The chocolatiers and the white nationalist, coexisting in Old Town Alexandria {Virginia}

[mahatmakanejeeves]

The chocolatiers and the white nationalist, coexisting in Old Town Alexandria

By Patricia Sullivan February 17 at 6:58 PM

Kim Gustafson, wearing her chef’s smock, stood on the iron staircase of Blüprint Chocolatiers in the midday drizzle last Sunday to check out the growing crowd of protesters across the street. ... Ever since her landlord rented the upper two floors of the Old Town Alexandria townhouse to Richard Spencer and his National Policy Institute, a think tank that promotes white-nationalist ideologies, she and her husband, Bruce, had been trying to make sure everyone knew that their 22-month-old designer chocolate shop had nothing to do with the tenant upstairs.

The railing in front of her shop was braided with red and white ribbons, colors that the protesters have adopted. Like other storekeepers along King Street, she put a poster in her window declaring, “Everyone is welcome here.” And she meant it: She served Spencer a cup of coffee when he came downstairs to introduce himself.
....

{Financial secrecy behind white nationalist group known for Nazi salutes}
....

... {W}hen the Atlantic magazine reported last month that Spencer had rented space at 1001 King St. with the intention of creating a “one-stop shop” for the alternative right, Alexandria residents mobilized — and the Gustafsons grew concerned about their sales.
....

Gustafson said the business has had “just fabulous support, not only from our Old Town neighbors, but from the whole community.” That includes residents of Whitefish, the small Montana town hard by the Canadian border, who sent letters, emails and telephone messages of support to the candy store after hearing about Spencer’s new location (starting this fall, they and others will be able to order chocolates from the shop online). ... “{We} hope that if you ever pass through Old Town Alexandria you’ll stop by and say ‘hello,’ ” Bruce Gustafson said in a message to Whitefish residents that he posted on the shop’s blog. “We have 6,649 hot chocolates just waiting for you to arrive.”

Patricia Sullivan covers government, politics and other regional issues in Arlington County and Alexandria. She worked in Illinois, Florida, Montana and California before joining the Post in November 2001. Follow @psullivan1

[spooky3]

1. I wanted to support by buying online, but that function won't be available on their website for

awhile. I hope they get lots of foot customers (the weather is really nice this weekend).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. This couple opened an Alexandria chocolate shop. Then a white nationalist moved upstairs.

This couple opened an Alexandria chocolate shop two years ago. Then a white nationalist moved upstairs.

Feb 13, 2017, 2:38pm EST Updated Feb 14, 2017, 9:20am EST

Chocolatier Kim Gustafson should have spent the first two weeks of February preparing for Valentine’s Day, the Super Bowl of the chocolate world.

Instead, the owner of Blüprint Chocolatiers in Alexandria spent those two weeks in dark corners of the internet and on social media, desperately trying to explain that her upstart chocolate shop is not affiliated with Richard Spencer, the white nationalist head of the National Policy Institute who in January moved into the apartment above her store.
....

National media started reporting in January that Spencer had rented an Alexandria apartment and headquarters for his organization, which promotes “the heritage, identity and future of people of European descent in the United States,” according to its website. Spencer told the Atlantic that he imagines the space as a private office-salon hybrid where people in his movement can make videos and throw parties.

People soon pinpointed the location and started sharing the address of Blüprint* as that of Spencer. .... In addition, when word of Spencer’s lease made the rounds in Alexandria, she heard that members of the Jewish community were boycotting the shop, because of an incorrect impression that the Gustafsons owned the building and were responsible for leasing the apartment to Spencer. They were not; both the Gustafsons and Spencer lease their spaces. The owner of the building is Mahwash Wasiq, according to city records.

{I'd provide the text in the tweet, but it is in the form of a graphic and cannot be cut and pasted.}

*

Link to tweet

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Alexandria Chocolate Shop 'On Edge' As Alt-Right Neighbor Settles In

Alexandria Chocolate Shop 'On Edge' As Alt-Right Neighbor Settles In

Chocolate shop owners find it unsettling to share a building with an alt-right white supremacist in Alexandria.

By Mary Ann Barton (Patch Staff) - February 2, 2017 4:04 pm ET

....
Meanwhile, it's uncertain whether Great Falls resident Mahwash Wasiq, a World Bank employee who owns the building, according to city property records, knew that an alt-right figure had signed a lease to live in her building. Reportedly, Chantilly-based Samson Properties, which handled the rental, passed over a couple for Spencer because he was willing to pay more for the rental. A phone call to Samson Properties was not answered Wednesday afternoon to clarify.

Protests greet ‘alt-right’ Old Town headquarters

February 2, 12017

By Chris Teale

Around 100 protestors from faith groups and other community organizations protested Sunday in Old Town against the self-proclaimed “alt-right” movement’s new headquarters in the city.

The group gathered at the intersection of King and Patrick streets — where the new headquarters is located — and stayed for just over two hours holding signs, chanting and singing. It is the largest such demonstration since the headquarters opened.