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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Mobius Records opens Saturday at 2016 Mount Vernon Ave., bringing Del Ray the first of two record stores planned for the avenue this fall.
The shop will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, then closed Monday and Tuesday. It teased the date Monday on Instagram in a post captioned "Progress!"
Owner Dempsey Hamilton announced in August that Mobius, which has operated on Fairfax City's Main Street since 2014, would expand to Del Ray in partnership with Neighborhood Restaurant Group. The collaboration includes NRG founder Michael Babin, Evening Star Café chef Nathan Anda and beverage director Greg Engert, and builds on more than a decade of joint projects, among them an annual Record Store Day beer and pop-up appearances at NRG's Snallygaster festival.
The Alexandria store will carry the same mix as the Fairfax flagship: new releases, reissues and used records across genres, on vinyl, CD and cassette. Plans for the space include DJ nights and live performances at neighboring Evening Star Café and Record Store Day events in the Hi/Fi Tex-Mex courtyard.
The opening lands alongside other changes to NRG's Del Ray block. Shorty's Deluxe is expanding with a larger menu, evening hours and café seating, and Evening Star marks its 29th anniversary this year.
Del Ray is still waiting on its second record store. Crooked Beat Records, which closed its basement space at 2417 Mount Vernon Ave. in May after January flooding damaged its inventory, announced in June that a longtime customer had bought the building at 2101B Mount Vernon Ave. and that the shop would rent the space. Crooked Beat had targeted an August opening and is now listing the location as coming soon.
The two shops will sit roughly 128 feet apart on opposite sides of the avenue, about a one-minute walk.
The shop is taking sign-ups for an email list it calls the Möbius Crüe, promising early word on new arrivals, used stock, shows and listening parties, and pointing to @mobiusrecordsalx for opening weekend updates.
The Fairfax store is at 10409 Main St., Suite D.
Ryan Belmore is an Alexandria resident and the founder and publisher of The Alexandria Brief. Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to ryan@alexandriabrief.com.
