La Coop Coffee Celebrates Grand Opening Of New Arlington Coffee Shop

ARLINGTON, VA — Customers lined up outside on Saturday to get their first drink and pastry at the grand opening of La Coop Coffee's new location in the Arlington Forest neighborhood of Arlington.

La Coop Coffee had already made a name for itself in Arlington by selling coffee at the nearby Lubber Run Farmers Market. The new store, at 4807 1st Street N. in the Arlington Forest Shopping Center, now means people from all over Arlington can walk, ride their bikes, or drive to La Coop seven days a week.

"La Coop was at the farmer’s market at Lubber Run, so they already had a following in Arlington," said Scott Fletcher, who lives in the nearby Glencarlyn neighborhood with his wife Katie and child. La Coop is the closest coffee shop to their home, they noted, and is within walking distance.

The Fletchers were enjoying an iced dirty horchata, cappuccino and a scone at a table in the courtyard outside La Coop. The shop serves coffee, tea and hot chocolate, along with a wide variety of breakfast and all-day food items.

After opening its first brick-and-mortar location in Washington, D.C. in July 2020, La Coop decided to expand into Arlington. They chose a space where Sense of Place Cafe, a local coffee shop and café, was in the Arlington Forest Shopping Center, next to Brick's Pizza. Sense of Place Cafe closed last summer due in part to the health issues of its owner.

The shopping center management reportedly wanted to find another coffee shop to replace the much-liked Sense of Place Cafe.

At Saturday's grand opening, Juan Luis Salazar Cano, founder and CEO of La Coop Coffee Co., said he was pleased with the turnout for the shop's new Arlington location.

Salazar Cano, a native of Guatemala with degrees in agronomy and business administration, works closely with coffee farmers in Guatemala to help them earn a fair price for their specialty coffee.

"We work tirelessly to ensure that as much value stays locally in the communities that produce the coffee as possible," La Coop says on its website. "With every cup, we hope to build community both locally and globally. From the Western Highlands of Guatemala to Washington, D.C., we’re building community with every La Coop cup of coffee."

The grand opening of the new coffee shop in Arlington also attracted fans of La Coop's first location in D.C.'s Manor Park neighborhood.

Michael Chen, a resident of Rosslyn, who was on a bike ride with friends, said he stopped by for the grand opening on Saturday because La Coop is one of his favorite shops in D.C.

"It's quite far from where we live, so we were so happy to see they were opening a shop in Arlington," he said. "The D.C. location is very cozy and has a friendly staff. It's a nice place to hang out."

"We'll definitely be back to hang out when it's less busy," Chen said of the Arlington Forest location.

La Coop's new location in Arlington is open weekends from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.