Fudge Kettles, Sipping Chocolate and a Pub on the Way: What's Changing on Downtown Leesburg's Historic Blocks This Fall

Anita Henry chose her King Street storefront for its two windows. She told Loudoun Now that she and her husband used to pass the building on their way to dinner at Lightfoot, and she "always liked the two windows." She thought they would be perfect for showing off her products. Nearly a quarter century later, Nancy Carter picked the same space for almost the same reason. "I just loved the stone front and the big windows and the historic proximity to the courthouse," Carter told Loudoun Now. "It just said fudge to me."

Rouge sold carefully chosen beauty and spa products, many of them imported from Europe. Kilwins cooks fudge in copper kettles where customers can watch. The same shift shows up a block away on Loudoun Street. The shops that opened in Leesburg's historic core this fall make what they sell in the store or close by, and the one big project still to come is a pub rebuilt by a family that has run Leesburg restaurants since 1985.

Twenty-four years of imports, then a candy kitchen

Loudoun Now called Rouge downtown Leesburg's longest-serving retailer. Anita and Frank Henry opened the beauty spa and apothecary 24 years before it closed, and in that time businesses came and went along the street. China King and Lightfoot Restaurant were the only longtime neighbors that lasted as long. The storefront closed on Christmas Eve 2025. Loudoun Now reported several reasons: rents were rising, tariffs on European imports had hurt the business, the federal government shutdown had an effect, and some clients found downtown parking frustrating. Rouge did not leave Loudoun. It still sells online at rougespa.com, and Henry said she planned to sell through Painted Tree Boutiques in Sterling and to look for a small studio for facials and massages.

Kilwins Ice Cream & Chocolate moved into 17 South King Street as the county's first Kilwins. A second location is under construction in Brambleton. Loudoun Now reported in September that the shop was set to open Sept. 13, and the Town of Leesburg held its grand-opening ribbon cutting on Thursday, Oct. 8. The Town's announcement describes how it works. Fudge is cooked in traditional copper kettles, then worked by hand with paddles and cooled on marble tables. Caramel is made in the store for caramel apples, and the kitchen also makes caramel corn and brittle.

A shop that imported its stock was exposed to tariffs. A kitchen that turns sugar and butter into fudge in front of customers has different costs. Rents and parking still apply to everyone on the block, and the next three openings downtown were all built around making things on site.

Loudoun Street's new shops make their products by hand

Two blocks from the courthouse, Cheryl June opened The Chocolate Palette at 212A Loudoun St. SE. The Town held its ribbon cutting on Thursday, Sept. 17. June built the business slowly. She started making desserts for gatherings of military families at Army posts overseas. After her family came back to the States in 2017, she sold sipping chocolate and Danish pancakes at the Purcellville farmers market. She later took over Gruto's Main Street space for four seasons while that ice cream shop closed for the winter. Her landlord is Avis Renshaw, owner of Mom's Apple Pie.

These are the menu items people in town are likely to ask about:

• European sipping chocolate, made fresh to order. It is thicker and richer than standard cocoa. The Aztec Life version adds a touch of cayenne.
• Aebleskivers, round Danish pancakes. June serves them with traditional lemon and powdered sugar and also with less traditional toppings, such as prosciutto and gruyere with maple syrup, or bacon and maple.
• Seasonal toppings, including a zabaione cream sauce and a ginger pear cranberry relish in the Christmas months.
• Handmade truffles, tiramisu tarts and chocolate mousse from the shop's kitchen.

Upstairs is a room for small gatherings and community groups. The shop is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m.

At the western end of the same street, Nicole and Fred Ferguson opened their second Every Little Something at 1 Loudoun St. SW on Oct. 1. Their first shop opened in Middleburg in 2024. Nicole trained as a graphic designer, and the shop's stationery comes from her own work. Fred told Loudoun Now, "She designs it and she prints it all in our basement." The children's section leaves out anything that needs batteries or a screen. Fred described the price range this way: "you can buy a $500 planter, but then you'll see $2 pens." The shop opens at 10 a.m. daily and stays open until 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. You can browse online at shop.everylittlesomething.com.

So within about a month, three openings in the historic core put made-on-site products front and center: kettle fudge on King Street, sipping chocolate made to order on Loudoun Street SE, and stationery designed and printed locally on Loudoun Street SW.

The courthouse corner gets a new owner

The biggest change downtown hasn't opened yet. The building at 5 and 7 N. King St., across from the county courthouse, was for decades a destination biker bar under Wally Payne. Scott Warner ran it as the Downtown Saloon for the next 25 years. In June 2026, The Burn and Loudoun Now reported that the Malone family had bought the property. Evan Malone, his wife Meaghan and his mother Kathleen are leading the project. The family's restaurant business started when Kevin Malone founded the Tuscarora Restaurant in Leesburg in 1985. It now also includes Fire Works Pizza, the South Street Under deli, Magnolias at the Mill and The Old Brogue.

The family's page calls the new place Malone's Irish Pub. It says the Downtown Saloon's last day of service came after July 4, that a full renovation was planned for the summer, and that the pub is "Coming Fall 2026." No opening date or hours have been posted. The pub carries out a plan Evan shared with his father to open an Irish pub in the middle of Leesburg. On the menu, Evan told Loudoun Now, "I enjoy a good pint of Guinness, and he did as well. So, we'll be serving that." He also said a full rebuild wasn't needed. "The bones are good."

The family is also opening a café in Purcellville. Maggie's Corner Café, at 713 E. Main St., is listed on its own page as coming later this fall.

Together, these openings put new businesses on both sides of the courthouse. Kilwins is just south of it on King Street, and the pub will be across the street to the north. People walking to dinner at Lightfoot or China King will pass both.

Downtown dates from now through the holiday parade

Halloween is the first chance to see the new shops with big crowds downtown. These are the dates still ahead on the Town and Kiwanis calendars:

The Kiwanis Club's parade page notes that the 5:45 p.m. closure still needs approval from the Police Department and the Town. If you plan to sit down before the parade, keep the shop hours in mind. The Chocolate Palette is closed Mondays through Wednesdays, so it won't be open on parade night. Every Little Something opens at 10 a.m. every day.

Parking was one of the frustrations Rouge's owners mentioned, and most of the events above happen when parking is free. The Town's downtown parking page lists these rates:

1. Town Hall Garage: the first two hours are free, then $1 for each additional hour or part of an hour, up to $10 a day. It is free after 7 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends and holidays.
2. Pennington lot and garage: always free, except the garage roof level, which is not open to the public.
3. Street parking: $1.50 an hour, usually limited to two hours. It is enforced 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and free after 5 p.m. and on weekends and holidays. You can pay with ParkMobile, which adds a 50-cent fee, or by text, phone or QR code.

The Town also says the Town Hall Garage's structural repairs and level-3 resurfacing were finished as of Aug. 13, 2026. The Oct. 25 trick-or-treating is on a Sunday, and the Oct. 28 parade starts after 6 p.m., so street parking is free for both. Wednesday's parade starts before the garage's free period begins at 7 p.m., but the first two hours there are free anyway. Pennington is free whenever you arrive.

If you'd like to talk about how downtown Leesburg is changing, from the windows on King Street to the next opening on the courthouse block, Vicki Reyes is glad to hear from you. She has spent more than 20 years helping people across Loudoun and the wider DMV, and she likes trading notes on the places that make a town feel like home. Let's Connect.