Alexandria Living Magazine
Valerie Ianieri, center, with her team members at The Old Town Shop, at its new location at 104 S. Union St.
If you’re looking for The Old Town Shop and you can’t find it… turn around.
The much-loved local shop, after 5 years in its original location, has moved directly across the street. The new address is 104 S. Union St., nestled between Starbucks and Virtue Feed & Grain restaurant.
The Old Town Shop sells a wide variety of Alexandria and Virginia-themed items, focusing in part including Old Town clothing and hats, Hubs Virginia-roasted peanuts, local books, toys and home décor items. The business has been extremely successful, and 2021 was a record-setting year for the shop, according to owner and founder Valerie Ianieri.
The owner of The Old Town Shop’s former location sold the building, forcing Ianieri to find a new spot.
“I searched for a new location for over one year, knowing that with destination retail, location is critical,” Ianieri said. She focused her search around Lower King Street as much as possible, though several of the spaces are being redeveloped for restaurant use or are otherwise earmarked. The Old Town shop is one of the few locally-owned, small, non-chain retailers in that neighborhood.
104 S. Union (Fitzgerald Square) was previously occupied by Old Town Books. It is a charming 600 square-foot space, and the historic building that they dates back to the 1700s.
Ianieri rehabbed the space and is consolidating some of her products to focus more on redeveloping The Old Town Shop’s online shopping experience. “Our top sellers are local ornaments, local foods and farmers market items, custom apparel, and pineapple-themed houseware items,” she said.
“While our new space is significantly smaller, it is exciting to be so visible in one of the most historic, prominent buildings in Old Town! We are directly across the street from our previous location, so the move was relatively easy and we are opening our doors on Jan. 31."
