Residents Circulate Petition to Bring Grape + Bean to Hollin Hall

Fort Hunt residents are taking a vacancy at Hollin Hall Shopping Center into their own hands, circulating petitions to encourage a specialty wine and coffee store to open in .

About 400 people have signed a petition of support either online or in person to bring a  to the location, according to Fort Hunt resident Jan Simonsen. An online petition has 269 signatures, and Simonsen she had gathered about 150 written signatures.

Simonsen said she approached the owners of Grape + Bean, telling them "it would be so great if they were in the Hollin Hall area."

"The food is really good; the wine is fantastic," Simonsen said. "It would just be so, so great to have something like that right in the neighborhood."

Grape + Bean owner Sheera Rosenfeld said she was glad to see the warm reception from the Hollin Hall community but didn't share with Patch any immediate plans to pursue the Hollin Hall location. 

"We think the Hollin Hall area is a wonderful community and we would be delighted to be part of the business community there," Rosenfeld said via email. "We are delighted to see the level of support and enthusiasm for bringing a GRAPE + BEAN to Hollin Hall (envisioning expanded offerings that are adult and kid friendly) and feel strongly that it would be a great fit!"

Earlier this month, Del Ray Patch reported the .

Sue Bennett, a friend of Simonsen's, said she collected about 75 signatures on her own from talking to friends and other community members around town.

"The reception was very, very positive," Bennett said. "They all thought it was groovy and fantastic."

Editor's Note: This is the first part of a two-part series on the status of the Village Wharf storefront in Hollin Hall Shopping Center. Check back tomorrow morning for an update on a potential new tenant.

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