Seven Corners Shopping Center was the first major shopping center to open in suburban Washington, D.C. It is located in Seven Corners, Fairfax County, Virginia. [1] At its opening in 1956, it was the largest regional shopping center in Virginia. The backsplit two-story mall structure was razed in the mid-1990s and replaced with a dual ground level power center. [2]
The 45-store, $25 million, 600,000-square-foot (56,000 m2) center, developed by Kass-Berger of Washington, D.C., formally opened October 4, 1956, on a 29-acre (120,000 m2) parcel at the intersection of Arlington Boulevard (U.S. Route 50) and Leesburg Pike (State Route 7). [3] [4] At opening, the store was anchored by Washington D.C.-based department stores Julius Garfinckel & Co. and a 128,000-square-foot (11,900 m2) Woodward & Lothrop. The center also included a Food Lane supermarket; Woolworth's; Bond Stores, Franklin Simon & Co., Joseph R. Harris Co., Peck & Peck, and Wilson's Mens Store clothing stores; Mayer & Company furniture; Thom McAn and Hahn's Shoes; Fanny Farmer candy; and Western Auto as well as a Peoples Drug Store, which featured stores on both the upper and lower concourses (connected via a staircase). It also included the first cafeteria in northern Virginia, an S&W Cafeteria. When opened, the center employed nearly 1,000. [5] A Raleigh's joined the center sometime after its opening, as did a Varsity Shop men's clothing outlet and a Brentano's book store.
Seven Corners has always been a major bus stop and bus terminal. The stop was originally located outside the Garfinckel's on the lower level, then moved to the upper level next to the central escalators until the building was redesigned. Today, the bus stop sits near its original lower level location, at a transit station constructed by Fairfax County.
The main building was shaped like an "I" with two anchors at either end and two 19-foot (5.8 m) wide promenades connecting. The center was built on a hillside in a split level design with escalators connecting the two levels. Heating and cooling were by water from an underground lake located beneath the center. [6]
The center prospered through the 1980s with stores like Diskovery (computers) [7] and Waldenbooks (formerly Brentano's). [8] With competition from a growing number of regional malls in the area, compounded by the bankruptcy of Garfinckel's in 1990, Raleigh's and Woodward & Lothrop closed in 1995. [9] As the indoor mall lost relevance, Seven Corners fell victim to vacancy and disrepair. Most of the original center was demolished in the mid-1990s and replaced with a big-box style power center. As a result, Seven Corners is no longer an enclosed single shopping center, but essentially two outdoor strip malls. Instead of using interior promenades, shoppers must walk along the parking lot to go from store to store. The two levels are no longer connected by escalators; there is only a narrow exterior metal and concrete stairway at one end of the complex, which is rarely used by shoppers. The Garfinckel's now occupied by a Ross Dress for Less is the only portion of the original Seven Corners Center still standing. Once reopened, the new two level complex anchor stores included Shoppers Food Warehouse, Home Depot, Best Buy, Service Merchandise, and Barnes & Noble. [10] [11] Around 2003, Best Buy moved out and was replaced by RoomStore which closed in late 2012. The Service Merchandise store was replaced by Syms, which also closed in late 2011. The Shoppers grocery store was closed and converted to Giant Food in mid-2019, as part of the eventual closing of all Shoppers stores.
The center was the site of one of the Washington, D.C. Beltway sniper attacks in 2002. It is currently managed by Saul Centers of Bethesda, Maryland.
Tysons Corner Center is a shopping mall in the unincorporated area of Tysons in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It opened to the public in 1968, becoming one of the first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping malls in the Washington metropolitan area. The mall's features the traditional retailers Macy's, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's. The mall also features prominent specialty retailers including Everlane, Fabletics, Untuckit, Oak + Fort, Intimissimi, Aesop, and Warby Parker.
Landover Mall was a large shopping mall located in Landover, Maryland, directly across from FedExField, off MD 202 and Interstates 95 and 495. The mall was built by Sonny Abramson and Ted Lerner of Lerner Enterprises, and opened in 1972. Like its neighbor, Capital Plaza Mall, it was a major attraction through its opening years in Prince George's County. The mall featured many anchors and smaller tenants; however, upon the decline and closing of its major anchors, the mall itself entered a state of decline. Finally, in 2002, the mall's doors were closed and it ultimately was demolished in 2006. Sears remained open because it owned the land beneath the store. Sears later sold the land underneath its store to Lerner. In January 2014, Sears announced that it would close in March.
Miller's Department Store was a chain of department stores based in East Tennessee.
The Mall at Prince George's, formerly known as Prince George's Plaza, is an enclosed regional shopping mall located in Hyattsville, Maryland, at the intersection of Belcrest Road and East-West Highway. It is served by a Washington Metro station, Hyattsville Crossing. This station is on the Green Line. Located across Belcrest Road from the Mall is the University Town Center mixed-use development.
Garfinckel's was a prominent department store chain based in Washington, D.C. that catered to a clientele of wealthy consumers. Its flagship store at 14th and F in the city's F Street shopping district is listed on the National Register. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 1990 and ceased operations that year.
Fair Oaks Mall is a shopping mall in the Fair Oaks census-designated place (CDP) of unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, just northwest of the independent city of Fairfax. It is located at the intersection of Interstate 66 and U.S. Route 50. The mall has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 1,557,000 sq ft (144,700 m2). The mall features the traditional retailers Macy's, Macy's Furniture Gallery, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy in addition to a Dave & Buster's. The mall also features prominent specialty retailers such as Apple, MAC Cosmetics, Ardene, Pottery Barn, Miniso, Windsor, Sephora, and Williams Sonoma.
Tysons Galleria is a three-level super-regional mall owned by Brookfield Properties located at 2001 International Drive in Tysons, Virginia. It is the second-largest mall in Tysons, and one of the largest in the Washington metropolitan area.
White Flint Mall was a shopping mall, located along Rockville Pike, in Montgomery County, Maryland, that closed in early 2015 and demolished thereafter. Its former anchors were Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale's, Dave & Buster's, H&M, Loews Theatre and Borders Books and Music, the last four of which acted as junior anchors for the mall. Lord & Taylor, the mall's final anchor, operated until 2020, five years after the mall's initial closure and demolition.
Westfield Montgomery is a shopping mall in Bethesda, Maryland. Major tenants include Macy's, Macy's Home, and Nordstrom, as well as specialty brands like Fabletics, Madewell, Vineyard Vines, and Untuckit.
Westfield Wheaton, formerly known as Wheaton Plaza, is a 1.7 million square-foot, two-level indoor shopping mall in Wheaton, Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. It is owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield and Its anchor stores include Macy’s, Target, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Costco.
Georgetown Park is a mixed use shopping mall and condominium complex in the Georgetown historic district of Washington, D.C. The Shops at Georgetown Park are located at 3222 M Street, NW. In 2014, the complex received an $80 million renovation and is an important tourist attraction.
Springfield Town Center is an enclosed shopping center located in the Springfield census-designated place (CDP) of unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia. It opened in 1973 as Springfield Mall, an enclosed shopping mall, which closed on June 30, 2012 as part of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan to turn it into a multifaceted "Town Center"-style shopping center with a main indoor area similar to the nearby Tysons Corner Center and Dulles Town Center, while transforming the exterior into a pedestrian friendly environment with restaurants with cafe style outdoor seating and entrances. It is located at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Franconia Road, which is part of the Springfield Interchange, 1/4 mile north of Franconia-Springfield Parkway and the Franconia-Springfield Metro station. The mall reopened on October 17, 2014 following its two-year renovation.
Landmark Mall was an American shopping mall. Located in a triangle formed by Duke Street, Interstate 395, and Van Dorn Street in Alexandria, Virginia, the mall opened in 1965 and closed on January 31, 2017. The mall was anchored by Sears, Lord & Taylor and Macy's.
The Shops at Iverson is a shopping mall located at the intersection of Branch Avenue and Iverson Street, in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland, just north of the Marlow Heights Shopping Center. Originally named Iverson Mall, it was the first shopping mall in the Washington, D.C., area to be built fully enclosed and climate controlled.
Ballston Quarter, formerly known as Ballston Common Mall, originally opened as Parkington Shopping Center, was one of the first major suburban shopping centers in the Washington, D.C., area. It opened in 1951 and was the nation's first shopping center built around a multi-story parking garage. It is located at the intersection of Glebe Road and Wilson Boulevard in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia, two blocks from Ballston–MU station on the Washington Metro's Orange and Silver lines.
The Frank R. Jelleff Co., or more commonly Jelleff's was a Washington, D.C.-based retailer that specialized in women's apparel.
Garfinckel, Brooks Brothers, Miller & Rhoads, Inc. was a Washington, D.C.-based national retail conglomerate that existed from 1967 to 1981.
Harzfeld's was a Kansas City, Missouri-based department store chain specializing in women's and children's high-end apparel.
The Shops at National Place was a three-level, indoor shopping mall located in downtown Washington, D.C. in the 16-story National Place Building. It is located on the block bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, F Street, between 13th and 14th Streets NW, the former site of the Munsey Trust Building. It was located near the Metro Center station of the Washington Metro system.
Joseph R. Harris Co. was a Washington, D.C.-based chain of women's apparel stores.