Construction crews at Reston Town Center have made lots of progress building Barcelona and Bartaco in the 10,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of The Avant residential building at Town Square Street and Explorer Street, but no opening date has been set yet.

Representatives at Barteca, the company’s Connecticut headquarters said they did not want to speculate on the opening. However, there has been a recent Craigslist posting for a General Manager, so hiring should begin soon.

The Connecticut-based restaurant group announced last fall that it signed a lease for the Reston locations. Construction work began in July.

Barcelona has several East Coast locations, including one at Logan Circle in D.C.. The restaurant is known for tapas and other Spanish food, as well as a long wine list — featuring, of course, lots of Spanish wine.

Bartaco has five locations (three in Connecticut and one in Atlanta) and is known for craft margaritas and interesting twists on Mexican food. The restaurant is an inexpensive, very casual taco stand, but with unusual ingredients (in addition to the usual favorite ones) such as felafel, tofu, or fried oyster tacos.

Photo: Facade of Barcelona at Reston Town Center

Construction workers are very busy at the site of the future Red’s Table, the locally owned restaurant that will replace the Lakeside Inn at South Lakes Village Center.

Red’s Table recently added outdoor signage and new, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Lake Thoreau as part of the renovations.

Co-owner Ryan Tracy says the work is behind schedule. He said earlier he was hoping to be ready to open by November of December. He said on Tuesday he is eying a late January-early February opening.

The Lakeside Inn closed in October 2013 after 22 years in business.

Read more about plans for Red’s Table in this previous Reston Now story.

Goldfish Swim School is now open in Reston.

The first Virginia location of the national franchise opened this week at 12430 Pinecrest Rd.

Owners Gina and Ryan Bewersdorf built a 25-yard pool in the space on the first floor of an office building.

Goldfish offers lessons for children as young as 4 months old. The pool is also heated to 90 degrees to make the water more inviting for little ones, says Gina Bewersdorf.

Swimming classes are open for registration online and by calling (703) 348-3261. A drop-in lesson costs $23.75. One lesson per week in a group of four children costs $95 per month, and private lessons cost $220 per month.

About 235 employees in Sprint Corporation’s Reston office will be laid off, says a spokesman for the company.

Sprint notified Virginia officials of the layoffs under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN Act, spokeswoman Melinda Tiemeyer said.

The company, based in Overland Park, Kan., has about 1,800 employees in the Washington area.

There will also be layoffs at the offices near Kansas City, the Kansas City Star reported. Sprint similarly notified Kansas officials about 452 layoffs among its 7,500 Kansas City employees.

The cutbacks are part of a continuing review of Sprint’s information technology, network, portfolio management and technology groups. The Star reports there may be additional layoffs are expected in Overland Park and in Reston.

Reston became the headquarters of Sprint Nextel Corp. when it formed from the merger of Sprint and Nextel Communications a decade ago. The main headquarters moved from Reston to Overland Park shortly after.

New CEO Marcelo Claure said last year that cost-cutting would be a priority for the wireless company.

A statement from Sprint said:

The layoff notices in Virginia and Overland Park offer only a partial look at Sprint’s job cutbacks. The WARN Act requires notices only under specific circumstances that can leave many job cuts unreported.

Sprint employees who have gotten notices generally will continue to work for two weeks, but some may remain on the job longer. Companies often tie broad layoffs to their financial reporting calendar, and Sprint’s business operates on a fiscal year that ends March 31 rather than Dec. 31.

Job cuts are only one area where the struggling wireless company is trying to cut costs and operate more efficiently. It has been cutting prices for customers, which makes the need to cut costs more evident.

Photo: Sprint Reston Campus/Credit: Reston 2020 via Flickr

Yogiberry shops at South Lakes Village Center and at Reston Town Center have temporarily closed. The froyo spots have been in Reston since the fall of 2012.

Reston’s Yogiberrys, part of a network of shops in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, put up a sign last week that it will be closed for the winter.

Reads the signs at both Reston locations:

Dear Yogiberry Lovers,

We’re CLOSED for the WINTER but we’ll be back in MARCH.

See you then!

Even though the owners say they will reopen, current conditions do not bode well. Yogiberry, which had 11 area locations as of last year, recently closed in College Park, Pentagon City, Olney and Friendship Heights. according to Yelp listings.

(Updated at 5:40 p.m.) The French bakery in Plaza America will serve its final croissant this weekend.

Vie de France Bakery will close its 11642 Plaza America Dr. location on Saturday, management said, noting the company is seeking to reopen in Reston or nearby.

“We’re looking for a location now,” bakery director Francoise Cuzor said Wednesday. “The lease expired and Vie de France is taking this opportunity to relocate the Plaza America shop to another center.”

The bakery has operated in the 13-acre shopping center that includes Whole Foods Market, Ann Taylor Loft and Michaels for more than 15 years, manager Sonia Alvarenga said.

The leasing agent for Plaza America, Atlantic Realty Associates, did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the closure.

Vie de France has other locations in Kensington, Potomac and Rockville, Maryland, and near the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station.

Lakeside Gallery/Fastframe will close its doors at South Lakes Village Center on Sept. 30. The store has been there for more than 25 years.

Owner Leslie Hemsworth says the store will reopen on Oct. 1 at 11529 Sunrise Valley Dr. The new store, located on the second floor at the Sunrise Valley Convenience Center, will be smaller, but will feature a bright studio space for art classes, painting birthday parties and other special events, she said.

The new store will be renamed Art Frame Solutions. In addition to classes, the store offers custom framing, art restoration, and memorabilia and flag framing

Looking for a bargain? Most of the inventory at the current store has been moved over to the new location, but some prints and smaller picture frames are deeply discounted through Sept. 30 at the current store.

Chinito’s Burritos, a D.C.-based Chinese-Mexican fusion restaurant, says it won’t open at Reston’s Hunters Woods Village Center any time soon.

Store manager Rudy Warren says the company filed Fairfax County permits earlier this year to build out new space at 2304 Hunters Woods Plaza, but had to halt the plans when funding for the project fell through.

Warren also said the county permitting process was taking eight months, which hurt the business.

Chinito’s has an existing location on Florida Avenue NE in Washington, DC. It gets high marks on Yelp for its homemade egg rolls, signature hot sauce and fresh guacamole.

Also at Hunters Woods, Dairy Queen has abruptly closed its doors.

Photo: Chinito’s D.C. Location/Credit: Yelp

Dairy Queen at Hunters Woods Village Center has closed its doors.

The store at 2254 Hunters Woods Plaza first appeared closed on Friday. By Sunday, all products were swept from the store’s freezers and counter and the blinds were shut, so it appears the store is closed for good.

The owners could not be reached and the store’s phone is out of order. The franchise operation of the national chain had been located at Hunters Woods for many years.

The store’s departure leaves several vacancies in the same stretch at Hunters Woods. Two doors down, Solar Planet Tanning Studio went out of business last month. The space formerly housing At Play Cafe has been vacant since 2011.

After nearly 50 years on Lake Anne Plaza, Lakeside Pharmacy will close its doors for good on Monday at 5 p.m.

The old-time pharmacy — complete with a soda fountain, post office and friendly pharmacist — was the last remaining original store at Reston’s first village center.

Pharmacist Larry Cohn has owned the store for 44 years. He sold it last spring to an investor. Cohn, who has been making the daily commute from Culpeper for years, wants to retire.

The new owners had hoped to have an independent pharmacist take over the store so there would be no disruption in service, but one could not be found in time.

Prescriptions on file at Lakeside Pharmacy will be transferred to the CVS at Plaza America, Cohn said.

While patrons gave Cohn gave Cohn and staff a goodbye party last spring, another gathering is being planned for patrons who want to remember their store and take a few photos.

Patrons will be meeting Saturday at 4 p.m. in front of Kalypso’s restaurant before heading over to the pharmacy.

The pharmacy’s closure caps a run of recent changes at Lake Anne Plaza.

Cafe Lakeside, the breakfast and lunch counter located in the pharmacy, closed in February. Owners Alfredo and Rocio Melendez, who had operated the space since 2011, said they wanted to retire since the future of the space was unknown.

The lunch counter space is being marketed for sale or lease separately, so a prospective tenant would not necessarily have to run the business inside another business.

The waterfront space that houses Lakeside Pharmacy is not slated for redevelopment as part of Lake Anne Development Partners’ (Republic Development) plan for the area.

Because the pharmacy is in the historic part of Lake Anne, the building cannot undergo major changes.

Nearby areas, such as the current parking lot at Lake Anne Plaza, a grove of trees owned by Reston Association and Crescent Apartments are included in the redevelopment plan, which includes 60,000 square feet of new retail space, up to 82,500 square feet of office space, and 1,037 residential units.

Meanwhile, other Lake Anne businesses are changing hands or have recently closed. Jasmine Cafe, a locally owned restaurant on the plaza, closed in April. The Lake Anne Coffee House is for sale. The Cupcake Ladi and New Family Naturals also recently closed.

Reston’s Mykonos Restaurant has a new name, new owners and a new menu.

The cozy spot at 1810 Michael Faraday Drive rebranded itself MandOOhouse last week after Reston businessman Jim Brundage purchased the Greek restaurant.

MandOOhouse is now a Greek-Korean place, says manager Chris Brundage, the owner’s son.

It is the Brundage’s first venture into the restaurant business, Chris Brundage said.

“I always told my dad he tells great stories and would make a great bartender,” he said. “A few months ago I moved back in with him, and he said ‘I bought a restaurant.’ “

Chris Brundage says he envisions MandOOhouse as becoming a friendly corner bar. The location off of Sunset Hills Road — very close to the new Wiehle-Reston East Silver Line station — has few places to drink and eat. The former China Star in the same office complex has been vacant for several years.

Mandoo (or Mandu) are Korean dumplings. MandOOhouse features a wide variety on its menu, including meat, seafood and veggies. They also feature Korean grilled platters.

The Brundages have also kept the mainstays of the Mykonos menu, including gryos, Greek salads, souvlaki and spanakopita.

The Reston area has a new entry for Asian food. La Ong Thai Bistro opened last week at Fox Mill Shopping Center.

La Ong is located at 2521 John Milton Dr. in the space formerly occupied by Five Guys.

It is a new business for owner Joe Wongchaikasem and his wife, Ying. The couple lives in Bristow, but has been eying a Fairfax County spot for a while, said Wongchaikasem.

Wongchaikasem has 15 years of restaurant experience. Ying Wongchaikasem, meanwhile, learned to cook from her aunt La Ong, who raised her in Thailand. The restaurant is named in her honor, Wongchaikasem said.

La Ong has the usual Thai favorites such as Chicken Satay, Pad Thai and Tom Yum, but also some very creative dishes as well. The Chicken Pad Thai spring roll features cellophane noodles, tofu, chicken and vegetables wrapped inside and there is red and green curry with a variety of meat choices on the menu.

La Ong is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Outdoor seating is available. Delivery is available in a three-mile radius. visit them online at www.laongthai.com.

J.C. Comfort Shoes, located at Plaza America, will close its doors in the next few weeks, the owners said.

After 12 years at Plaza America, the owners are retiring.

The store is currently holding a big sale, with 20 to 50 percent off on all shoes in order to clear out merchandise. When the stock is gone, the store will close.

J.C. Comfort sells footwear from brands such as Dansko, Ecco, Mephisto and other comfort lines.

This leaves Reston with few shoe stores. Allen Edmonds, a men’s shoe store at Reston Town Center, and Payless at Northpoint are Reston’s other shoe stores.

Fit to be Tan, an airbrush tanning studio with locations in Arlington and D.C. will open a Reston salon later this month.

Fit to be Tan says it will open at 12359 Sunrise Valley Dr., Suite 140, on Sept. 18. The salon expects to be open limited hours until early 2015, according to its website.

Fit to be Tan offers spray tans, which are a safer alternative to tanning beds, which can damage skin.

A certified technician sprays the client from head to toe with solution. The session takes about 10 to 20 minutes and the results last about a week.

Prices for a full-body session start at $59. Upper- or lower-body sprays can be purchased for $35. Packages and gift cards are available.

For more information and to book appointments online visit Fit to Be Tan’s Reston page.

Photo: Fit to be Tan U Street/Credit: Prince of Petworth