Hallmark is no longer greeting customers at Fair Oaks Mall, permanently closing its store there last week.
“We regret to inform you that our Fair Oaks Mall location is closing today,” the store said in an email sent to its customers on Friday (June 26). A coupon was attached for 20% off at other Banners’ Hallmark stores, “as a token of our gratitude.”
While no reason was given for the store’s closure, the legal entities behind the independently-owned chain of Hallmark Gold Crown stores filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for 40 locations in Virginia last September, citing cash flow issues and issues around acquiring seasonal merchandise, according to the Washington Business Journal.
The bankruptcy filing also noted that the company could benefit from reassessing store leases.
Neither Banner’s Hallmark nor Olshan Properties, the owner of Fair Oaks Mall, responded to requests for comment.
The family-owned and operated company, which has been in business since the 1970s, previously sold its Maryland stores to Norman’s Hallmark, an 86-year-old company operating in four states, according to the Maryland-based Store Reporter. The company also sold locations in North and South Carolina.
The Fair Oaks store — situated between Macy’s and a Spencer’s on the lower level of the mall — was mostly empty this week, with the gate shut and boxes visible from the outside.
A note posted on the store windows directed customers to nearby locations in Fair Lakes, Burke, Fairfax City’s Fair City Mall, Oakton, Dulles, Leesburg and Ashburn.
