A pair of fast-casual eateries have permanently closed in the Town of Vienna.
First, ViVi Bubble Tea shuttered its location in the Glyndon Plaza shopping center on Aug. 30. Then, Crumbl Cookies notified members of its loyalty program this week that its Vienna bakery has closed after six years.
“We sincerely thank all of our amazing customers, friends, and neighbors for your love and support over the past two years,” ViVi Bubble Tea said in a notice posted to its front door at 233 Maple Avenue East. “It truly has been our pleasure to serve the Vienna community, and we are so grateful for all the memories we have made together.”
Opened in May 2024, ViVi Vienna was one of two franchise locations owned by Yaya Zhang, who’s also behind the still-operating Fairfax City cafe at 9974 Main Street.
Zhang says business in Vienna never quite took off, leading her to make the “difficult decision” to close.
“We tried our best and made many efforts to improve the situation, but unfortunately, we were not able to turn things around,” she told FFXnow. “… For now, we will be focusing our time and energy on our Fairfax City location and continuing to serve our customers there.”
Regulars at the Vienna location can still use any membership points, rewards and gift cards at the Fairfax City one, which is now the last outpost in Virginia for a Taiwanese chain that boasts more than 100 locations across four continents, per its U.S. corporate website.
ViVi Bubble Tea’s location at the Eden Center in Falls Church has also been reported as closed.
In addition to boba-filled milk and fruit teas, ViVi Bubble Tea serves a variety of bento lunches and Asian snacks, including popcorn chicken, tempura and braised pork rice.
Meanwhile, Crumbl Cookies is encouraging Vienna customers to visit its shop at the Birch & Broad shopping center (1106-A West Broad Street) in Falls Church, offering 10% discounts at that location through Saturday (Sept. 19).
Crumbl opened in Vienna Marketplace at 203 Maple Avenue East in early September 2020, becoming the gourmet cookie chain’s first location in Virginia. In addition to Falls Church, the chain can still be found at Plaza America in Reston, Kingstowne Towne Center, Chantilly and Fair Lakes.
According to MoCo Show, Crumbl also closed a location in Germantown, Maryland, in the spring, and the Seattle Times reported that the company has recently struggled with uneven profits and waning customer interest now that the novelty of its weekly cookie flavor reveals has worn off.
In Vienna at least, donuts appear to have taken over from cookies as the dessert trend of the moment. Shipley Donuts and Texas Donuts are now operating on opposite sides of Maple Avenue, following in the footsteps of rivalries between Crumbl Cookies and MidnighTreats as well as mochi donut chains Donutchew and Bubble Mochi.
Whether the town can sustain two donut shops remains to be seen.
Crumbl’s 1,316-square-foot storefront between Citibank and the deli Call Your Mother is now being advertised as available for leasing by KLNB, the retail broker for Vienna Marketplace.
