Mayor: City Looking for Ways to Help Local Businesses

PHOTO: Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg

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Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg said Tuesday night that plans are afoot to see how the City might help struggling Mom ‘n Pop businesses in Alexandria, in the wake of a number of local business owners announcing the closing of their stores.

Although not all business owners are saying why they’re closing, one of the reasons seems to be rising rents; another reason given was competition with online and big box stores.

“I’ve asked for staff to take a look at all kinds of possibilities, at what we can do to help business owners,” Silberberg said. “One of the reasons why people come here to shop is because we have unique stores and they’ve been in business a long time. People come from all over to enjoy our storefronts.” (Watch a City Webcast of the discussion.)

Silberberg said she and City Manager Mark Jinks plan to meet with the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership and others to see what they can do; other plans call for seeing how other cities help sustain local businesses.

Silberberg will continue to hold monthly community meetings; her next one will be held Saturday, Jan. 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Union Street Pub, 121 S. Union St.

Some of the local businesses that have recently announced closings in Old Town include:

• The Why Not Shop, in business for 53 years.
• Old Town Coffee Tea & Spice, in business 36 years.
• Hannelore’s of Old Towne, in business 30 years.

Some of the new businesses coming to town include:

• Hank’s Pasta Bar in Old Town
• Periwinkle, a women’s boutique, relocating to Old Town from Slater’s Lane and Shirlington
• Orangetheory Fitness

Here are ways that other cities are trying to help local businesses:

Exclusive: What’s City Hall doing for the disappearing mom-and-pop shops? (New York Business Journal)

Sustainable cities need to be lovable too, speaker says (The Charlotte Observer