"He said the more the merrier, and it'll only make it more of a destination, which is exactly what we thought." Neighborhood Restaurant Group principal Michael Babin told ALXnow that this was Crooked Beat owner Bill Daly's reaction when Babin called him about opening a second record store in Del Ray. By late September both shops were open, on opposite sides of Mount Vernon Avenue and about a block apart.
Del Ray now has two record stores, which is new on its own. The bigger change is where they are. Both shops now sit in the 2000 and 2100 blocks, next to a restaurant corner that already had a wine shop, two kitchens and an upstairs lounge that hosts shows. In one block of the avenue you can now buy a record, hear a band and eat dinner without moving the car.
How the Shops Ended Up a Block Apart
At the start of 2026, Del Ray's record shop was further north on the avenue. Over nine months it moved down the street, and a second shop opened nearby.
- 2023. Crooked Beat Records opened a basement shop at 2417 Mount Vernon Avenue. Before that it spent seven years in Old Town, and before that it was in Raleigh, where it opened in 1997.
- January 11, 2026. A pipe on the building's roof burst and flooded the basement, Daly told ALXnow. The shop reopened at the end of February and kept going on limited hours.
- May 3. Crooked Beat's last day at 2417. Its announcement, as reported by ALXnow, said "We aren't closing for good, not by a long shot!"
- Early July. Daly told ALXnow the new shop would be at 2101B Mount Vernon Avenue, with "an upstairs and a downstairs." A day later, NRG announced its own record shop for 2016 Mount Vernon Avenue, the former Mulberry Lane Play Café space. Babin told ALXnow that the two stores together could make the avenue "a heck of a destination."
- September 12. Mobius Records opened at 2016 Mount Vernon Avenue.
- September 25. Crooked Beat opened at 2101B on limited weekend hours. Daly said in a video, quoted by ALXnow, that the new space was "like the Twilight Zone, same colors, same atmosphere."
- October 30. Crooked Beat held its grand reopening with live music from 11 a.m. It handed out shirts printed with the new address and coupons from neighbors Department of Beer and Wine and Continues Arcade.
The new Crooked Beat building is a two-story townhouse of about 950 square feet. According to neighbors quoted by ALXnow, it had sat empty for more than a decade. So the move also filled a long-vacant storefront on the avenue.
Mobius Opened Next to the Lounge
Mobius opened among NRG's existing businesses on the block. The group owns Evening Star Cafe and Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ at 2000 Mount Vernon Avenue and Planet Wine at 2004. The new record shop shares its space at 2016 with Shorty's Deluxe, NRG's sandwich shop.
According to The Zebra, Dempsey Hamilton founded Mobius Records in Fairfax in 2014. That shop is still at 10409 Main Street, Suite D. The Del Ray store is its second location, and Hamilton runs it in partnership with NRG's Michael Babin, Nathan Anda and Greg Engert. The Alexandria Brief reported that the Alexandria shop would carry the same kind of curated records, CDs and cassettes as Fairfax and aim for the flagship's "welcoming, community-driven vibe." The Zebra reported that the shop opened with more than 5,000 titles.
Upstairs at 2000 Mount Vernon Avenue is No. 9 Lounge, the lounge inside Evening Star Cafe. The Mobius ALX calendar lists events there, and coverage of the opening described plans for live sets, listening parties for new records and vinyl nights. In November, the calendar lists the NØ MAN record release show for Between The Sword & The Neck on Thursday, November 12, starting at 7:30 p.m. and listed on the Mobius ALX shows page. The shop that sells the record and the room hosting the release show are a few doors apart.
Two Counters, Seven Days
The two shops keep different weekly schedules. Between them, at least one is open every day of the week.
| Day | Mobius Records ALX, 2016 Mount Vernon Ave | Crooked Beat Records, 2101B Mount Vernon Ave |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Noon to 5 p.m. | 1 to 7 p.m. |
| Tuesday | Noon to 7 p.m. | Closed |
| Wednesday | Noon to 7 p.m. | Closed |
| Thursday | Noon to 7 p.m. | Noon to 7 p.m. |
| Friday | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | Noon to 7 p.m. |
| Saturday | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Sunday | Noon to 5 p.m. | Noon to 6 p.m. |
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Mobius is the only one open. From Thursday through Saturday both are open into the evening, so you can visit both after work. Crooked Beat's website still calls its schedule "Soft Open Hours," so check crookedbeat.com before a weekday visit. The shop's phone number is (703) 244-5003.
Bringing Records In to Sell
With two used-record buyers a block apart, you have more than one place to take a box of LPs. Mobius posts its buying terms on its record buying page.
- What it buys: playable records, CDs and tapes in selected genres.
- Fewer than 10 albums: usually priced while you wait, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday.
- More than 10: drop off the collection Monday through Friday.
- Items worth $5 or more: cash at one-third of the shop's planned price, or store credit at one-third plus 10%.
Those terms are on the Mobius brand page, which serves both the Fairfax and Alexandria shops. Ask at the 2016 Mount Vernon counter how they apply there before you carry the boxes in.
Black Friday Comes to 2101B
Crooked Beat's first holiday season at its new address includes Record Store Day's Black Friday release on November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. The shop's homepage says it is putting together its order list. It asks customers to browse the special releases at recordstoreday.com and email the titles they want to [email protected]. The shop says it can't promise to get every request but will do its best.
That morning, the 51st Annual Alexandria Turkey Trot will already have gone through the neighborhood. According to Alexandria Living Magazine, the race starts at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, at George Washington Middle School, which is also the finish. The holiday week on this stretch of the avenue includes both: the race on Thursday and the record releases on Friday.
A Record-Shop Saturday, November Through December
The Del Ray Business Association calendar puts several events within walking distance of the two shops this fall. Each date below works as a starting or ending point for a stop at 2016 or 2101B.
- Saturdays, November 7 through December 26: Del Ray Farmers' Market at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square, Oxford and Mount Vernon Avenues.
- Saturday, November 14: Del Ray Vintage & Flea Market at Mount Vernon and Bellefonte Avenues, and the Gustave Art & Craft Market at Gustave Jardin, 2213 Mount Vernon Avenue. Both shops open by 11:30 a.m. that day.
- Thursday, November 12: NØ MAN at No. 9 Lounge, 7:30 p.m. Both record shops are open until 7 p.m. that evening.
- Friday, November 27: RSD Black Friday at Crooked Beat.
- Sunday, December 6: Del Ray Holiday Season Kick-Off at 6 p.m. in Pat Miller Neighborhood Square, with the Christmas tree and menorah lighting. Afterward, the avenue is lined with thousands of luminarias, and the shops have hand-painted holiday windows.
- Thursday, December 10: Shops of Del Ray Holiday Sip & Shop, with extended hours from 6 to 9 p.m.
- Saturday, December 12: the Vintage & Flea Market again, plus the 11th Annual Del Ray Candy Cane Bar Crawl along the avenue from 12:30 to 6 p.m.
Here is one way to spend a Saturday this season. Start at the market on Pat Miller Neighborhood Square. Walk down the avenue to Crooked Beat at 2101B, then cross to Mobius at 2016. Finish with a bottle from Planet Wine at 2004 or dinner at Evening Star at 2000.
When a well-known local business moves down the street, it changes how people use that part of the neighborhood. At Capital Residential, we follow those changes block by block in Del Ray and across Northern Virginia, the same way we follow sales. If you'd like to talk about what changes like these mean for your own home, request a confidential market consultation.
