The tech retail store b8ta in Tysons Corner Center will be one of seven locations nationwide to exhibit a new suite of Google hardware products, including the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.

The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are new phones by Google unveiled on Oct. 9 at an event in New York. Also unveiled was the Pixel Stand, a wireless charger, the Pixel Slate, a high-end tablet device, and Home Hub, an assistant that tracks day to day information like calendar events and appointments.

B8ta stores allow visitors to test out the products in a space designed to feel like a home setting. The products will be coming to b8ta stores in Texas, California, New Jersey and Arizona, as originally reported by Digital Trends. The Tysons Corner Center location is the only spot in Virginia to let users test out the new hardware before it goes on sale.

The new hardware will be available starting next Thursday (Oct. 18). The b8ta store is on the second floor of Tysons Corner Center, near the Bloomingdales.

Photo via b8ta

Republik Coffee Bar was founded out of frustration.

Elan Irving, the company’s director of operations, said when the founders of the coffee bar were looking for premium coffee options in the area, they were underwhelmed. Recently, the coffee shop that started one year ago in Arlington has branched out into Tysons.

The Republik Coffee Bar in Tysons is located on the ground floor of the mixed-use Highgate (7915 Jones Branch Drive) just east of Tysons Galleria. It opened in June.

“We were looking for a place to enjoy premium coffee served in an inviting environment staffed by friendly baristas with a pleasant ambiance,” said Irving. “Surprisingly, there are very few places that embody all of these qualities, so we decided to provide such space for like minded coffee lovers.”

Irving said the largest issue that faced the burgeoning company initially was finding a price balance.

“One of the challenges is to keep prices low without sacrificing on the quality of the product as well as keeping a staff of highly qualified baristas,” said Irving. “We were always in pursuit of better coffee, better brewing methods, and very competitive prices. We don’t believe in charging $5 for a six-ounce cappuccino.”

Republik Coffee Bar is in the midst of an aggressive expansion campaign. In six months, Republik plans to open two more locations inside D.C. and eventually another in Fairfax County.

“If you are afraid of taking calculated risks, you shouldn’t be in business of investing in new businesses,” said Irving. “This is also true in our business. We are very confident in our concept and very happy to see the response we received in Ballston. This has encouraged us to expand into other locations.”

For now, Republik Coffee Bar is local, but the company has much larger ambitions if the continued regional launches go well.

“Our short term goals are establish our brand into a very respectable local brand in the D.C. metro area,” Irving said. “If we are successful in achieving this, we will continue to expand regionally and then one day, nationally.”

Players of Fortnite, popular battle-royale style multiplayer game, will have the opportunity to turn their hobby into profit. The Microsoft Store at Tysons Corner Center will be one of the stores hosting the North American Championship Tournament for Fortnite.

On Friday, Oct. 26, the Tysons Microsoft Store will be one of 20 stores in the Southeast region of the tournament. Teams from the Microsoft Store will be dropped into public matches, building points through placements (survival as a team) and eliminations of other players. The tournament will run from 5-9 p.m.

The top team from each store will move into a private match against teams from the other regional winners. The top three teams will take home a portion of the $7,000 prize pool. The top six teams move onto the national championship, where the top three teams will split a $15,000 pool. The national championship will take place on Nov. 10.

Mixer, a live-streaming platform owned by Microsoft, will host live broadcasts of the competitions and player interviews after the tournaments.

Entry to the tournament is free and open to everyone 14 and up. Registration is available online.

Participants between 14 and 17 must have a parent or guardian sign a parental consent form at the store. Hardware, including laptops, mice, mouse pads, and headsets will be provided. Xbox One controllers are available on request, or players can bring their own.

A full list of rules is available online.

Image via Twitter

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is looking for public input on ideas to cut down congestion in McLean.

At 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 in McLean High School, VDOT will hold its second meeting on a series of proposals to improve traffic in the area. Among the potential solutions is limiting access to and from Georgetown Pike from McLean, a proposal that drew controversy at an earlier meeting in August when hundreds of residents showed up to voice concerns that the plan would eliminate access to the Beltway from McLean.

A VDOT press release says the organization plans to give an update at the meeting in response to comments from the first meeting.

Several short-term solutions have already been implemented in McLean, including installation of traffic cameras and increased signage. Small traffic improvements have also been made throughout McLean, including widening the shoulder on westbound Route 193.

Intermediate solutions listed by VDOT include:

• Begin cut-through restriction process with Dead Run/Carper neighborhood, two neighborhoods in McLean that met the volume criteria for Fairfax County’s cut-through restriction process.
• Improve the Balls Hill Road and Georgetown Pike intersection, an intersection frequently congested with traffic turning onto the Beltway.
• Additional coordination with local stakeholders and Fairfax County Public Schools to improve safety around Cooper Middle School, which is only 300 yards from the the Beltway and the congested Balls Hill Road and Georgetown Pike intersection.
• Make improvements to Douglass Drive and Georgetown Pike intersection, currently an intersection of two busy two-lane streets whose only traffic control measure is stop signs on Douglass Drive.

The longer-term solutions involve coordinating with Maryland on regional transit projects, namely improving the American Legion Bridge. The American Legion Bridge is a chokepoint for traffic going to and from Tysons, but making substantial improvements is going to be a challenge.

Images via VDOT

Hopefully, the firefighters of Station 29 will never have to use their familiarity with new high-rise buildings across Tysons. But just in case, the crew has been spending the last few weeks exploring the unfinished interiors of Tysons’ tallest structures.

Captain David Bentley from Station 29 said it’s useful for firefighters to take a look inside the buildings before the drywall and the finishing touches are added to see how the buildings are structured and to understand the layout.

“If there’s an emergency, when it’s finished or during construction, this way it will be easier for us to get to patients,” said Bentley. “We need to know how the floors are made, what the ceiling looks like, and what’s between the drywall.”

At The Boro, for example, Bentley said they’re using aluminum studs in the walls while many smaller construction projects use wood. While wood burns when exposed to direct flame, or can smolder and fail over time, Bentley said aluminum studs fail quicker because they start to warp when exposed to intense heat. Bentley said information like that helps firefighters understand how much time they have to continue working to extinguish a fire safely or rescue people from the building.

One of the most interesting buildings Bentley said they visited was the new 31-story Capital One tower, the tallest building in the greater Washington area.

“It’s an absolutely amazing building,” said Bentley. “The sheer number of people working there, elevators, and security, it’s all absolutely amazing… Some of these bigger [buildings have fire pumps that run up to the top floor, and the size and amount of these pumps are quite large and they have to have a backup in case they fail. They have five massive diesel generators the size of cruise ship engines to keep the place running.”

One of the unique features of the new Capital One building is a fire suppression device that rolls over the escalators like a conveyer belt and seals them off, which both stops the fire from spreading to higher floors but also cuts off a route of ingress or egress for those needing to get to or away from the fire.

“I’ve never seen that before,” said Bentley. “It would definitely cut off a route, whether we need to go up or down, but it’s meant to stop vertical fire spreads. There are plenty of other exits in that building and I’m sure security has pre-plans, but that’s definitely a unique challenge.”

Bentley said the sheer verticality of these buildings presents a challenge as well. While Bentley says firefighters can respond to most emergencies in downtown Tysons in five minutes, getting the right equipment to the right floor can take twice as long. Once inside, maneuvering around the building in an emergency situation can be difficult as well, as evidenced by the dramatic rescue via construction crane last month.

“We practice a lot,” said Bentley. “We have drills once a week on high-rise operations. We assign people on different apparatus to different tasks. Paramedics will grab one length of hose to take to the fire floor. The firefighter on the right side of the engine will grab another section of hose. I’ll grab the officer’s bag, which has tools to hook into pipes. This way we can take any hose down any hallway to get to the fire.”

Bentley says the crew of Station 29 visited the Boro (8301 Greensboro Drive) and the Capital One building (1600 Capital One Blvd) and older buildings like Kaiser Permanente’s Tysons Corner Medical Facility (8008 Westpark Drive) and Rotunda Apartments (8352 Greensboro Drive).

Bentley said the firefighters also travelled to low rise buildings, like Cava and Honeygrow in Pike 7 Plaza, to familiarize crews with the new small developments he says are popping up all over.

Photos via Twitter

The Tysons McLean Orchestra will kick off its 48th season with an opening concert this Saturday (Oct. 13) at The Falls Church.

Music Director and Conductor Miriam Burns will lead 65 musicians in a “European Travelogue” concert composed of a variety of classical pieces. The concert, hosted by the Episcopal church at 115 E. Fairfax Street in Falls Church, will feature Sean Lee, a violinist who won the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2016.

The next concert of the season will be the “Holiday Fantasy” performance on Dec. 9 in Vinson Hall Ballroom (6251 Old Dominion Drive, McLean), where the orchestra will play holiday music both classical and from film soundtracks.

Individual concert tickets are not yet available, but season tickets are available at the Tysons McLean Orchestra website. Season tickets for adults are $120, $100 for seniors and $50 for youth.

Photo (top) via Facebook

Isabella Eatery was the crown jewel of Tysons Galleria, a sprawling food court that took up most of the building’s third floor. Then it was all gone.

Isabella Eatery debuted in December 2017, but was a ghost town by the end of August the next year. According to Washingtonian, Isabella Eatery faced declining sales that were only compounded by a sexual harassment lawsuit from Chloe Caras, former Director of Operations for Isabella Eatery, against owner Mike Isabella.

The lawsuit was settled in May, but the Isabella brand was irrevocably damaged.

Today, Isabella Eatery’s absence dominates the third floor of Tysons Galleria. While a number of restaurants and shops remain open on the mall’s third floor — including Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano’s and Wildfire — much of the space is empty and cordoned off.

The “food emporium” had eight distinct dining options, a cocktail bar, and a private dining space spread out over 41,000 square feet of Tysons Galleria.

A Tysons Galleria employee told Tysons Reporter that the mall is currently in negotiations with an as-yet unnamed tenant to fill at least part of the Isabella Eatery space. The employee said the new occupants are still looking at using the space as part of a dining facility.

There is no date set for the release of more information about the prospective tenant, we’re told.

The 14th Annual Merrifield Fall Festival is returning to the Mosaic District this Saturday (Oct. 13).

The festival, original scheduled for Sept. 15, was rescheduled to this weekend amid concerns about Hurricane Florence. The festival will run from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Presented by the Greater Merrifield Business Association (GMBA), the festival will spotlight restaurants in the Mosaic District and across Merrifield. A beer garden hosted by the Caboose Brewing Company will be held on the Mosaic lawn, allowing attendees to grab a drink before listening to live music played all day.

Vendors will also give attendees a chance to get started on their holiday shopping in a market focusing on handmade and vintage items. Special deals will also be ongoing in nearby retailers.

For children at the festival, pumpkin and face painting, sack races, karate and more will be available.

Photos via Facebook

No wallet? No problem.

With Yombu, everything from financial transactions to gym access is at your fingertip. Now, this Tysons company is starting to branch out across the country.

Yombu is a tech startup based out of MakeOffices in Tysons. The company lets customers of a business confirm their identity for something like purchasing an item or signing into a membership with only a fingerprint scan.

“We want to be the way people pay and the way people engage so you don’t need anything other than you,” said Joe Falit, one of the two co-founders of Yombu.

Yombu started in Northern Virginia, but has since expanded into D.C. and Maryland. Falit said the company is focused on gradually building into more cities and building locally-centered networks.

Yombu’s new deal with gym software company Motionsoft means that the company is about to receive a major boost in users as it spreads to 26 gyms across the country.

Yombu started one year ago with zero users. Today, they are at 15,000, which is 5,000 more than their initial goal for 2018.

The company expands its user-base through two types of markets.

The first is through merchants or “quick-serve” transactions, like coffee shops or dry cleaners. In a location like this, a customer can authenticate their fingerprint once as they pay with a card, and the card will be linked with that print. Things like rewards traditionally tracked through punch cards can also be tracked through Yombu.

Getting merchants on board can be difficult. Falit said many they talk to initially say that credits cards work fast enough. But once shown how much faster lines can move and how much more consistent the rewards programs can be with a fingerprint scan, they usually sign up.

The second type of market is membership. Yombu is used to sign in or out of a membership area, like a gym, and while Falit said the company started with mostly quick-serve transactions, they’re finding membership to be the much more lucrative use of the technology.

“If you’re a gym and you now use Yombu to have membership through finger, you’re basically making everyone sign up,” said Falit. “We see these memberships as hubs. At coffee shops, we might get 20 percent of people there to sign up. But at the gym, we get 100 percent of people to sign up.”

As Yombu prepares to launch in Philadelphia soon and in gyms across the country, back at home in Tysons the program is starting to become more and more commonplace.

Yombu is currently being used in 56 locations throughout the D.C. area — 30 merchant locations and 26 gyms. On one rainy day along a few weeks ago, Falit watched as 325 new users signed up for the program as they flocked into coffee shops throughout the region, all of them paying for their coffee with a single touch.

Photo via Yombu

It’s no secret that Tysons is growing.

The skyline is filled with construction cranes and seemingly every week there’s an announcement of a new restaurant or business moving into the area. But as Tysons grows, it also faces infrastructure challenges and threats from neighbors.

Professor Stephen Fuller, Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, said that Tysons is finally starting to recover from the 2013 budget sequestration. Fuller said the sequester had a more damaging impact on the region than the 2008 recession, as the type of contracting that fills Tysons office space was cut by 15 percent.

Today, Tysons is still left with 15 percent office vacancy, which Fuller said puts the market on about even footing with Arlington. Rosslyn and Crystal City were both particularly hard hit by contracting cuts that left sweeping vacancies along the Metro corridor.

But Fuller noted that both Tysons and Arlington have comparative strengths and weaknesses that make them very different marketplaces.

“Arlington has old office spaces with bad floor plans,” said Fuller. “That’s sending people out to Tysons, which has newer office space.”

Gerald Gordon, who will soon be retiring as President and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said that the county essentially gave a blank check to developers for density near Metro stations, which has helped incentivize new construction.

“The county allowed for unlimited density in a quarter mile radius of each station,” said Gordon. “We have these really tall buildings and we’re going to see a lot of new office space. Some of the older buildings are coming down, being replaced by more floors to be a lot of office spaces.”

But older office space is also one of Arlington’s greatest strengths, as Fuller said the outdated office spaces in Arlington are also often less expensive than the new office suites in Tysons where speculation has sent land prices skyrocketing.

Another of Arlington’s strengths, according to Fuller, is the culture and vibrancy that Tysons mostly lacks.

“When Amazon was looking at Northern Virginia, they were looking at Crystal City, not Tysons,” said Fuller. “Tysons just doesn’t offer lifestyle that they’re looking for.”

Fuller said the new apartment buildings and lifestyle-supporting commercial retail coming into Tysons is a good sign that Tysons is working towards that vitality, but Fuller said bringing that kind of culture is going to take two key ingredients: walkability and time.

“It’s about the distance between buildings, it isn’t walkable,” said Fuller. “Some internal circulation system will be required. It’s been long discussed, but I haven’t seen any yet. The Capital One complex, with the headquarters expansion, is going to make that a node that people are going to want to get to.”

Gordon similarly said transportation is one of Tysons greatest challenges over the next few years, but that stepping up public transportation in Tysons can help alleviate some of the areas traffic woes.

Most importantly, Fuller said it’s going to take time to organically build vibrancy and economic stability in Tysons.

“There’s work to be done, but they have to be patient,” said Fuller. “They’re delivering spaces faster than the economy is growing. The economy has picked up, 2017 was a much better year for the kinds of businesses that look at Tysons, but you can’t just snap your fingers and make it all happen.”

While Tysons and Arlington compete for office tenants and vibrancy, Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, said it’s important not to ignore Washington, D.C.’s increasing appeal for developers.

“Northern Virginia has traditionally, as part of the Washington metro region, been tied to the nation’s capitol,” said Shafroth. “Significantly reduced violent crime in D.C. has made the District far more attractive to millennials, decreasing the pressure for young families to want to move to the suburbs and deal with vicious commutes.”