Table of Contents
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The city's Duke Street Business Passport Program — a shop-local contest tied to the Duke Street Land Use Plan that the city first announced in December — is now officially up and running, with a larger and more tiered set of prizes than originally planned.
The premise is unchanged: visit a participating business, find the circular window decal or rectangular countertop decal, and scan the QR code to check in. But the rewards have grown. When the city announced the program in December, it planned five $25 gift cards. As launched, the contest will award the resident who checks in at the most unique businesses a $100 gift certificate to a participating business of their choice, with $50 for second place and $25 each for third through 10th — ten winners in all.
The program runs through the end of September 2026 and is open to businesses within a half-mile of Duke Street. A full list of participating businesses is available on the city's Duke Street Land Use Plan webpage at alexandriava.gov/DukeStreetPlan and on the project's engagement hub. The city said it is adding businesses regularly; early participants include a cluster at the Shoppes at Foxchase, another at Alexandria Commons, and standalone spots such as Port City Brewing, Handy Bikes and National Capital Flag.
The passport is one piece of outreach for the Duke Street Land Use Plan, the effort to update the comprehensive plan for the roughly 3.5-mile corridor from Old Town to Van Dorn Street for the first time since 1992. The corridor is home to about 600 small businesses and the roughly 2,100-unit Foxchase development. In a city survey of corridor business owners last summer, retaining small businesses ranked as a top priority for the planning process, with traffic and congestion cited as the biggest barrier to doing business.
That planning process has advanced since the program was first announced. The city has drawn more than 3,500 participants since the effort launched in June 2025 and is now expected to release draft plan recommendations in July and a full draft plan for public comment in September, with City Council consideration still anticipated in late 2026 or early 2027.
Business owners within a half-mile of Duke Street who want to participate can contact city urban planner Christian Brandt at christian.brandt@alexandriava.gov or 703-746-3859.
The Alexandria Brief
Alexandria, Va., news and information you won't find anywhere else.
The Alexandria Brief has no ads, no paywall, and no corporate owner. Support this work with a monthly or annual subscription, or a one-time contribution.
Publisher: Ryan Belmore, an Alexandria resident and journalist. Send feedback, story ideas, news, and tips to ryan@alexandriabrief.com.
© 2026 Alexandria News, LLC / The Alexandria Brief. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without express written permission.
