A new play area for kids that will also offer their parents sustenance is taking shape at Tysons Corner Center.
Tiny’s Corner Play Cafe is in the process of obtaining permits to build out an approximately 3,000-square-foot store on the mall’s second floor. The business will be located in Unit D9U in the former Lord & Taylor wing, next door to United Barber and the future Dick’s House of Sport.
Depending on how the permitting process goes, Tiny’s Corner anticipates a potential opening this fall, owner and co-founder Stella Borou says.
“The concept is an upscale creative play café for young children and their families, with a calm, thoughtfully designed space where parents can also relax,” she told FFXnow. “The environment is inspired by natural materials and a warm, wood-forward design, creating a calm, restorative space within the energy of the mall. We’ll offer structured activities throughout the day alongside open-ended play.”
A Springfield resident who has two children of her own, Borou has a professional background in the corporate world and felt, as a working mother, that there was a gap in the region for play spaces that cater to both children and their parents.
Her first effort to fill that gap became Mulberry Lane Play Cafe, a combined day care and coworking site that opened in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood in November 2024 and expanded to southeast D.C. last year.
While that experience has helped inform the plans for Tiny’s Corner, Borou says the Tysons location will be an entirely new concept that emerged out of a conversation with leaders at the Tysons Community Alliance about “the area’s overall growth and [the] desire to bring more family-focused experiences into the community.”
“We happened to meet at Tysons Corner Center, and that is where it clicked for me,” Borou said. “I saw families, I saw children. I saw a lot of people and commotion, and I thought that convenience matters a lot when it comes to children and to everyday parenthood.”
Like Mulberry Lane, Tiny’s Corner will offer a play area for kids and a cafe intended for parents, but it’s envisioned more as a place to relax and have fun than as a daycare/work environment.
Primarily geared towards younger kids aged 1 to 9, the play area will feature a variety of interactive activities, from a creative studio with art and crafts projects to sensory play, a curiosity lab and a space for building a city out of blocks and other materials. Visitors will have the option to participate in planned activities guided by staff or open-ended play.
An admission fee will be charged, likely based on how much time the child spends in the space, though Borou says those details are still being worked out. Families will be able to reserve space in advance or walk in and join whatever activity is going on at that time, as long as there’s room available.
“It’s really focused on convenience,” Borou said. “That’s why those activities will be planned throughout the day. They’re going to repeat frequently, so that hopefully, every time a parent visits, there’s something going on that the child can engage with.”
The admission won’t be necessary to access the cafe, which will be separate. According to an initial online menu, it will serve drinks, such as coffee, hot chocolate and juices, as well as pastries, baked goods and snacks, including plenty that are kid-friendly.
Borou is hopeful the play cafe will fill a need in the area for more family-focused venues.
“I’m really looking forward to serving the community with engaging children in creative activities that will amplify their own developmental milestones, but also the parents being able to relax and enjoy an environment that is created for parents as well,” she said.
