(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) A U.K.-headquartered fitness center is stretching out to America, with its first U.S.-branded location opening in Tysons on Jan. 6.
“PureGym, the leading European fitness and gym operator, is excited to announce the launch of its first gym in the United States under a new brand, Pure Fitness,” the company said.
The Tysons business will be located near the Greensboro Metro Station at 8311-B Leesburg Pike in Tysons Square, which is anchored by Burlington and Marshalls department stores.
“We believe that the Tysons area has a strong long-term outlook and is an opportunity for our high quality, flexible, low-cost fitness offer,” spokesperson Kitty Ryder said in an email. “The location we have chosen is close to transport links and is surrounded by potential Pure Fitness members — both residential and office based.”
The U.K.’s largest gym operator, PureGym provides 24/7 access and allows customers to cancel their memberships at anytime. Introductory memberships at the Tysons location will start at $9.99 per month with a $1 joining fee and a $39 annual maintenance fee, according to the company.
“At Pure Fitness we want to make it as easy as possible to come to the gym, which is why we don’t lock our members into lengthy year-long contracts,” company officials said in a news release.
“Instead, members will have the freedom to freeze, leave and re-join whenever they want, in order to fit with their lifestyle and other commitments,” the company said. “New joiners will also be able to sign up in as little as two minutes on the Pure Fitness website or app.”
The gyms provide dozens of classes both in person and virtually, and the Tysons location features a turf training freestyle area, over 70 pieces of cardio equipment, over 80 pieces of strength equipment and certified personal trainers.
The app provides a live attendance tracker, with options to record progress, book classes, and gain contactless entry.
While the COVID-19 pandemic upended people’s workout routines over the past two years, cutting into fitness businesses’ bottom lines, PureGym has seen a resurgence in customers, The Guardian reported in April.
This fall, the company was reportedly considering an initial public offering. The U.S. expansion also includes locations in Springfield (6701 Frontier Drive) and near Baltimore in Elkridge, Md.
When the new year starts, plastic bags will come with a new price tag.
Fairfax County’s 5-cent tax on single-use plastic bags will take effect for the first time on Saturday (Jan. 1). The fee will also be introduced in Arlington County and the City of Alexandria.
The towns of Herndon and Vienna are included, but the City of Falls Church passed its own ordinance that will begin April 1.
Virginia’s new law, passed in 2020, allows localities to introduce the tax starting in 2022. Research has shown that introducing such a fee influences consumers, helping promote environmental friendly behavior.
Although stores must pay the tax, they can still give plastic bags away for free. However, a sampling of companies by FFXnow suggests customers at various chains can expect to pay at stores ranging from Giant to Harris Teeter.
Wegmans stopped providing disposable plastic bags to customers at its four Fairfax County stores in early December, offering 5-cent paper bags instead.
Big box chains that include products beyond just groceries are also affected, according to Fairfax County. Walmart didn’t initially respond to a message seeking comment for its plans.
Target said it will charge customers for the bags, but it has a longstanding policy that rewards shoppers for bringing their own bags.
“In an effort to promote the use of reusable bags and keep more plastic bags out of landfills, Target gives guests a five-cent discount for each reusable bag used at all of our stores,” spokesperson Shane Kitzman said in an email. “For example, if a guest uses five reusable bags, they will receive a $0.25 discount on their purchase.”
Besides grocery stores, convenience stores and drugstores are also subject to the tax.
The money will be used for environmental cleanup programs, pollution and litter mitigation programs, education programs on environmental waste reduction and providing reusable bags to recipients of food stamps and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program benefits.
Customers will continue to be able to donate plastic bags for recycling at major chains such as Giant, Harris Teeter, and Target. Bins are available in the front of stores.
Fairfax County advises people not to place plastic bags into recycling bins because the items can jam and entangle sorting equipment and conveyor belts and contaminate other grades of plastic being recycled at its facility.
The plastic bags tax doesn’t apply to heavy duty plastic bags, bags used to wrap fish, meat, bulk food items and certain other foods as well as plastic bags used to carry dry cleaning, prescription drugs or garbage/leaf/pet waste packages.
Photo via Ivan Radic/Flickr
Inova Launches COVID-19 Testing Site — “Experiencing COVID-19 symptoms? An Inova COVID-19 Vehicle-Side Testing Clinic will open Dec 30. Open M-F, 8am-5pm. PCR testing only, no rapid antigen testing. Appointments are required, please contact call ctr: 571-472-6843. Open M-F, 8am-6pm.” [Inova Health/Twitter]
Fairfax County Public Schools Commits to In-Person Classes on Return — “We recognize that a lot has changed over the past two weeks, with the omicron variant causing an increase in COVID-19 cases nationwide. As we continue to live through this ever-changing pandemic, we are committed to keeping our schools safe and open for in-person instruction.” [FCPS]
Men Arrested for Local 7-Eleven Robberies — Fairfax County police have arrested two men who are allegedly connected to robberies of a 7-Eleven at 9511 Blake Lane in Fairfax on Dec. 6 and a 7-Eleven at 8110 Old Dominion Drive in McLean on Dec. 11. Police believe the suspects were also involved in other robberies in neighboring jurisdictions. [FCPD]
Fire Department Further Adjust Staffing Due to COVID-19 Cases — The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department detailed additional staffing changes yesterday (Wednesday) on top of ones reported earlier that day by Tysons Reporter’s sister site FFXnow. The department now has 66 employees infected by COVID-19, with another 12 staff members required to quarantine. [FCFRD]
Langley Student Gets Perfect ACT Score — “Kaavya Radhakrishnan, a junior at Langley High School in McLean, scored a perfect 36 on her ACT exam this year…Only about a third of 1% of students who take the ACT earn the top score – or just 5,579 out of 1.67 million students who took the ACT in the United States in 2020, according to the nonprofit that administers the test.” [Inside NoVA]
Highline Office Buildings Refinanced — “Westbrook Partners and American Real Estate Partners (AREP) have landed a $148 million refinance from CIM Group for Highline at Greensboro District, a 460,851-square-foot, Class A office campus in Tysons Corner…Westbrook and AREP purchased the two-building Highline complex — at 8401 and 8405 Greensboro Drive in McLean, Va. — in 2017 for $132 million, and have invested a further $31 million to renovate and reposition it since.” [Commercial Observer]
(Updated at 11:30 p.m.) Route 123 in McLean is closed in both directions after a bicyclist was killed in a crash.
The crash occurred at the Ingleside Avenue intersection. The driver of the vehicle involved in the crash remained on the scene, the Fairfax County Police Department says. The circumstances surrounding the crash were not immediately clear.
The bicyclist was transported to a hopsital, where he died from injuries sustained in the crash, police confirmed to Tysons Reporter.
The road, also known as Dolley Madison Boulevard, is currently closed to traffic between Old Dominion Drive and Elm Street
Police advise drivers in the area to utilize alternate routes.
Officers are on scene of a fatal crash involving a bicyclist at Dolley Madison Blvd and Ingleside Ave in McLean. The driver remained at the scene. Dolley Madison Blvd is closed between Old Dominion Dr & Elm St in both directions. Please use an alternate route. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/4yG2igdnNW
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) December 29, 2021
From state exams to college-prep tests, James Madison High School 11th-grader Aidan Jones knows how stressful it can be as a student.
With the pandemic adding to concerns about students’ mental health, Jones is working to turn therapy dog visits into a regular occurrence and possibly have one pet make its second home in Madison’s counseling office.
“My goal is to try to get a therapy dog as an extension to the counseling staff,” Jones said, noting that ideally, a teacher would take care of the dog and bring it to school during the day.
Jones developed the idea of a permanent therapy dog program while taking an interdisciplinary course last year, where one assignment had students come up with plans to improve people’s circumstances.
Students shared their ideas in “Shark Tank“-like online presentations, and 1970 Madison graduate Ted Dintersmith, a filmmaker and author who advocates for education reform, agreed to fund some projects, including Jones’s, according to Madison High School Principal Greg Hood.
In the cross-curricular program, Jones met and spoke with Melanie Meren, who represents the Hunter Mill District on the Fairfax County School Board. He says working with her allowed the idea to morph into an actual thing.
Meren said in a statement that she’d like to see therapy dogs serving in more schools.
“This is something close to my heart — as a dog owner, I’ve experienced the calm and reassurance that a trained dog can bring to humans with its unconditional love,” she told Tysons Reporter by email. “As a parent, I’ve seen how dogs trained for reading therapy support can encourage reluctant readers to read aloud to gain confidence in their abilities.”
Research has shown that even petting a dog can help relax people, one of numerous mental health benefits.
“Therapy dogs are nonjudgmental, and that really lowers the anxiety,” Jones said.
Therapy dogs aren’t entirely new to Fairfax County Public Schools. Several schools, including Madison and Aldrin Elementary School in Reston, have partnered with nonprofits to organize visits.
However, Jones says he would like Madison to have a dog as part of its counseling staff, or at least make the outreach more regular. He noticed that having a therapy dog at the school made a difference not just for students, but also for teachers.
Jones has been working with school leaders to move the project forward. He suggested that the school target particularly stressful periods for a group to bring in a trained dog to help students.
“I think this would be really beneficial to just help…the Fairfax County Public School system in general, starting with Madison High School,” he said.
Vienna residents looking for a free, rapid COVID-19 test might have to venture a little farther in the new year.
After Friday (Dec. 31), the town’s only drive-thru testing site will vacate the Emmaus United Church of Christ parking lot that it has occupied since March, even with demand for COVID-19 testing soaring amid the ongoing omicron surge.
Personic Health Care, which operates multiple testing sites across Northern Virginia, was permitted to set up a testing facility at 900 Maple Avenue East under Vienna’s emergency ordinance waiving zoning regulations for temporary outdoor commercial activities.
The town council voted on Dec. 6 to extend the ordinance through Dec. 31, but it can’t be renewed beyond six months after Virginia ended its state of emergency, which happened on June 30.
Once the emergency ordinance expires, the Personic testing site will no longer be allowed in its current location, which isn’t zoned for commercial uses. Unless the town council undertakes the lengthy process of amending Vienna’s zoning code, New Year’s Eve will be the facility’s last day.
“We wracked our brains to see if there was something that could cover it under current zoning,” Vienna Town Attorney Steven Briglia said at the town council meeting. “We stretched the emergency ordinance as far as we could.”
John Mauthe, the moderator at Vienna’s Emmaus United Church of Christ, says the church agreed to rent its parking lot to Personic for the testing site in early 2021 after it was approached by the health care company, which formed in response to the pandemic.
The church obtained the temporary permit from the Town of Vienna, but the facility isn’t an official church program.
“We were excited about it because it gave another rapid test availability to residents that wanted it, that needed it,” Mauthe said.
The site opened on March 16, offering free, rapid antigen testing that provided results in 15 minutes as well as RT-PCR tests with results guaranteed within 24 to 48 hours. It accepts people without health insurance, though a social security number is required, according to the website.
Mauthe says his church hasn’t experienced any issues with the testing site, since its hours don’t interfere with weekend worship services.
The surge in demand over the past couple of weeks, though, contributed to traffic backups on Maple Avenue, prompting Personic to start requiring appointments. When FFXnow contacted the Vienna site last week, an agent said they had been “bombarded” with calls.
When called yesterday (Tuesday), a Personic agent confirmed that all of the company’s testing sites in the area, including the Vienna one, are booked until next week. She said each facility accommodates about 100 appointments per day.
Personic also has locations in McLean, Tysons, Herndon, Springfield, Alexandria, and Annandale.
Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert says the drive-thru testing site has been “an important public health resource,” but there will still be multiple locations offering testing services in the Vienna area, including primary care offices and commercial pharmacies.
The Virginia Department of Health’s testing site map only shows one other location within the Town of Vienna — a primary care physician’s office — but there are several sites in Tysons and Merrifield.
A town spokesperson says Walgreens is offering testing at its stores on Maple Avenue and Nutley Street.
“While the increase in COVID-19 cases is of concern, we are also mindful that the hospitalization rate is not nearly what it was this time last year, which gives us hope that the vaccine is doing what it was designed to do — reduce the risk of serious illness,” Colbert said in a statement. “The Town Council will continue to monitor the situation and consult with public health officials to determine if additional resources are needed.”
L.L. Bean is closing the Tysons Corner Center store that heralded its national expansion next month.
The anchor store at the Tysons mall will close Jan. 17, company officials tell Tysons Reporter.
“This decision was not an easy one, and though we worked with the landlord to explore many options, we were unable to reach favorable terms in a way that would allow us to best serve our customers moving forward,” company spokesperson Amanda Hannah said in a statement.
When the location opened in 2000, it marked the first major expansion outside of Maine, where founder Leon Leonwood Bean started the company, The Baltimore Sun noted at the time.
According to the newspaper, the region’s large fan base of the flannel and outdoor brand was a driving force behind the decision to open a two-story, 76,000 square-foot store in what was then known as Tysons Corner.
Hannah stated that the company looked for other space in the mall but couldn’t reach a solution. She wrote the company is actively looking for a new location in the area.
L.L. Bean notified staff in the summer, offering severance and other opportunities within the company.
Hannah wrote that the company “could not reach an agreement with the landlord that met our desired store format and needs.”
A representative for the mall said there’s no information to share on who might be going into the space.
Photo via Google Maps
Fairfax County saw its largest-ever increase in coronavirus cases among fire and emergency medical responders this month, mirroring a surge in case rates compared to 2020.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department data shows that there are 53 positive cases and 14 in quarantine, all staying at home to curb the spread of COVID-19. That’s the most cases the department has seen at one time, according to county figures as of Sunday (Dec. 26).
Increasing cases have forced the department to reduce extra medic units at three stations: Station 8 in Annandale, the Mount Vernon Station 9 in Hybla Valley, and Station 10 in Bailey’s Crossroads.
It’s also relying more on volunteers.
“We use volunteers at those 12 partner stations routinely, so this isn’t anything necessarily beyond the norm; it’s just that we’re utilizing them a little more than usual,” FCFRD spokesperson Ashley Hildebrandt said, adding that the volunteers are assisting as needed, such as an extra person or two on a shift.
The department has around 1,400 staff across 38 stations. The three stations that cut medic units typically have two units, so they were reduced to one.
“No one’s without coverage,” Hildebrandt said. “We have a lot of data points, and we looked through a bunch of options to make sure that…no one notices a disruption of service.”
The uptick in infections has not affected any one particular station, but FCFRD says it has made temporary staffing adjustments to keep service as regular as possible.
The department has seen 298 cases overall since COVID-19 became widespread in the U.S. in the spring of 2020. Most new cases in America now consist of the Omicron variant, which might spread more easily than the Delta variant but could be less severe for those fully vaccinated who have also received booster shots, research teams have found.
Most of the cases among Fairfax County’s emergency responders have occurred in 2021. Over 245 cases so far have been logged as fully recovered.
The positive cases mean local rescue workers must stay home for 10 days. That’s based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Fairfax County Health Department.
The CDC, however, changed that timeframe on Monday (Dec. 27), reducing its recommended isolation time from 10 days to five days for asymptomatic individuals, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others. And the county health department announced last night (Tuesday) that it has adjusted its guidance to align with the CDC.
Amidst the changes, Hildebrandt said today (Wednesday) that because the county health department switch just happened, FCFRD has yet to discuss switching its 10-day isolation period for positive cases.
It’s unclear when normal schedules could return, but it depends on a decline in COVID-19 cases, according to the department.
Photo via Google Maps
County Reduces COVID-19 Isolation Time — Following new CDC recommendations, the Fairfax County Health Department has cut the required isolation period for people infected with COVID-19 from 10 to five days, if the individual has no symptoms. People exposed to someone who tests positive no longer have to quarantine if they’re vaccinated. [FCHD]
Former FCPD Officer Convicted for Sexual Misconduct — “A former Fairfax County police officer has been convicted of sexual misconduct with a 16-year-old police cadet. John Grimes faced three charges of indecent liberties with a minor. He was found guilty of all counts on Monday.” [NBC4]
Vienna’s Tom Yum Thai Closes — “The restaurant informed customers in a Facebook post that it had closed on Sunday, Dec. 26. It had been open for seven years at 226 Maple Avenue W in Vienna. The management did not share a reason for the closure in the post.” [Patch]
County Waste Facilities to Change Hours — “The new year will usher in extended operating hours for residents to drop off their trash, recyclables, and various specialty wastes (e.g., used oil, old batteries, scrap metal) at the I-66 Transfer Station and the I-95 Landfill Complex. The new hours taking effect on January 1, 2022, are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Weekend hours, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., will remain unchanged at both facilities.” [DPWES]
(Updated Dec. 29) A local distillery that started in Falls Church plans to move to a new location next year.
Falls Church Distillers closed Christmas Eve (Friday) and shared photos of its transition, taking apart the restaurant-bar, as it prepares to move to a shared space at the Manassas-based Tucked Away Brewing Co.
“We leave Falls Church having realized so many personal, business and community memorable achievements that our time here will always be remembered with a personal deep well of fondness,” the company said in a message also posted on its website.
Michael Paluzzi, who started the family-owned and family-operated business, said in an email today (Wednesday) that they’ll always remember the music they had there, creating hand sanitizer with their operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the fellowship with so many guests.
As part of the transition, Falls Church Distillers shipped a large U.S. flag that it displayed outdoors to the widow of a friend who previously placed it there. He was an active duty lieutenant colonel in the Air Force at the time, Paluzzi noted.
The distillery broke ground at its location at 442 S. Washington St. over five years ago, eventually making a range of whisky, brandy, rum, vodka and gin.
Despite the transition, customers can still get the company’s spirits at restaurants in the D.C. region as well as liquor stores.
The business expects to open at its new location this spring.
Photo via Google Maps
