Shoppers at the Route 29-adjacent Costco might notice some major changes soon.
The wholesale company is seeking a special exception from Fairfax County to increase the size of its existing retail warehouse at 4725 West Ox Road by around 8,500 square feet and enhance some of the store’s departments.
The new addition would be located to the eastern side of the building.
“The additional space proposed for the existing warehouse building would be utilized for upgrading and expanding the delicatessen and rotisserie area, increasing the size of the refrigerated meat storage space, constructing a new produce cooler, and expanding sales aisles,” the application said. “There will be slight increase in [floor area ratio].”
The application says Costco’s Fairfax area location is a popular one, with around 5,000 customers per day. The expansion is estimated to bring in another approximately 300 customers.
The company also anticipates hiring another 16 employees if the addition is approved, bringing its total workforce for that location to approximately 286 people.
The expansion is expected to result in dozens more vehicle trips to the already heavily frequented site, according to the application:
- 26 AM peak hour trips (14 in/12 out)
- 37 PM peak hour trips (18 in/19 out)
- 63 Saturday peak hour trips (31 in/32 out)
- 417 weekday average daily trips (7,453 Weekday average trips total)
- 753 Saturday average daily trips (8,218 Saturday trips total)
“The proposed expansion of the retail warehouse building will provide a significant improvement to the operation of the facility for Costco’s members,” the application said. “The proposed amendment conforms to the spirit of the Zoning Ordinance and the recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan. Therefore, for the reasons set forth herein, the Applicant respectfully requests approval of this Special Exception Amendment application.”
The county accepted the application for review on Sept. 6, but no hearings have been scheduled yet.
The proposal comes after Costco got the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ approval in March to expand the gas station at its West Ox location from 16 to 30 fuel pumps.
Image via Google Maps
An inaugural fall market is set to kick off at The Boro in Tysons later this month.
The six-week market — Tysons Fall Mixed Market — will bring more than 30 local producers, markers and food vendors to the parking lot next to The Boro’s sandlot.
The event kicks off on Sept. 20 and will take place every Wednesday from 3-7 p.m through Oct. 25.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with The Boro to bring a fall market to Tysons,” said Tysons Community Alliance CEO Katie Cristol. “This market provides the opportunity for Tysons’residents and visitors to connect with local small businesses and gather together in a fun and festive way, while shopping for unique goods from local makers.”
Some vendors will remain every week while others will participate on a rotating basis.
Weekly exhibitors include Ashton Farms, Shotted Specialty Coffee, Panorama Bakery & Al Volo, Little Tibet Boutique and Chic and Ethnic.
The event is powered by Tysons Community Alliance a nonprofit community organization that aims to promote economic and social development in the Tysons area.
Tysons is increasingly becoming a place where people live, but a recent market study from the Tysons Community Alliance raised some questions about its future as a place where people work.
Released on Aug. 4, the study paints divergent pictures of the two commercial sectors that have defined Tysons since the 1960s — office and retail — as they navigate a post-pandemic world of remote work and online shopping.
While retail visits in Tysons have returned to 92% of the 2019 average, foot traffic at office buildings is at 77% of pre-pandemic levels, according to the study, which was conducted by consultants HR&A, Toole Design and Wells & Associates.
That’s still better than D.C., where office visitation is at just 70% of pre-pandemic levels, but the study found that Tysons is seeing “somewhat slower employment growth” both in general and among office users than Fairfax County and the overall D.C. region — a lag expected to continue through 2028.
“Tysons grew more slowly than surrounding Fairfax County and the D.C. [metropolitan area] in the last three years and is projected to continue growing more slowly in the next five years,” a workforce growth analysis summary said, identifying health care as the industry projected to add the most jobs in Tysons over the next five years.
Even though over 85% of Tysons workers are in industries that traditionally use offices, led by 47,100 workers in the broad category of “professional services,” the area’s office vacancy rate has climbed from 14.8% in 2019 to 20% so far this year.
That exceeds the county’s 16.7% vacancy rate, which is a 10-year high, Fairfax County Economic Development Authority leaders told the Board of Supervisors at an economic advisory committee meeting on July 18.
Constituting 5.6 million of the area’s 27.6 million square feet of office space, the vacancies have particularly affected lower class, older offices built before 1990, suggesting a “preference for newer and nicer properties,” the study report says.
Despite the “historically high” vacancy rates, average rents have grown 24% since 2015 to match the D.C. area’s average of $39 per square foot, driven in part by the $65-per-square-foot asking price at the Tysons Central office building that was completed last year.
Tysons also has an additional 1.9 million square feet of office under construction or planned, though the majority of upcoming development is residential.
“If vacancies remain high, future deliveries could result in stagnant rents and continued high vacancy,” the report says. “For developers to fill pipeline office space, office-using jobs in Tysons need to grow at 1.4 times the projected growth of 3,300 jobs between 2023 and 2033.” Read More
One Centreville cafe is offering something sweeter than just desserts: community.
Bôn Tea House (5718 Pickwick Road) launched a new three-part, pop-up Summer Market series this past June in hopes of bringing together the local community.
On the last Sunday of June, July and August, the small tea shop transforms into a bustling community hub, where customers can purchase an array of handcrafted items from local vendors in a monthly market-style event. Offerings include, but are not limited to, apparel, jewelry, soaps and baked goods.
“Summer market is a place where people can come and meet and support local vendors,” co-owner Danny Bae said. “We do our best to only invite or accept vendors that are in the NOVA area and who are not these major businesses, so a lot of people who don’t have a platform, a store or anything like that…they need a place to be able to advertise and sell and get their name out there.”
Danny, who started Bôn Tea House with his wife Diana and brother in 2021, says the market has grown significantly from their initial launch on June 25 to their most recent market on Sunday, July 30, despite how new and limited-edition the series is.
“After the June market, a lot of vendors reached out to us saying, ‘Can we be a part of it? How do I be a part of this?'” Danny said. “So, I think there was a lot of anticipation for the July one, so that July one was actually the biggest one in terms of traffic flow.”
Danny hinted that the upcoming market on Sunday, Aug. 27 may be the last one for the foreseeable future. Though grateful for the success of the series, he noted that the colder weather brings more complications, so their next event will likely be a one-day holiday market in the late fall or early winter, rather than a recurring series.
“We’ve had several vendors where it was their first time ever selling something like in person, and they were all very surprised at the turnout and how well it went,” Danny said. “…We were very grateful and thankful that a lot of vendors showed up, and they did their best to showcase their merchandise. It was just a really good experience for us as the host and all the vendors as well.”
According to the Baes, the vendors appreciated the opportunity to sell their wares and meet other business owners in their position.
“I think it’s great that they’re able to…see that people do enjoy what they have to offer and gain that support through the community,” Diana said.
Building community is Bôn Tea House’s founding mission, the Baes say. When closed on Mondays, they usually let locals rent the space for private events, and they are rolling out new bonding events this month, like the game nights that will be held on Tuesday (Aug. 14) and Monday, Aug. 28.
“We really wanted to create that community aspect and have people come, whether they just grab ice cream and go, or whether they’re in there for a conversation, that they could really feel like this is a place that they could relax and enjoy and come back to,” Diana said. “…So, we’re always looking for ways where we could use our space and use our platform to share our passion and what we think the community might need or want.”
Bôn Tea House began out of the Baes’ living room before they transitioned to a small window in D.C., where they became “the first ones” to serve specialty matcha desserts, Diana says.
As they began to receive outpourings of support from the local community, the Baes knew they had something special and eventually sought an official storefront. Coming from a Korean background, the Baes settled on Centreville for its strong Korean community.
Along with tea, Bôn Tea House specializes in ice cream, with matcha as its best-seller. The cafe prides itself on using fresh, in-house ingredients and taking the “time and effort to really try and bring out the flavors,” Danny says.
Now, the Baes are focused on forming a tight-knit community in Centreville, though many of their loyal D.C. followers still yearn for them to return to the nation’s capital, Diana says.
“We’re just trying to be this local mom-and-pop shop where people can come and gather and have a nice meeting with their friends and family and just enjoy their tea,” Danny said. “We wanted to showcase the Asian American culture, whether it’s our styling through our merch or through the flavors of our ice cream and teas.”
Photo via Google Maps
It’s time to start practicing your best modeling poses.
The online fashion retailer Rent the Runway will sashay into Tysons Corner Center with a pop-up store this September. The business previously visited the mall for 10 days in January 2020.
Set to run from Sept. 1-25, the pop-up will have “pre-loved” designer clothing, handbags and other items from dozens of top brands — all for sale at a 90% discount from their original retail prices.
“With hundreds of styles to choose from, there’s something for everyone & every occasion,” Tysons Corner Center said in a media alert.
The pop-up will be located next to Windsor on the mall’s first floor near Fashion Court, between Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom.
Launched in 2009, Rent the Runway aimed to offer a more affordable and sustainable approach to fashion with a “Closet in the Cloud” that provides designer brands for rent and resale.
The upcoming pop-up in Tysons will have more than 50 brands represented, including:
Staud
Anine Bing
Jason Wu
Veronica Beard
Club Monaco
For Love and Lemons
Kate Spade New York
Rails
Show Me Your Mumu
Maje
Diane von Furstenberg
Scotch & Soda
PAIGE
Victoria Victoria Beckham
Interested customers can sign up for alerts and reminders about the sale through Eventbrite, though a ticket won’t guarantee admission.
The pop-up sample sale will be open during Tysons Corner Center’s retail operating hours of 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
A new gift shop that sells clothing, accessories and collectibles is gearing up for its grand opening in Herndon this weekend.
Add 2 Cart is set for a grand opening on Saturday (July 22) at 1 p.m. at 795 Center Suite in Suite 5B.
Owners Tiffany Yalung and her husband said their business grew out of a love for reselling items online and finding unique, functional and vintage items.
“Often times, especially when we are traveling to different countries, we see these products and think, ‘Why don’t we have this here in the U.S.?'” Yalung told FFXnow. “We thought that the quirkiness, innovation and overall distinction of these products, in addition to our vintage collection that we continuously procure, deserve to be showcased.”
The couple launched the brick-and-mortar store with the hope of sharing unique items with the public.
The business is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, according to its website. The business is closed on Sundays.
Tysons Galleria may be closer to fully realizing its visions of luxury than ever before after a reportedly successful redevelopment of its former Macy’s store.
Created by subdividing the 260,000-square-foot department store, which closed in January 2019, the new wing is “effectively 100% leased” and has helped expand the mall’s offerings, particularly when it comes to home decor and entertainment, according to owner and developer Brookfield Properties.
“I think the Macy’s redevelopment is a great example of what Brookfield does,” Joe Hope, Brookfield’s senior vice president of leasing, said. “We took a 30-plus-year-old department store and reimagined that into a collection of categories and uses that we felt would be an additive to our merchandizing mix.”
Over the past couple of years, Tysons Galleria has doubled down on the high-end retailers that have cemented its reputation as the upscale cousin to its neighbor across Route 123, Tysons Corner Center.
Recent additions have ranged from fashion brands like Dior and Balenciaga to a slew of furniture stores, including Arhaus and a combined Crate & Barrel and CB2. The renovated wing also hosts Bowlero, the dine-in movie theater CMX CinéBistro and the restaurants, Yard House and Jiwa Singapura.
Though Brookfield didn’t provide specific numbers, Hope says that, so far, the sales performance of those newcomers “has exceeded our and their expectations,” noting that some tenants like Crate & Barrel had relocated from other sites in the area.
“A number of those brands existed in the trade area and just repositioned from prior locations to Tysons Galleria,” he told FFXnow. “Those stores, they’ve reported to us are generating significantly higher sales. So, it really proves the mix of the environment that we created in that wing is working for them.”
Far from being an obstacle, Tysons Galleria’s commitment to luxury retail buoyed it through the economic turmoil spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Hope and Brookfield Senior Director of Leasing Elizabeth Ryan.
In general, luxury brands have been relatively insulated from the impacts of inflation and other financial challenges, with research indicating customer demand across income levels, Retail Dive reported in February.
Whether that continues remains to be seen, as some companies reported slowing sales in late 2022, and a survey by the consulting firm PwC found that 53% of consumers plan to reduce spending on premium and designer products.
Like other malls in urban metro areas, Tysons Galleria took some hits when businesses shut down and office workers shifted to their homes early in the pandemic, but there hasn’t been any “sustained negative impact,” Hope says. Read More
Updated at 5:50 p.m. on 7/5/2023 — Walgreens has extended its one-hour delivery promotion through July, citing a positive response to the D.C. area pilot in June.
“We know summer is a busy time for our customers and that they’re looking for easy, quick and convenient solutions,” the company said.
Walgreens said it plans to continue its delivery program, but no determination has been made yet on whether the offer of $10 in rewards credits will be extended after this month.
Earlier: Tomorrow (Friday) will be the last chance Fairfax County residents have to take advantage of Walgreens’ experiment with one-hour home deliveries.
At the beginning of June, the pharmacy company launched a pilot program exclusively in the D.C. region that guarantees deliveries to customers within an hour. They can get $10 towards the Walgreens rewards program to use in the future “if it’s even a minute late,” according to a press release.
Running from June 1-30, the pilot included 22 stores in Fairfax County and over 160 stores across Virginia.
“The stores in the northern Virginia/DC area, part of the broader Mid-Atlantic region, were chosen to test the 1-hour Delivery offering because the region contains a large number of storefronts, and serves a mix of population sizes (urban, suburban, rural), allowing us to test our delivery guarantee in a variety of environments,” a Walgreens representative said by email.
More than 27,000 items are eligible for the service, including over-the-counter medicines, but alcohol and prescription medicine deliveries are exempted.
As previously reported by FFXnow’s sister site, ARLnow, Walgreens does tack on a fee for deliveries that varies depending on the products in the order and the distance traveled.
Walgreens introduced same-day deliveries in December, a service that’s available 24 hours a day and includes prescription medications. It also offers 30-minute pickups for orders of $10 or more.
Like many other retailers, Walgreens has been building up its delivery services over the past few years, partnering with companies like Instacart, DoorDash and Postmates.
Nationwide, demand for contactless delivery and curbside pickup services surged early in the pandemic, providing a lifeline to restaurants and other businesses that had to close their doors. At the same time, the third-party apps that proliferated have faced scrutiny for their high commissions and labor practices, while service fees have increased — even for Amazon, which helped set expectations of free, fast shipping.
A full list of the Fairfax County stores participating in the Walgreens pilot is below: Read More
The original Apple store is apparently angling for an upgrade.
Temporary walls advertising “a new chapter” for the company at Tysons Corner Center have been erected next to Victoria’s Secret, the mall announced on April 30, suggesting a new, bigger location is in the works at the home of Apple’s first-ever retail store.
“Hello. Again. The first-ever Apple store opened 22 years ago here at Tysons Corner Center,” the signs say. “Apple now begins their next chapter with us, with a newly-reimagined space coming soon. We feel proud to be a part of their story.”
The first-ever @Apple store opened 22 years ago here at Tysons Corner Center! Apple now begins their next chapter with us, with a newly-reimagined space coming soon. We feel proud to be a part of their story. pic.twitter.com/hiwiWBM1vs
— Tysons Corner Center (@ShopTysons) April 30, 2023
The new store will have a gross floor area of 13,010 square feet, per an application for a certificate of occupancy that was accepted for review by Fairfax County last Thursday (May 4).
However, further information about what exactly the “reimagined” space will look like has been sparse so far. A Tysons Corner Center spokesperson told FFXnow that more details will be shared “soon” by Apple.
Apple’s media team didn’t return multiple requests for comment by press time.
Tysons Corner Center welcomed the inaugural Apple store on May 19, 2001, beating a store in Glendale, Calif., by just three hours thanks to the difference in time zones.
The upcoming relocation will be the first time that the Tysons store has moved from its original spot near Bloomingdale’s, according to reporter Michael Steeber, who regularly covers Apple-related news.
To mark the store’s 20th anniversary in 2021, an augmented reality experience allowed users to see how it looked in 2001 based on a video tour filmed by Steve Jobs ahead of the grand opening.
Northern Virginia is the place to be if you’re shopping in the D.C. area, a recent poll of local residents found.
A handy 61% of respondents favored Northern Virginia when asked what’s the best place to shop in the region by the Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, which conducted the wide-ranging poll from Feb. 17-27.
In comparison, just 18% of respondents chose suburban Maryland, and 13% chose D.C., with 7% saying they had no opinion, according to results released on Friday (April 7).
Northern Virginia’s dominance in this particular area can likely be traced to Tysons — at least based on a comment by James Hackley, identified by the Post as chief style officer for a clothing store in Takoma Park, Maryland.
In the DMV area, without a doubt, Northern Virginia has the best shopping. The reason? You have the old Tysons and Tysons II. So if you’re looking for the higher-end designer things, that’s where you go. That’s just a known quantity. No one else really competes with that. D.C., they tried to make major inroads with the CityCenter area, but it’s still a nascent being compared to Tysons and Tysons II. Those are big malls. That’s where people go to shop, because if you’re driving in your car, you’re getting an hour to go shopping someplace, you want it to be a destination. You’re not just going to one store. You want to hit a bunch of other stores as well.
Established in 1968 and 1988, respectively, Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria transformed once-rural farmland into a regional retail destination, a reputation that has persisted even as malls decline nationwide and high-profile crime and gun violence incidents leave some skittish.
Touching on topics ranging from Metro to the Washington Commanders, the Post-Schar poll was administered by phone to a random sampling of 1,668 adults in the D.C. area.
While we don’t have the capacity to match that level of scientific rigor, FFXnow is curious how the results line up with your perception of the region. Is Tysons still a go-to place for shopping, or do you have another preference — perhaps even outside Northern Virginia?
