Alexandria Businesses To Host Uptown Block Party

ALEXANDRIA, VA—King Street businesses between Patrick and Payne Streets are coordinating to hold the first Uptown Block Party Saturday, Nov. 11. 24 stores will have fun activities and specials, and a few are even hosting grand openings. The event will run between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

The day kicks off with a fire truck visit at 11 a.m. Other activities will be held throughout the day at the South Fayette and King Street courtyard, including face painting, balloon sculpting and a mobile art lab.

Some of the activities offered in stores are:

• Meggrolls: Free samples at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Victoria at Home: Light snacks and beverages
• Serafino Leather: Beverages and gift card raffle
• Red Barn Mercantile: Free gift with purchase
• Penny Post: Holiday stamp contest for kids
• The Hour: Punch samples
• Bluprint Chocolatiers: Gingerbread bonbon samples and hot peppermint chocolate drink launch
• Pink Palm: Lily Pulitzer birthday, beverages and sweets, gift with purchase

Meggrolls and Serafino Leather will hold ribbon cuttings at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. respectively.

Co-owner Liz Tehrani, an Alexandria native and T.C. Williams alumna, tells Patch she co-opened Serafino Leather after moving back to the city with her husband Hassan and three daughters. Hassan owned a leather store where they lived in Florence, Italy, and they decided to bring these kinds of goods to Alexandria.

The store specializes in handbags along with products like leather jackets, wallets and stationary, all from Italian family-owned businesses. She's quite familiar with the Alexandria business scene; her mom owning an Old Town massage therapy business for over 30 years, and her late father had a law office in Del Ray.

The store is located at 1127 King Street, and Tehrani says the neighborhood has been welcoming. "We've been heartened by the people shopping on our block. Regulars to other shops wander in the store," she told Patch.

That's one of the reasons the business owners are excited to hold the Uptown Block Party. If all goes well, they'll bring it back in the spring.

Visit the Uptown Block Party Facebook page for more information.

Uptown Block Party images used with permission