Old Town Shop Keeps Doors Open With Mask Sales, Capacity Limit

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Old Town Shop may not have gotten to hold its three-year anniversary event in late March, but owner Valerie Ianieri can celebrate the ability to stay open during the new coronavirus crisis. The gift store at 105 South Union Street, which sells Alexandria-branded items and other local goods, is operating with limited hours and a capacity below the governor's 10-person limit.

Ianieri confirmed non-essential brick-and-mortar stores could operate with a 10-person limit, the Old Town Store hasn't been closed for a single day. While she didn't want to be seen as "irresponsible" for operating, she said, "I have bills to pay."

The Old Town Shop got some assistance as one of approximately 1.6 million recipients of the federal Paycheck Protection Program's first round. Ianieri applied through TD Bank and said the process took around 10 minutes. She applied as the business faces continued expenses while sales are down.

From an operations standpoint, the shop gets visits from mainly regular customers with social distancing measures in place. The store now limits capacity to six people, including the one employee working each day. Customers can call for curbside pickup orders or shop in-store with physical distancing during temporary store hours (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.). During checkout, customers must step back after presenting their payment method.

Although business is slower than usual, Old Town Shop has found success with disposable mask sales. Ianieri said she reached out to a supplier in Hampton Roads and secured shipments of disposable masks. As of Wednesday, she had sold around 1,800 masks in less than a week's time. Her employees wear masks when staffing the store, and customers are encouraged to buy masks while shopping.

"They were so grateful that they could just walk to the store and get masks," she said of customers' interest in mask purchases.

Ianieri says corporate decisions to temporarily close chain stores such as Sephora and Starbucks is one positive for Alexandria's small shops in spite of the pandemic's economic impacts. Numerous small businesses have adapted creatively and are sharing ways customers can support them on sites like ALX at Home. One thing the Old Town Shop has done was put up a 360-degree tour of the interior online.

"We've really focused a lot on social media," she said of the shop's approach during the pandemic. "We're really reaching out to our neighbors, our community."

Once social distancing restrictions are lifted, Ianieri plans to have that three-year-anniversary event.

Alexandria businesses can post in our open-closed directory and share how customers can support them. To reach out for a small business feature story on Patch, email the editor at Emily.Leayman@patch.com.

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