On the 1500 block of King Street, two new storefronts face each other across the road. Long Dark House, a bookstore that carries horror, science fiction and what its owner calls "strange stories," opened at 1510 King at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1, and held its grand opening that Saturday. That same week, Lumos Collective moved from 106 N. St. Asaph St. into 1511 King and opened the new space with a Sept. 5 market of vendors and artists.
This summer's Old Town news was about D.C. restaurant operators opening second locations. This fall is mostly about shops. Nearly every new tenant on or near King Street has announced classes, clubs, markets or a grand-opening date along with its inventory, and those dates run up to Dec. 5, the city's biggest holiday Saturday.
The 1500 block got two shops built around events
ALXnow reported in August that Chanthal Harris, an Alexandria resident who owns Long Dark House, set up the bookstore to host book clubs, social clubs, signings, readings, workshops and seasonal displays. "We really just want it to feel like a good third space," Harris told ALXnow, "where every corner you turn, you just find something new and interesting, even week to week when you come in."
The store also shares its space. Madame Coco's Emporium, the chocolates, vintage and artisan-goods shop run by Meshelle Armstrong, came back to Old Town inside 1510 King. Its sister business, Madame Coco's Parlour, is staying at 115 S. Royal St. So one address now holds a bookstore, a chocolate counter and an events calendar.
Across the street, owner Jade Geary scheduled a market of vendors and artists for Lumos Collective's Sept. 5 opening. Both 1500-block shops opened with events, and both expect people to come back for more of them.
Lower King's arrivals follow the same playbook
Closer to the water, the incoming tenants are a mix of independents and first-in-the-region brands. Several have dates set and several do not, as the table shows.
| Business | Address | What it is | Status as of Oct. 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twosome Place | 404 King St. | South Korean café chain, first U.S. shop, 2,600 sq. ft., 78 seats | Grand opening set for Saturday, Oct. 17 |
| Bricks & Minifigs | 110 N. Royal St. | 2,400-sq.-ft. LEGO resale shop | Planned for early October, grand opening planned for November |
| Hotel Chocolat | 128 King St., former FatFace space | Chocolate-only shop with no café | Expected before the holidays, no date or hours announced |
| King Arthur Baking | King Street | First store and baking school outside Vermont | Hoping to open for the holidays |
| gorjana | 726 King St. | California jewelry retailer | BAR hearing on the remodel set for Oct. 21 |
| Greenhouse Flora Collective | King Street | Former K. Aubrey Flowers under a new owner | Reopened in September |
The details in each announcement show the same pattern. Twosome Place set a grand-opening Saturday instead of just unlocking the door, and with 78 seats it is built for people who stay. ALXnow's September report said the menu will include Korean-inspired drinks and food served all day. Bricks & Minifigs is planning a November grand opening a month or so after it opens, and ALXnow reported that a family member will organize its events. King Arthur Baking told Alexandria Living Magazine that its Old Town store will include a baking school with classes, its first outside Vermont.
Some arrivals have more steps ahead of them. Hotel Chocolat will sell chocolate only and has no café, according to The Alexandria Brief. The company had not set an opening date or hours as of Sept. 30. gorjana still has to get its 726 King remodel through the Board of Architectural Review on Oct. 21, and no store opening date has been reported. Greenhouse Flora Collective is a handoff more than an arrival. Alexandria Living Magazine reported that the man who ran K. Aubrey Flowers for three decades asked the new owner whether she wanted to buy it.
Four of the six businesses in the table are planning a holiday-season opening or a grand-opening event between now and the end of November.
The event calendar the openings are timed to
The new shops are arriving in the middle of Old Town's most crowded stretch of events. Here is what is on the calendar with confirmed 2026 dates:
- Oct. 16, 7 to 9 p.m. "Death at the City Hotel: The Fear that Unites Us" at Gadsby's Tavern Museum.
- Oct. 17 Twosome Place grand opening at 404 King.
- Oct. 21 BAR hearing on gorjana's remodel at 726 King.
- Oct. 24, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Torpedo Factory's 32nd Annual Art Safari.
- Oct. 28, 7 to 9:30 p.m. "Make Your Halloween Glow!" at the Torpedo Factory. It is free, requires registration and is open to ages 16 and up.
- Oct. 29, 8 to 9:15 p.m. Poe in Alexandria at the Lyceum.
- November Planned grand opening for Bricks & Minifigs.
- Nov. 21, 6 to 8 p.m. The city's 2026 Holiday Tree Lighting. The city has not announced the location yet.
- Dec. 5, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Scottish Walk Holiday Parade in Old Town. Route details are still to come.
- Dec. 5, 2 to 8 p.m. dockside, parade at 5:30 p.m. The Holiday Boat Parade on the Old Town waterfront.
Visit Alexandria calls Dec. 4 to 6 the signature holiday weekend, with both parades on Saturday. For road closures, go by the city's parade page once it is updated. Visit Alexandria's boat-parade page still shows closures on "Saturday, December 6," which is last year's date.
Hotel Chocolat at 128 King and King Arthur Baking are both aiming to open before the holiday weekend, and Twosome Place and Bricks & Minifigs should have their grand openings behind them by then.
Where King Street meets the water, the street itself is in review
The 100 block, home to Hotel Chocolat's new space, is also part of the biggest proposed change to the bottom of King Street in years. On Oct. 7, the city took its design for the Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project to the Board of Architectural Review, ALXnow reported. The plan replaces the asphalt on the Unit and 100 blocks of King with red brick and adds a 20-foot-wide riverside walkway with a railing that runs from Robinson Terminal South to the foot of King. It also builds new promenades at Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park. A garden paid for by a private donation is proposed for Point Lumley Park as well. We have not found a reported BAR decision or an updated construction schedule, so treat all of this as a proposal for now.
Most of the work happens underground. The plan calls for a new marine bulkhead and a larger drainage system with valve vaults and outfalls. That replaces the pump station at Waterfront Park, which the National Park Service turned down earlier this year. City Council approved the gravity-sewer approach in June. The earlier plan would have closed Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park from fall 2026 to fall 2028. That timeline came with the pump-station version and has not been restated for the new design.
The city points to its own data to explain the project. The waterfront recorded 227 flooding events at the Prince Street level from January to October 2025, compared with a 20-year average of 145. The city puts annual flood-related costs, including cleanup, sandbagging and lost business revenue, at $400,000 to $800,000. Lost business revenue is part of that figure, and it falls on the same lower blocks where new shops are signing leases.
The brick paving would also complete a change that began years ago. The city says the 100 block first closed to cars during the pandemic in 2020 and closed permanently in 2021, the Unit block followed permanently in 2022, and Council made the 200 block pedestrian-only for good in September 2025. Permanent design for the lower blocks is being coordinated with the waterfront project. If the design is approved, the car-free stretch next to Hotel Chocolat's new space will be paved in brick instead of asphalt.
If you own a storefront or a home near lower King and are wondering what the waterfront redesign and the new tenants mean for your block, Team Koki follows these BAR filings and openings week to week and is happy to walk through what we're seeing. Work With Us.
