(Updated at 2:15 p.m.) Opening day is on the horizon for South Block’s new McLean cafe.
The local juice and smoothie chain will open its latest location at 8 a.m. on Monday in the Chesterbrook Shopping Center (6246 Old Dominion Drive), according to a spokesperson and the website.
While this will be the 14th store for South Block, it holds special significance for owner, founder and CEO Amir Mostafavi, who grew up in McLean and is a graduate of McLean High School.
“I am most excited about being back in the community where I grew up,” Mostafavi said. “I’m looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new people in the community. It’s truly a full circle moment for me to open a business in the same town and community where my dad opened his video store.”
As he previously told FFXnow, Mostafavi got his first taste of the retail world as a worker at Box Office Video, the video rental business his parents owned for about two decades. The locally owned alternative to Blockbuster is now closed, but it once had stores around McLean and Falls Church.
In a stroke of fortuitous timing, Mostafavi is now the same age that his dad was when the first Box Office Video opened at the Langley Shopping Center — just two miles away from the new South Block.
Started in Clarendon in 2011, South Block sells cold-pressed juice, smoothies and acai bowls with a focus on fresh, healthy ingredients and community involvement. The business also has a Vienna location and one in the works for the first phase of Amazon’s HQ2 campus in Arlington.
“South Block continues to prove that real food has the power to transform your life and Mostafavi is committed to growing his thriving business to new markets and more people,” the company said.
The McLean store will operate from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. A block party is being planned to celebrate its grand opening on April 22. More details will be shared on South Block’s Instagram, Mostafavi says.
Anchored by Safeway, Chesterbrook Shopping Center is undergoing an $8.5 million renovation. The façade is on track to finish this year, while the amenity spaces are scheduled for a 2024 completion, per a news release.
The center added Kosmo Nail Bar last fall, and the clothing store J. McLaughlin is expected to open this summer, according to property manager Federal Realty.
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