Some new dining and shopping options are in development at Tysons Corner Center.
Fried chicken connoisseurs may be interested to know that the D.C. region’s biggest mall will soon be home to a Popeyes. Temporary signage wrapped around the fast food restaurant’s future space in the first-floor food court notes that it’ll be open Sundays — perhaps a cheeky shot at its rival in the chicken sandwich wars of 2019.
Popeyes is seeking to open a 1,005-square-foot eatery at 1961 Chain Bridge Road Mall, G1L, according to a commercial alteration permit currently under review by Fairfax County. The restaurant will be sandwiched between two fast-food Chinese restaurants: Panda Express and Chef Lin.
Popeyes and its parent company, Restaurant Brands International, didn’t return requests for comment, including when the restaurant might open, by press time.
The chain began life as Chicken on the Run, founded by Alvin Copeland Sr. as a single restaurant in Arabi, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, in 1972, per the Popeyes website. After initially struggling, the restaurant was renamed after Gene Hackman’s character in the movie “The French Connection” and pivoted to a Cajun-influenced chicken recipe.
The company opened its first franchise in 1976 and now has more than 3,800 locations around the world, including about 19 locations in Fairfax County. The closest ones to Tysons are in Vienna and Merrifield.
Acquired in 2017 by Restaurant Brands International, which also owns Burger King, Tim Hortons and Firehouse Subs, Popeyes made headlines when it introduced a fried chicken sandwich in August 2019, reportedly selling out of the product in less than a month. More recently, it made chicken wings a permanent part of its menu, “crashing the wings party,” as the sign at Tysons Corner Center says.
Other upcoming tenants
Also joining previously announced additions like Hobbs London, a clothing store that’s now open, and Yeti, which is still slated to open this fall, are Bora Bora Smoothie Cafe and Fashion Q.
Bora Bora is moving into a first-floor kiosk near Macy’s, where it will sell milkshakes, crepes, croffles, ice cream and acai bowls in addition to smoothies, according to a sign.
Headquartered in Abu Fatira, Kuwait, Bora Bora started in 2019 out of a desire to create new juice blends that “keep pace with all segments of society and the seasons of the year,” according to the company website.
While the chain is still primarily concentrated in the Middle East, it has expanded to the U.S. with six locations in New York, one in Dearborn, Michigan, and one in Chicago Ridge, Illinois. The Tysons Corner Center venue will be the first in the D.C. area.
Elsewhere in the mall, a “coming soon” sign indicates that Fashion Q, a women’s clothing retailer, will open in the first-floor space near Nordstorm that Paul Mitchell The School vacated in May.
Like recent newcomer Primark, Fashion Q stresses its ability to provide trendy fashions at affordable prices. Started in Los Angeles in the 1980s, it buys most products wholesale and holds “vendors and factories we work with [to] the highest quality and ethical standards,” the company’s website says.
Redevelopment of former Barnes and Noble wing underway
Meanwhile, Tysons Corner Center’s east end has emptied out to allow a major renovation. Construction began on July 8 and is expected to finish by March 2025, according to the mall.
The overhaul led to La Sandia’s closure in June, but other tenants like Barnes & Noble, Old Navy and Shotted have relocated within the mall. Barnes & Noble has said its new, smaller store will likely open next spring or summer.
In addition to making way for new retailers, including Maggiano’s, the Cheesecake Factory and Level 99, the redevelopment will upgrade the central common area with “new flooring and ceiling treatments, upgraded lighting, and a hanging art installation,” the mall says on its website.
For now, the escalators at the mall’s east end remain functional, but the storefronts have all been covered, and the ceiling and flooring removed.
