"We really just want it to feel like a good third space," Chanthal Harris told ALXnow in August, a few weeks before she opened Long Dark House at 1510 King Street. Her shop is a bookstore focused on horror, science fiction and what she calls "wonderfully 'strange stories.'" She plans to fill its calendar with book clubs, signings, readings, workshops and seasonal themed events.
Many of the businesses that opened on or near King Street since June describe themselves the same way. They give a lot of their floor space to seats, back rooms, classes and recurring events. In July, Old Town lost Gossypia on Cameron Street, a shop that had sold goods there for more than 56 years. Walk King Street this fall and many of the new storefronts are rooms you can sit in.
The Alexandrian is filling up with tables
Start near the water at 400 King Street, the ground floor of The Alexandrian hotel. Life Alive opened there on June 9. It's a plant-forward café with an indoor dining room and a patio. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream held a grand opening for its first Alexandria shop at the same address on June 18.
The third tenant hasn't opened yet. Twosome Place is a South Korean café chain founded in 2002 with more than 1,750 locations worldwide. It picked 404 King Street for its first U.S. café. The space is 2,600 square feet with 78 indoor and outdoor seats. The menu includes a Dalgona Cream Top, a Black Sesame Latte, K-Toast with Bulgogi and Egg, and a strawberry chocolate cream cake the company calls the "only trademark-registered cake in Korea." In early September the company said it planned to open in mid-October and would share grand opening details "in the coming weeks."
That makes three food and drink tenants in one building at the bottom of King Street, all opened or announced this year. Twosome Place alone will have more seats than many of the small restaurants nearby.
Mudhouse planned its back room for conversation
Halfway up the street, Mudhouse Specialty Coffee Roasters opened at 1119 King Street on July 29. It's the Charlottesville company's sixth location. Founders John and Lynelle Lawrence started with a coffee cart. They roast in house, make their own syrups, and have owned a coffee farm in Panama, Finca La Cabra, since 2016.
The layout is the most telling detail. The front room has outlets for laptops. The back room has lower tables and no outlets. "Back here, we intentionally kept the tables lower and no plugs so people can be more in tune with each other," operations director Lindsey Simpkins told ALXnow. The menu includes all-day breakfast and coffee cocktails such as an espresso martini. The café is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. With those late hours and a cocktail list, the same seat works for a morning meeting or an early evening drink.
A few blocks off King, Cherry On Top at 1021 Queen Street works the same way. Owner Ksenia Varakina's café and wine bar serves coffee, wine, pastries and charcuterie. It soft-opened June 24. It celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting on July 10.
Up at the 1500 block, the shops run on calendars
The strongest version of this shift is at the far end of King Street, where two shops opened across from each other in the same week.
Long Dark House opened to the public on September 1 at 1510 King Street and held a grand opening on September 5. Its posted hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, and it's closed Mondays. Harris is an Alexandria resident and volunteers with the Master Gardeners in Northern Virginia. She also makes candles and fragrances under the name Hemlock & Hearth, and the shop carries them. She plans to rotate the displays with the seasons, which suits a horror bookstore in October.
Long Dark House shares its space with a returning business. Madame Coco's Emporium was one of three businesses destroyed in an Old Town fire in 2024. Owner Meshelle Armstrong is bringing back its chocolates, vintage finds and artisan goods at 1510 King. Her sister shop, Madame Coco's Parlour, is still open at 115 S. Royal Street. In early August, the two businesses said they were aiming for a September opening in Old Town.
Across the street, Jade Geary's metaphysical shop Lumos Collective moved from a temporary space at 106 N. St. Asaph Street to a larger one at 1511 King. It celebrated the move on September 4 and 5. Its October calendar shows how much of the business runs on scheduled events:
- Saturday, October 3, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lumos has a booth at Art on the Avenue on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, selling "magic for spooky season."
- Starting Wednesday, October 7. The Cauldron 2, an eight-week series, begins.
A fall walk along King, from the water up
Here's the route in order, starting from the waterfront end, with what's open right now.
- 400 King Street. Life Alive for lunch on the patio, or Van Leeuwen after dinner.
- 111 N. Pitt Street, a block off King. Finn & Fire, owner Ghazal Amir's Peruvian-Japanese Nikkei steak and seafood restaurant, soft-opened June 25 in the former Kismet Modern Indian space.
- 1119 King Street. Mudhouse, front room for laptops, back room for conversation.
- 1021 Queen Street, two blocks north. Cherry On Top for a glass of wine and charcuterie.
- 1510 and 1511 King Street. Long Dark House and Lumos Collective. Remember that Long Dark House is closed Mondays.
One newcomer on the way is a different kind of shop. The White Magnolia Bridal Collection opened at 123 N. Henry Street on June 26. Founders Kerrie Hileman and Mallory Thorburn run it as a bridal boutique, so most visits are planned appointments rather than drop-ins.
Still coming
Several announced openings have no confirmed date yet. This table shows the most recent public reporting found for each one as of October 1, 2026, along with the date of that report.
| Business | Address | What's planned | Last reported status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twosome Place | 404 King St. | First U.S. café, 78 seats | Mid-October target, per Sept. 3 report |
| King Arthur Baking Company | 617 King St. | Retail store, baking school, event space | Company page says "Opening Fall 2026" |
| Floriana | 277 S. Washington St. | Northern Italian; breakfast through dinner, pizza, raw bar | Late Aug./early Sept. target, per July 14 report |
| Hard Times Café | 1404 King St. | Reopening after renovation | Expected "later this year" |
| gorjana | 726 King St. | Jewelry store | Architectural review on Oct. 21 |
King Arthur fits the pattern best. Besides the store, it plans a dedicated baking school and event space, and it was hiring a baking-school manager in July. Floriana comes from owner Jamie Branda and co-owner Dino Tapper. It will take over the former Virginia's Darling and Mae's Market space in the Atrium Building, and permitting delays pushed back its target date. gorjana's space at 726 King was once home to Nicecream, which closed in 2021. Its October 21 date is a design review, not an opening.
Gossypia closed out its run with a retirement sale from July 1 through July 31. Owner Amanda Lasker announced her retirement after more than 56 years of retail in Old Town, as reported by The Zebra. Its address, 325 Cameron Street, isn't on any of this year's opening lists yet.
What gets built on King Street can shape what living near it feels like day to day. Space for a quiet back room, a weekly class or a 78-seat café is part of that. If you're weighing what these new rooms mean for a home near King Street, whether you're staying, selling or moving up, I'd be glad to talk it through with you at RKL Properties. Let's Connect.
