A proposed express car wash at Fairfax Blvd and Lion Run in Fairfax City faces an uphill battle after council members expressed concerns about its potential traffic impact.

“I’m not sure that this is the right location for this kind of business — whether it’s yours or someone else’s — given that the location is the primary access and exit for the public school system and for people south of that area,” Fairfax City Councilmember Thomas Ross said during a work session last Tuesday, Jan. 9.

Under consideration is a special-use permit that would allow the national franchise, Tommy’s Express Car Wash, to redevelop 1.15 acres at 9917 Fairfax Blvd, which has been home to the Italian restaurant The Esposito’s Fairfax since 1982.

Maria Esposito, the owner of the restaurant, told FFXnow that the restaurant currently has no intention of closing.

“We have no information yet,” she said.

The lot also has a second retail building that was built in 1978 and is currently vacant.

The applicant, D.C.-based private equity firm Olympus Pines, initially submitted a pre-application for the project in November 2021, and the Board of Architectural Review conducted a work session last month.

Designed to process up to 200 vehicles per hour, the proposed 4,553-square-foot car wash anticipates serving a “peak volume” of 50-75 cars per hour with a maximum staff of four to five, according to the city council staff report.

The site currently has a one-way entrance and one-way exit along Fairfax Blvd. The applicant has also proposed incorporating three “stacking lanes to avoid backup.”

While several council members, including Mayor Catherine Read, agreed the site should be redeveloped, there was some debate about whether the volume of vehicles served might lead to traffic issues along the route.

“Fairfax Blvd is so heavy with traffic already…There may not be a queue to get the car washed, but there may be a queue getting out of there,” Councilmember So Lim said during the work session.

Councilmember Kate Doyle Feingold pointed to other examples of businesses along Fairfax Blvd, such as Chick-fil-A, which has stacking lanes to mitigate the queuing issue.

“So, if there was an analysis where people can say, ‘Oh, I see how this could function differently,’ that might help alleviate some of those concerns,” she said.

Olympus Pines co-founder Trevor Sperry emphasized that the car wash is engineered for quick service, with vehicles in and out within minutes. He noted that other locations have washed thousands of cars daily without causing traffic disruptions.

“If people are backing up on our site, people are going to stop coming,” Sperry said during the work session.

“So, I think the main concern is, will we cause a backup on Fairfax Blvd?” he continued. “We’ve never had that happen in all of our locations, and we will provide camera data in which we served 3000 vehicles in a day without backing up the road.”

The proposal remains under review. A public hearing, which will be held before any voting takes place, has not yet been scheduled.

Two golden retrievers will be the stars of a new, Herndon-based nonprofit that aspires to brighten the world with some literal puppy love.

Established at the start of the new year, Canine Concierge Corporation will offer animal-assisted therapy (AAT) services for free to hospitals, nursing homes, senior centers, police departments and other organizations in need throughout Fairfax County.

The idea for the organization came to founder Michael Stokes, a retired information technology contractor, when he encountered a service dog himself while hospitalized in fall 2022.

“It had AAT training, and…it just elevated me,” Stokes recalled in a recent interview. “I mean, my spirit was just incredible, and then, you know, out of the blue, I got flashes [of] just ‘This is what you’re going to do and this is how you are going to do it,’ and then the resources just started to appear.”

The meeting with the service dog came at a fortuitous time for Stokes, who says he had been in the hospital for three months by then and was mourning the unexpected death of Leo, his dog of 14 years. Stokes had rescued Leo while working in Kuwait as a contractor for the U.S. Army.

Hoping to share the feeling of uplift that he got from the service dog’s visit with other people, Stokes began researching how to set up an animal-assisted therapy practice as soon as he got released from the hospital.

The process hasn’t been easy. For instance, after initially planning to work out of a hotel suite as a home-based business, Stokes was told two-and-a-half months later that the hotel’s legal department wouldn’t allow the arrangement.

Instead, Canine Concierge will operate out of a leased Regus space in the McNair area near the Dulles International Airport. The nonprofit recently got a certificate of good standing from the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and now all that’s left is for the IRS to approve its tax-exempt status, a request that has been pending since March, Stokes says.

“That is crucial to the business operation because we need that to apply for grants and also to allow people to get a tax-deductible receipt when they make a donation,” Stokes said. “So, those kind of things, that license is very important, but…it’s out of our control.”

When it officially launches, Canine Concierge will have two AAT-trained golden retrievers from the American Kennel Club named Stella and DaVinci, according to its website. Research has suggested being around pets, particularly dogs, can decrease stress and generally improve people’s mood.

Stokes notes that Leo had always seemed to sense his emotional state, sleeping at the foot of his bed when he felt “normal” and sleeping next to him on a pillow when he felt sick or melancholy.

“They have some innate ability to feel people, and they’re just going to capitalize on that in training,” he said.

Eventually, Canine Concierge intends to convert a hotel suite into a “state-of-the-art facility” for the two dogs, but to reach that point and ensure that services can be provided free of charge, the nonprofit will rely on grants, sponsors and community donations.

The fundraising goal for the first year is $208,000 to cover the training, supplies, marketing and other operating costs. Once its tax-exempt status is approved, donations will be accepted online through Paypal.

Stokes says he can’t wait to take one of the dogs to a hospital for the first time.

“I’m just looking forward to being officially launched, because now, we’re here,” he said. “We’re ready to go.”

Jersey Mike’s Subs and a new Starbucks location are slated to open in Kingstowne Towne Center (5890 Kingstowne Center) this year.

The national chains — renowned for their fast-casual, cold-cut sandwiches and coffee, respectively — have both filed for permits adjacent to each other in a section of the shopping center currently home to Ledo Pizza & Pub and the youth gymnastics company, My Gym.

It appears that Starbucks is set to move into suite 120, currently occupied by My Gym, which remains open but has a “For Lease” sign in its window.

Federal Realty, the property management company, confirmed that Jersey Mike’s will occupy a portion of the space currently held by Ledo.

Ledo branch owner, Rekh Karki, told FFXnow that he’s built a wall inside the restaurant, creating a separate space for the sub shop to open next door.

Unless there is a delay, Ledo tentatively planned to reopen today (Friday), Karki said.

Construction appeared to be underway when FFXnow stopped by the shop to take a peek inside earlier this week. A representative for Jersey Mike’s Subs says the sandwich shop is scheduled to open this spring.

Starbucks already operates three existing locations within the shopping center, including ones inside and adjacent to Giant and Safeway, according to Google Maps. The company did not provide further details on the opening of its newest outlet by press time.

A new District Taco quietly opened its doors last fall in the Old Keene Mill Shopping Center.

The Mexican-inspired fast-casual chain began welcoming customers at its West Springfield location in September 2023,  according to a spokesperson for District Taco.

Spanning 2,043 square feet, the restaurant at 8432 Old Keene Mill Road is co-owned by Hicham El Abbassi and Isalmou Boussaa, who also launched a District Taco franchise in McLean last August. The West Springfield restaurant operates from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, according to District Taco’s website.

Originally from Morocco, the franchise owners started their journey in the food industry working at Five Guys before franchising several restaurants, including Five Guys.

In 2016, Abbassi and Boussaa approached District Taco with aspirations of running a franchise. Fast forward to seven years later, they now oversee 13 locations. Last August, they inked a deal to open five more outlets in Northern Virginia, including the Old Keene Mill and McLean locations.

“Their story mirrors the resilience and determination of our own CEO and co-founder of District Taco, Osiris Hoil who transformed his own opportunities and dreams into reality,” District Taco’s spokesperson told FFXnow.

District Taco, which started out as a food cart in Arlington over a decade ago, now boasts 16 locations throughout the D.C. area and Pennsylvania.

While the company says there are no specific expansion plans in the D.C. region that it can share, the spokesperson disclosed that 70 stores are currently in development nationwide, including northern New Jersey, Brooklyn, New York, and Tampa, Florida.

The menu at every District Taco offers customizable tacos, burritos, bowls, salads, and quesadillas, with vegetarian and vegan options available.

The West Springfield location, however, is unique in that the interior has more of an “industrial” design.

“We kept the existing brick infrastructure as is and it is exposed in the interior of the store in the front,” District Taco Director of Design Victoria Stratton told FFXnow. “It also has more of an open kitchen design where you can clearly see the prep area and the employees making guac right in front of you!”

So far, customer feedback for the West Springfield location has been overwhelmingly positive, according to the company.

“The new location’s success has exceeded expectations and has received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from guests,” the company spokesperson said. “We hope to continue to deliver a delicious and memorable experience to our guests, and we look forward to creating a stronger relationship with the Springfield and McLean community in the New Year.”

A new gym is slated to open soon at Fox Mill Shopping Center in Herndon, giving residents another option for fulfilling their fitness-related New Year’s resolutions.

Anytime Fitness will occupy a 6,000-square-foot space at 2551 John Milton Drive in Herndon, according to the center’s leasing website.

There are currently two vacancies in the shopping center, which is anchored by Giant. Other tenants include Club Pilates, Exxon, Subway and Lucia’s Italian restaurant.

Anytime Fitness has locations in Chantilly, Fairfax, Manassas Park, Springfield, Arlington and Bristow, among thousands of other spots throughout the U.S. and around the world. Open 24 hours a day, the gym offers personalized fitness plans, group workouts and one-on-one training.

The company did not return a request for comment from FFXnow by press time.

Image via Google Maps

The winter gift-giving season has come to a close, but a new retail incubator store in Fairfax City will encourage the community to shop local year-round.

Set for a grand opening at 10 a.m. this Saturday (Dec. 30), Wander In will host more than two dozen painters, candle-makers and other artisans in a shared retail space at 3950 University Drive, Suite 211 in Old Town Plaza.

The program aims to give “prime retail space” to small and emerging businesses that are either based in the city or might consider opening a permanent storefront there, promising a relatively low start-up cost and some provided training.

“With Wander In, our goal is to enhance the shopping experience through exciting special events and collaborative business initiatives,” said Tess Rollins, executive director of the Old Town Fairfax Business Association (OTFBA), which developed the idea with the Fairfax City Economic Development (FCED) office. “This resonates with both our cherished residents and valued visitors.”

At 1,974 square feet in size, including classroom, office and storage space, Wander In will accommodate over 30 vendors, including:

• Paris Love Jewelry offers a diverse selection of handcrafted and designed jewelry encompassing a blend of eclectic vintage and modern styles.
• White Dove Candle LLC presents a curated selection of premium candles, artistically designed to infuse your space with serenity and sophistication.
• Mary Bockenek Art features thumbnail-sized landscapes, mini abstracts, and three-dimensional heart art, all crafted with joy to add a vibrant pop of color wherever they find a home.
• Toute-Petite, translating to ‘attention to detail’ in French, embodies a commitment to meticulously crafted artwork, ensuring each piece is thoughtful. The brand offers a collection of greeting cards and small gifts appropriate for any occasion.

Each vendor is expected to stay at Wander In for terms of three, six, nine or 12 months. According to the FCED, vendors pay a $200 per month, along with a 10% consignment on products sold, and artists get 60% of the consignment fee.

In addition to getting to sell their wares, the vendors will host workshops, participate in community events, and learn marketing and other business skills from the Mason Small Business Development Center, which partnered with FCED, the business association and property owner Kimco Realty on the initiative.

With many of the participating businesses primarily run out of homes or at farmers’ markets, the store will enhance their visibility in the community, while also providing a new shopping option to customers, according to Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read.

“This will offer residents and visitors a fun browsing experience,” Read said, noting that Old Town Plaza is served by a free parking lot. “This is a great resource for those unique items we all look for at festivals and fairs, only now we can find them all year round.”

This weekend’s grand opening event will include refreshments and “limited giveaways” for customers. After that, Wander In will be open on Tuesdays through Sundays.

There will be regular workshops, classes, and events where customers can meet and even learn from the makers of the items that are being sold. One event coming in January will be a weekend pop-up, where vendors can reserve a two-day spot for $150.

“Wander In is more than a retail space; it’s a pioneering collaboration that echoes our vision for
Fairfax City,” FCED Director and CEO Christopher Bruno said. “With its innovative offerings, we anticipate not just a hub for unique, locally crafted gifts, but a redefined shopping experience that speaks to our community values. Wander In represents a significant stride in reshaping the entrepreneurial and community engagement landscape of Northern Virginia.”

Mimi’s Handmade is now chilling at the Mosaic District in Merrifield.

The ice cream maker quietly opened its newest shop at 2985 District Avenue, Suite 160, about a month ago, owner Rollin Amore told FFXnow yesterday (Wednesday).

“So far, we’ve been very well received, and I’m pretty pleased about that,” Amore said, noting that the business also recently expanded to Rockville, Maryland.

Started in Pentagon City in December 2021, Mimi’s is named after Amore’s youngest daughter and builds on gelato and sweets recipes passed down by his grandmothers. All of the ice cream is made in-house, and there are 32 flavors available at a time, many of them unusual.

While most flavors are the same at each location, there’s some variation between neighborhoods. For example, wasabi peas didn’t gain much traction in Arlington, but it has emerged as a favorite at the Merrifield store, whose customers tend to be “very discerning on quality,” Amore says.

“If you have a lot of children, the flavor selection will be a lot different than if you have Gen Xers or you have an older crowd, so it’ll vary depending on the demographics,” he said. “…Chocolate, butterscotch, Oreo sell great in every community, but some of the more unique flavors, each community has its own characteristics.”

In addition to ice cream scoops, the menu offers sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream sandwiches and hot drinks.

With foot traffic coming at a slower pace for the winter, Amore anticipates waiting for spring to schedule a grand opening event, which would be similar timing to the original Arlington store’s launch. The shop in Merrifield is open from noon to 9 p.m. on Mon through Friday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Also found in Chevy Chase’s The Heights food hall, Mimi’s has a fifth location in the works at Pinecrest Plaza in Lincolnia. Amore says the team hopes to open that shop in the summer.

Coming in the new year to the Mosaic District will be the Beaufort Bonnet Company, a children’s clothing store that says it expects to open in late February or early March. In addition, the Asian street food chain Hawkers will take over the former Four Sisters restaurant, but an opening time frame hasn’t been confirmed.

(Updated at 11:45 a.m.) Pickleball devotees will soon have new places to play in the Fairfax area.

The Fairfax City Council voted last night (Tuesday) to grant a special use permit to Down the Line Sports Center, which will build an indoor pickleball facility to replace the vacated CVS in Courthouse Plaza (10390 Willard Way).

The 10,000-square-foot former pharmacy will be transformed into a dedicated pickleball facility with three full-sized courts and two half-sized courts, according to the application submitted by Down the Line owner Jenni Bae.

Though an opening date hasn’t been set yet, Down the Line is already preparing to extend its reach with a second, larger facility in Annandale that’s also anticipated to launch next year.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Down the Line Sports Center, and we are thrilled to bring our first location to the heart of Old Town,” Bae said. “Our vision is to create a space where patrons of all ages can come together, play, and connect. We’re grateful for the support of the City Council, Fairfax City Economic Development, and the Façade and Interior Improvement Grant program for making this dream a reality.”

Provided by Fairfax City Economic Development (FCED), the grant program reimburses 50% or up to $20,000 of the costs for businesses to get established or expand in the city.

A tennis player who got into pickleball during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bae told FFXnow that the original plan was to open an indoor pickleball facility in Annandale. But then, she connected with the FCED and saw an opportunity to open a smaller center more quickly.

“We recognized it as basically a beneficial opportunity for both Fairfax City and our business,” she said.

Because the Fairfax City facility will be relatively small, Down the Line hopes to offer social events to the community in lieu of pickleball tournaments and leagues, which require at least six courts, according to the application.

The company said it’s open to partnering with the Old Town Fairfax Business Association and the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce on future events, while also participating in festivals and other outdoor city events.

In a press release, the FCED lauded the facility as “a significant leap towards invigorating Old Town Fairfax and fostering a sense of community.” Fairfax City has six pickleball courts at Green Acres Center (4401 Sideburn Road), including one that’s indoors, and four at Van Dyck Park (3720 Blenheim Blvd), but this is the city’s first dedicated, indoor pickleball complex.

Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read credited local pickleball players at Green Acres Center and former city council member Janice Miller with advocating for more playing options in the city to support the growing — and sometimes polarizing — sport.

“We have delivered a solution that works no matter the weather,” Read said. “That value is made greater by the fact many residents can walk there or take the free CUE bus.”

According to Bae, Down the Line hopes to open the Fairfax facility this winter, followed in the second half of 2024 by the Annandale facility.

Located at 4311 Ravensworth Road, the 50,000-square-foot Annandale center will feature 18 permanent indoor courts, seven golf simulators and a sports bar. The company envisions it as a future destination for both amateur and professional players in the D.C. region and beyond.

“Our goal is to bring in huge events that we’ve never been able to have in this area before because no one has ever been able to provide the indoor space that we can provide,” Bae said. “…We will become a destination center where people will fly in from other states to play in our tournaments…They’re going to bring more business to the restaurants, to the hotels and to everything in the Annandale area because of our center.”

Rendering via Down the Line Sports Center

For months, Moo Thru has been selling its handmade, locally-sourced ice cream from a truck in Herndon.

The family-owned business is now expecting to open up its planned brick-and-mortar location sometime in January at 317 Spring Street, according to franchise owner Caitlin Kenney.

“We will have a soft opening for our friends, family and most frequent customers from the truck over the summer to help make sure our staff is fully trained and ready to open with only the best service,” Kenney said.

She said the opening was delayed due to hiccups in the permitting process. The shop previously hoped to open this summer, shortly after Moo Thru’s truck launched at the Reston-Herndon Business Park in June.

Owned by fourth-generation dairy farmers Ken and Pam Smith, Moo Thru makes its ice cream with milk from the family’s grass-fed Holstein herd, which grazes on a farm along the banks of the Rappahannok River.

Items on the menu include ice cream, shakes, malts and sundaes. The business currently has locations in Mineral, Charlottesville, Hillsboro and Winchester.

The ice cream parlor will open up alongside Old Town Coffee, a new coffee shop. The owners plan to offer locally-sourced, organic coffee and other items.

“We have tasted hundreds of coffees and have finally landed on 2 companies we feel we can 100% stand behind,” Kenney said. “The coffees and syrups are high quality and by far the tastiest we and our friends have ever had. We are going with organic beans and we will have a lot of organic flavoring syrups and organic milk products.”

Photo via Moo Thru Herndon/Instagram

(Updated at 3:30 p.m.) A car wash site on Route 7 in Tysons is ready to roll with a fresh coat of paint and a new company in charge.

Mr Wash Car Wash began operating at 8218 Leesburg Pike on Thursday (Dec. 7), replacing the long-standing Champion Hand Car Wash. To celebrate the opening, the facility is providing free car washes through Sunday, Dec. 17.

“We’re thrilled to serve the Tysons Corner community,” Evan Harris, executive vice president of Mr Wash Car Wash, said in a statement. “As a family-owned business, we’re dedicated to delivering a top-tier car wash experience, creating meaningful job opportunities, and fostering impactful partnerships within our communities.”

When announcing the opening, Mr Wash noted that customers on its unlimited membership plan “automatically have access to all locations.”

Unlimited members get one vehicle wash a day for a monthly payment.

The Tysons center is Mr Wash’s 11th location overall and its fourth in Fairfax County, joining sites in Merrifield, Bailey’s Crossroads and Centreville. Aside from one Delaware car wash, the business is concentrated in the D.C. area, with facilities in Alexandria, Arlington and Maryland.

Construction on the Tysons car wash began in July, according to Scott-Long Construction, which says in a press release that its team overhauled a “previously dilapidated structure.”

Based on its Yelp page, Champion Car Wash had occupied the site since at least 2007, but it appears to have closed around October 2021. The business provided auto detailing in addition to cleanings.

The existing structures were demolished to make way for the 4,703-square-foot Mr Wash facility, per Fairfax County permits. Construction finished on Dec. 1, Scott-Long Construction said.

“We are thrilled to have been involved with the planning and execution of this new state of the art car wash in the heart of Tysons,” Scott-Long CEO John Scott said in the press release.

Mr Wash is adjacent to an office building that’s co-located with Reston Hospital Center’s Tysons emergency room, which opened in June 2022.