The company hopes to eventually extend its reach further outside the D.C. region — perhaps even to other countries.
Using recipes from Hoil’s family, District Taco serves customizable tacos, burritos, bowls, salads and quesadillas. Vegetarian and vegan options are available.
“Never wanting to compromise quality, District Taco ensures the freshness of its products by preparing its food daily,” the company said. “Chiles and tomatoes are roasted on the premises, grilled meats are marinated with a secret combination of citrus and spices that are indigenous to the Yucatán region, and chips and salsa are made in-house daily.”
A new restaurant specializing in North Indian Mughlai cuisine has landed in Fair Lakes.
Aroma Restaurant Bar and Banquet, operated by husband and wife duo Daljeet and Jyoti Chhatwal, opened its doors at 12821 Fair Lakes Parkway last month on Fourth of July weekend, according to Daljeet.
The restaurant is still in its soft opening period, but the couple aims to celebrate Aroma’s grand opening in mid-September.
“Our menu is so complex, I wanted my staff, especially my kitchen staff, to be very comfortable before we do a grand opening,” Daljeet said.
The menu blends old and new with classic hits — like the butter chicken served since Aroma first opened in D.C. in 1994 — featured alongside recently launched fusion cuisine. Aroma now serves Indo-Chinese and Indo-Mexican dishes, like hakka noodles and seekh kebab taquitos.
Daljeet, a culinary school graduate, created the dishes himself in his mission to bring Indian spices into famous dishes from other cultures.
Daljeet has also introduced other unique delicacies, like shahi batair (quail), scallop balchao curry and coco mussel curry, that he says are well-loved in India but typically not served in the U.S.
To ensure those who don’t eat meat aren’t left out, Aroma has an expanding variety of vegetarian options. Soya chops — vegetarian lamb chop mimics that still retain their “meat texture” despite being made from soya beans — just made their debut, Jyoti says.
Designed as a space to be rented out for gatherings and parties, Aroma’s Fair Lakes restaurant features a banquet hall that seats 200 people and three private rooms, including a men’s cigar lounge for small, official meetings or karaoke. Up to 70 guests can use the back patio, where the couple says they have already hosted wedding ceremonies. There are also two bars with 12 different beers on tap.
The restaurant’s large banquet hall is what initially drew the pair to the Fair Lakes location, which previously housed a sports bar.
In addition to its original D.C. restaurant, Aroma had locations in Arlington and Lorton, but all three shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, Daljeet says.
The previous restaurants didn’t have dedicated square footage for private events, so the Chhalwats say having the Fair Lakes site as their first culinary endeavor post-Covid has been particularly exciting. Read More
Something new is brewing in Old Town Fairfax.
Expanding operations from Virginia Beach, Commonwealth Brewing Company is gearing up to join the neighborhood with an anticipated Labor Day weekend opening at 10426 Main Street.
In honor of its opening, which will ideally come on Sept. 1, the brewery will offer a “pie and a pint” special associated with its participation in Fairfax City’s upcoming Restaurant Week. Customers can choose from one of Commonwealth’s eight signature pizzas and a draft beer for $25.
Fairfax visitors can expect “an even bigger implementation” of Commonwealth’s offerings in Virginia Beach (2444 Pleasure House Road), where the brewery serves 25 to 28 styles of beer crafted in house, owner Jeramy Biggie says.
The new Fairfax location will boast a 4,800 square-foot tap room with 48 taps, five of which will be dedicated to draft cocktails that are currently exclusive to Fairfax. It will also eventually add the coffee brand that Commonwealth recently launched in Virginia Beach.
“It’s a great, great spot right on Main Street, and it has a pretty expansive patio with outdoor seating where dogs are welcome,” Biggie told FFXnow. “I’m just really excited to see how people can respond to the beer.”
Along with specialty alcoholic beverages, Fairfax’s Commonwealth Brewing will serve freshly made food, like its signature Neopolitan wood-fired pizza, and it will experiment with “eclectic concepts” and “interesting ingredients,” such as Korean short rib and kimchi, Biggie says.
He plans to maintain a rotating menu by introducing three to five new beer styles every week and new food items every month.
“I think our ethos is all about being creative and trying to really foster an environment where people can come together and have a really enjoyable, hopefully world class product,” Biggie said.
Also new with the Fairfax location is a dedicated beer production space for Belgian-style, long-term, barrel-aged sour beers — the very beer that Biggie says first sparked his passion for becoming a commercial brewer. This particular style of beer is aged on wild bacteria for a year to three years, so it’s “a labor of love,” Biggie says.
“They’re not profitable at all, but they’re delicious, so we like to make them,” Biggie laughed. “…It’s a really small percentage of our total volume, but it’s a really important part of it.”
Beers have long since been a labor of love for Biggie, who began home-brewing around 13 years ago as a hobby while working full-time as a structural engineer.
“When I met my wife, she was studying abroad in Germany, and I flew over to Europe to spend Christmas with her over 20 years ago now, and she took me to all the hot houses and European beer gardens, and I was blown away by the food and the quality of the beer,” Biggie said. “That’s where it all kind of started for me. I came back and started seeking out more interesting beers and then that turned into home brewing.”
After a decade of home-brewing, Biggie and his wife Natalie decided to liquidate their retirement savings and “make the huge jump” into their “first-ever entrepreneurial endeavor,” Biggie recalls.
“I found I had a pretty natural ability to make recipes and really loved doing it,” Biggie said. “I loved all the social inspiration that I got from it, being able to invite the neighborhood over to come try the beers and just really got into it and got super passionate about it — basically filled my entire house with fermenters. After making all different styles over a decade and passively researching, we made a decision to open a brewery.”
Formerly based in Alexandria’s Del Rey neighborhood, the couple found no better place to break ground on their brewery than where they first met: Virginia Beach.
Now, after experiencing success by the ocean for the past eight years, the Biggies are heading back to Northern Virginia, where they hope to “create a bigger and stronger nightlife scene” in Old Town Fairfax, Biggie says.
“We know the area, we know that people up there really appreciate high-quality products,” Biggie said. “We came across the Fairfax property, and it was just amazing, and we really liked the building owner, and we loved it being in a really cool main street.”
As Commonwealth prepares to open in Fairfax at the beginning of next month, Biggie says he’s focused on integrating the brewery into the Fairfax community and involving George Mason University students, who he hopes will become regulars.
His goal, he says, is to make Commonwealth a close-knit community hub that promotes interpersonal connection.
“We want to be a community center. We want to be a place where people can come every week and meet and see each other,” Biggie continued. “…We’re the antithesis of a sports bar. We have no screens anywhere, and we really want you to focus on the beer you’re enjoying, the food you’re eating and the people you’re with.”
The fastest growing restaurant in the U.S. will open its doors in Tysons next week.
Dave’s Hot Chicken, a California-based chain that counts celebrities like rapper Drake and actor Samuel L. Jackson among its investors, will hold a grand opening for its new location at 8397 Leesburg Pike in Pike 7 Plaza on Friday, Aug. 25, according to its website.
This will be the company’s first Virginia location but far from its last. About 19 franchises are planned in Northern Virginia alone, the Tysons manager told FFXnow.
“This is a great area,” he said.
Adjacent to China Wok at the northern end of the shopping center, the 2,445-square-foot restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Started as a food stand in a Los Angeles parking lot in 2017, Dave’s Hot Chicken has expanded rapidly over the past few years to more than 118 locations — with another 700 in development, Restaurant Dive reported in March.
The company attributed its success so far to positive buzz and careful recruiting of experienced franchisees both for its leadership team and as operators.
Specializing in Nashville-style hot chicken, the restaurant’s menu consists of chicken tenders, sliders and fries served in different pairings with pickles, the signature “Dave’s sauce,” and sides, including kale slaw and mac and cheese.
There are seven spice levels ranging from no spice to “Reaper,” which reportedly uses the hottest pepper in the world and requires customers to sign a waiver.
The Tysons location won’t be open for long before facing some competition on the spiciness front: Richmond-based Hangry Joe’s Hot Chicken, which has a similar waiver requirement for its top heat level, is working on a restaurant at Tysons Square (8359-A Leesburg Pike).
After debuting an Annandale location this past Tuesday (Aug. 15), Hangry Joe’s anticipates opening in Tysons in two to three weeks, the company told FFXnow.
Meanwhile, Dave’s Hot Chicken hasn’t publicly announced any additional Virginia franchises yet, but Franconia appears to be on the list. The business has applied for a commercial alteration permit from Fairfax County for 7015E Manchester Blvd in the Festival at Manchester Lakes shopping center.
(Updated at 12:15 p.m.) The Utah-based bakery chain Crumbl Cookies has added Kingstowne to its ever-growing roster of Fairfax County locations.
The business will have a grand opening for its new store in Suite 100 at 5810 Kingstowne Center at 8 a.m. on Friday (Aug. 18), the Mount Vernon Springfield Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday.
During the grand opening, the store will offer free mini cookie samples to customers while supplies last, according to franchise owners Joel and Deenie Frary, who also run an Ashburn location.
“We just knew Crumbl would be perfect for this area!” the couple told FFXnow by email. “Our family spent several years living just minutes from this specific shopping center so we knew that it would be a hit! As natives of NOVA, we love this area and are excited to bring Crumbl to the community.”
Crumbl opened its first store in Logan, Utah in 2017. Emphasizing high-quality ingredients and the experience customers get from watching their treats get made in real time, founders Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley — now, respectively, the CEO and chief operating officer — started the company after developing what they believe to be the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie recipe.
The chain now has more than 800 locations across the U.S., including in Reston, Vienna, Chantilly and Fair Lakes.
Deenie Frary says she and Joel both grew up in Northern Virginia and have lived in the area for more than 25 years. They first came across Crumbl Cookies while living in Texas and decided to open their own franchise after returning to Virginia, the Loudoun-Times Mirror reported when the Ashburn store opened in 2021.
“To us, Crumbl means happiness and joy and sharing all wrapped up in an extra delicious treat!” Deenie Frary said. “We have been in the ‘cookie business’ for several years now and are so excited to share our love of Crumbl with the Alexandria community. We hope you will come and visit us again and again!”
In a press release, the Mount Vernon Springfield Chamber of Commerce called the bakery “the perfect addition” to Kingstowne Towne Center, a sprawling 45-acre shopping center anchored by Giant, Safeway and a Regal movie theater.
“Customers looking for options have the advantage of Crumbl’s rotating menu inspired by popular flavors, foods, desserts of all kinds,” the chamber said.
Expanding beyond the original chocolate chip cookie, Crumbl’s menu features different flavors that rotate weekly. It also serves pies, cakes and other desserts.
The Kingstowne location will operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
The company is also expected to open a store at the Bradlee Shopping Center in Alexandria this summer.
A new Japanese restaurant has rolled into Fairfax City, opening its doors on Aug. 1.
Located at 10698 Fairfax Blvd next to Party City, Fujisan offers a wide selection of Japanese delicacies like wagyu steak, donburi (rice bowls) and ramen, but particularly specializes in sushi with options for both raw and cooked fish. Hibachi is also available, though it’s not cooked at the table.
For its soft opening period, Fujisan is offering 10% off the first order each customer makes using its website.
Fujisan’s official ribbon-cutting will take place on Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read says she recently organized the grand opening after learning about the new restaurant from a friend and trying out its food for herself.
“The hibachi was great, the soup is great, the quality of the food is great,” Read said. “It’s a cute little restaurant…I can hardly keep up with the number of new businesses opening in the city. And these ribbon cuttings are a great way to bring out [Fairfax City] Economic Development, local press and to get people to come by.”
Owner Kathy Yan, who previously operated a hibachi restaurant in Montgomery County, Maryland, says she moved to Fairfax two years ago. Since then, she has been working towards opening Fujisan, named after Japan’s tallest mountain, Mt. Fuji.
She expressed her desires to deliver an “upscale casual” dining experience that she says she hasn’t been able to find in the area.
“I go to those fancy restaurants in D.C., Arlington all the time,” Yan said. “I like the atmosphere, I like the seating, I like chatting with my friends, but I just think we pay too much for the food, so I want to give people a similar experience here but not so expensive. Good food, good environment but not super fancy prices.”
Yan says Fujisan works hard to keep prices low without sacrificing high quality, offering special lunch deals under $20 that are prepared by top chefs with “many years” of prior experience working in New York and at “five star hotels” in D.C.
“We have very, very good price compared to our food quality, presentation and fresh fish,” Yan said.
Customers especially seem to love the Fujisan Box Deluxe, which offers a combination of sushi and sashimi at a discounted rate, according to Yan. Salmon volcano rice — consisting of “seared salmon with a poached egg over rice” — is another crowd favorite for those who may not enjoy raw fish as much, she says.
Yan noted that Fujisan also caters towards younger customers, offering a special kids’ bento box and deep fried ice cream that has been popular among children.
“[We’ve gotten] I think 90% positive feedback,” Yan said. “People are happy.”
Yan’s next hurdle to overcome is obtaining a liquor license so Fujisan can introduce cocktail specials in time for its grand opening next month.
“We’ll have happy hour all week,” Yan laughed.
Yan’s future plans, however, are much loftier than just one license, as she aims to expand operations in the next few years.
“Here, we want to start small, and we want to have more interaction with our customers — we want more personal experience,” Yan said. “So we don’t want it too big. We want izakaya style, like more casual dining but still good food. So we hope to be able to open more locations in the coming three and five years in this area.”
Until then, Yan is focused on her one storefront and making sure Fairfax residents know that Fujisan is open and eager to serve new customers.
“We want more people to know we are here, we are open,” Yan said. “I believe once they know we are open, they come here, and they will come back. Even though we don’t have many customers since we are new, a lot of them have already come back three times.”
From New York City to D.C. and now Fairfax County, Taim has traveled a long way to open its doors at 11011 Main Street in Fairfax’s Westfair shopping center.
The Mediterranean fast casual chain will host a community preview and fundraiser to support the Capital Area Food Bank tonight (Thursday) from 5 to 8 p.m. The $5 entree fees will go towards supporting CAFB’s mission to provide equitable access to food and fight food scarcity, a press release says.
The 1,815-square-foot restaurant’s grand opening will take place tomorrow (Friday), following its regular hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The first 50 guests in line will receive branded swag and prizes.
The new Fairfax location serves as Taim’s second opening in Northern Virginia, closely following a location that recently opened at the Tysons Station shopping center (7502 Leesburg Pike) in Pimmit Hills this past July.
Though nicknamed “a falafel powerhouse,” Taim offers diners a diverse array of Mediterranean fare that includes “fresh, authentically made hummus,” pitas, chicken and cauliflower shawarma, golden eggplant, hand-cut fries with garlic aioli, and build-your-own meals, along with falafel.
“We obsess over every detail that goes into our food by doing things like soaking our chickpeas for a full 24 hours to bring the perfect texture to our falafel and hummus, sourcing 18 herbs and spices from around the world for authentic flavors, and our friendly team arrives early each morning to chop and prepare every vegetable by hand,” said Phil Petrilli, the D.C.-based founder of Untamed Brands, which owns Taim. “There’s really no comparison.”
A press release claims Taim’s chicken shawarma bowl — consisting of chicken seasoned with “classic shawarma blend of seven different spices” along with an array of toppings — is “the most popular item” on the menu.
Other highlights are taim’s $10 Crave Combo, “a Sunday special” that allows customers to choose any of taim’s pita sandwiches with a side of fries, and its O.G. Falafel Pita, the press release says.
“We describe our pitas, bowls and falafel as dreamy because that’s how our guests continue to talk about taim — from the first bite to their 100th visit,” Petrilli said. “Of course, our fans love the O.G. Falafel Pita, but our house-made fries and garlic aioli, and our signature house-made fresh ginger mint lemonade keep people coming back several times a week.”
Originally an all-vegetarian eatery, Taim first got its start out of a “tiny kitchen” in New York City’s West Village in 2005, where its falafels were once ranked among the city’s best, the press release says. Since becoming part of Untamed Brands in 2018, Taim has expanded to 15 locations across the East Coast.
“Since our early beginnings, we have given our local communities the means to experience the many great flavors and dishes from the Mediterranean, which we prepare from scratch daily using time-honored culinary techniques and the best ingredients,” Petrilli said.
With no plans to slow down its expansion into Northern Virginia, Taim is also preparing to replace Cold Stone Creamery in Vienna and move into Reston’s Plaza America. Both locations are expected to open this year, but more exact timelines were not provided.
The highly anticipated Lego Discovery Center has launched in Springfield, though it’ll be a few more days before the brick-building mecca officially welcomes the general public.
With a ribbon cut by scissors made out of Lego bricks and a burst of confetti, the 32,000-square-foot attraction opened its doors at Springfield Town Center (6563 Springfield Mall, Suite 12004) around 11 a.m. yesterday to dozens of kids, parents and other adults who snagged advance tickets.
A prebooked ticket is required for admission until the official opening on Monday, Aug. 14.
Under construction since December, the discovery center features a variety of play and building areas, a Mini World with models constructed from more than 1.5 million bricks, a 4D theater, a climbing gym, an indoor train ride and a cafe. There’s also a store with exclusive sets and a customize-a-figure station, among other offerings, that can be accessed separately.
“It’s been such a long time coming,” said Andrew Litterst, the D.C. area’s Master Model Builder. “I was here at the Springfield Town Center back in February, competing for my job title. Six months later, here we are. We’re very excited to finally be at this point. It’s an amazing attraction, and I can’t wait to get inside and work with people.”
A former environmental sciences teacher at Marshall High School, Litterst was anointed master builder for Lego’s first discovery center in the D.C. area after winning a Brick Factor competition where he raced to build models inspired by different themes, like the Super Bowl or space, WAMU reported at the time.
As master builder, he serves as a spokesperson for the center, and he’s responsible for building and maintaining its many Lego models. His creations range in scale from dragons with movable wings to replicas of D.C. landmarks, such as the Capitol and a Nationals Park with an actual view of the National Mall.
Given his background as an educator, perhaps it’s not surprising that Litterst is especially looking forward to delivering the center’s workshops and building challenges, which invite kids to create models in a set amount of time.
“Lego is the embodiment of the scientific method,” Litterst said. “Whatever you’re trying to build, that’s your problem. That’s the question you’re trying to answer, and how you go about building that, that’s kind of the rest of that discovery process. So, I’m going to try building something this way. Oh, that doesn’t look quite right. Let’s tear it down and try a different way, and so, it’s a learning process through trial and error and it’s just a great group activity as well.”
Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk says the combination of entertainment and education makes the Lego Discovery Center a valuable addition to Springfield, particularly at a town center seeking to become a destination for more than just shopping.
Despite a major renovation and rebranding from its original name of Springfield Mall, Springfield Town Center remains dominated by retail and has seen little progress over the past decade toward fulfilling Fairfax County’s vision of accessible, mixed-use development.
An economic market study released last year found that the town center drove an uptick in retail vacancies in Springfield during the pandemic, but the 2-million-square-foot area is “well positioned” to support growth in other sectors, including 800 to 1,200 multifamily residential units and 100,000 to 200,000 square feet of office. Read More
A new shop in Old Town Fairfax hopes to spark fresh joy with its shelves of vintage wares.
Lucy Loves celebrated its official grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday (Thursday) after initially opening its doors at 10414 Main Street on Saturday, July 1.
With its eclectic, handmade items, the vintage shop is appropriately located down a small alleyway tucked behind the Vietnamese restaurant East Wind, offering the impression of a hidden gem.
Though narrow, the hallways of the store managed to fit local residents, Old Town Fairfax Business Association members, Fairfax City Economic Development Authority officials and Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read.
“This kind of business is the kind of business that Old Town Fairfax has been missing,” Read said.
Lucy Loves is an outgrowth of the Fairfax Funky Flea, an outdoor flea market that operates on the last Saturday of every month from April to November. Owner Sharon Buttram says she and longtime friend Kathy Hackshaw decided to launch the now-popular flea market in 2021 after bonding over a mutual love of hunting for vintage odds and ends at thrift shops and estate sales.
“I love mixing old stuff and new stuff, and I like making it current,” Buttram said. “…I don’t want my house to be a museum of old stuff. I like to mix it up and be really eclectic in my approach. So we just thought we should do a flea market. We love going to flea markets.”
Lucy Loves currently sells a mix of items like clothing, jewelry and pottery from 16 commissioned local vendors, many of whom Buttram recruited from Fairfax Funky Flea. But in the future, Buttram hopes to also use the cozy space for community gatherings.
“I’d also like this to become a cornerstone of the community as well as an event space,” Buttram said. “Like, if you want to have a conversation about something, let’s have conversation nights. I think after a couple of years of isolation with Covid, we were starved for person-to-person [interaction]. We want to touch things…Everything you see here, you can find online, but it’s a different experience when you go, and you can touch it, and you’re supporting somebody small.”
Read sees Lucy Loves as “exactly the kind of business that people want in a historic downtown.”
“They want some place where they can go to lunch or go to dinner and wander around and pop their head into shops and spend 30 minutes looking at everything in the shop,” she said.
According to Read, Fairfax City has been working to attract more businesses and shoppers so it can better compete with major shopping centers like Fairfax Corner, Mosaic District and Tysons Corner Center.
“I think Lucy Loves is the beginning of seeing more of this kind of retail want to come to our downtown,” Read said. “This is a very promising turn of events for the City of Fairfax because we want to attract visitors. But we also want our residents to stay here. We want our residents to dine here, shop here, attend our events here and to support businesses just like this one.”
In the future, Buttram envisions collaborating with George Mason University students to further engage them in the creative process.
“I’m really excited about a bigger partnership with GMU, and I’ve talked to them about doing workshops for students in their makerspace,” Buttram said. “But I’m also talking to them about even [giving] makers on campus that want to sell things [an opportunity to sell here].”
But for now, Buttram is proud of what she’s accomplished, finally cutting a ribbon on a shop named after her grandmother — “an original thrifty soul” who loved everything, she says.
“I’m really proud of the shop and the turnout today and of all my friends and family in the city,” Buttram said. “I love doing it here in the city. I’ve lived here for 30 years, and it’s just my absolute favorite place here in Virginia. So to have this here is the culmination of all the things I’ve wanted and then to have all my friends come out and support me, it’s been really meaningful to me.”
“This is a small shop, and I fully expect that one of these days, they will outgrow this space,” Read said. “But for now, having a space that’s over full of things is a good thing.”