Shoppers at The Boro in Tysons can now browse furniture and home goods in the new Ethan Allen store.
An employee said the store opened earlier this week. The store is the latest of several store and restaurant openings at the mixed-use development by the Greensboro Metro station.
The furniture chain relocated from a Route 7 location to a 11,500-square-foot spot at the corner of Boro Place and Westpark Drive. The store is right across the street from the newly opened Whole Foods.
Located at 1622 Boro Place, the store is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday — or after 6 p.m. by appointment only.
Several new stores took residency in Tysons Corner Center throughout the last weeks — including a holiday shop with locally sourced gifts.
Newcomers to the mall include the Creative Collective POPUP, Seletti, Terres da’ Afrique — all in BrandBox spaces on the first level — and Beauty Nail Bar upstairs.
Creative Collective reopened for the season on Friday (Nov. 15) and will remain open through Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) during mall hours from 10 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. daily.
The shop acts as a market for roughly 2o local vendors offering a variety of goods including hats, jewelry, leatherworks, prints and even children’s books. Shoppers also have the opportunity to meet the artists and vendors in person and ask them about their craft.
Meanwhile, Italian home goods store Seletti sells furniture, decorations, lights and other items. The Tysons Corner Center location is the company’s first physical store in the U.S.
One of their bestsellers is a $400 monkey lamp, a store representative told Tysons Reporter.
“Some people are familiar with our brand and others are just intrigued,” the spokesperson said about people who stop in for a look, adding that the company is trying to gauge interest for the brand around Tysons.
If the pop-up is successful in the next six months, the brand might decide to open up a permanent shop elsewhere in the mall, the representative said.
Terres da’ Afrique, which opened Saturday (Nov. 16), sits right next to Seletti in BrandBox and offers shoppers personal skincare products including massage and facial oil.
Located on level two of the mall near the Paul Mitchell School, beauty Nail Bar made its debut roughly two weeks ago, an employee told Tysons Reporter.
Updated 11/21/19 — Corrects location’s hours.
Virginia Tire and Auto recently rolled into Tysons with a brand new location.
The auto repair shop is now open at 2055 Chain Bridge Road, the former Merchant’s Tire and Auto Centers, a spokesperson for the company said. The 11-bay facility will be open from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
“It is especially meaningful to now have two Virginia Tire and Auto locations in our hometown,” Mike Holmes, the co-CEO of Virginia Tire and Auto with his wife, said in a press release. “Given that we live in Vienna, we’ve had a front-row view of the rapid transformation of Tysons.”
Earlier this year, Virginia Tire and Auto opened a location in Vienna at 141 Maple Avenue.
To celebrate the opening, the auto repair shop is offering an oil change special at the Tysons spot through Dec. 31.
The new trails underway along I-66 now have a name: the “66 Parallel Trail.”
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the name on Tuesday (Nov. 20) for the trails that will be added by the county and the Transform 66 Express Lanes Project.
In addition to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) creating 22.5 miles of express lanes from I-495 to Prince William County, people can expect 11 miles of new pedestrian and bike trails in Fairfax County.
“Trail segments that cannot be accommodated within the highway right-of-way are to be funded by Fairfax County and constructed as part of VDOT’s locally administered projects,” according to county documents.
The county’s Department of Transportation (FCDOT) gathered name suggestions and held two public meetings in the spring. After 1,124 respondents took an online survey with name options, FCDOT staff recommended the “66 Parallel Trail” to the county board.
The names in the survey included:
- Sixty-Six or 66 Parallel
- Sixty-Six or 66 Ramble
- Capital Gateway
- Dogwood Trail
- East-West Gateway
- Heart of Fairfax Trail
- Kaleidoscope Trail
- Mid-County Trail
Braddock District Supervisor John Cook jokingly said that he wanted the name to be the “Smyth, Cook, Herrity and Smith Trail” — after the last names of the supervisors whose districts are affected by the name change.
Chairman Sharon Bulova said that “66 Ramble” was her favorite.
Images via VDOT
Two eastbound lanes of Route 7 are closed due to a multi-vehicle crash near Wolf Trap.
The crash occurred shortly before 10 a.m., according to a Fairfax County alert.
The crash is near Wolftrap Run Road and Google Maps shows heavy traffic congestion as of 10:15 a.m.
The eastbound right center lane, right lane and right shoulder are closed, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Accident: EB on VA-7 at MM57 in Fairfax Co. 2 EB travel lanes closed.9:52AM
— 511 Northern VA (@511northernva) November 20, 2019
Map via Google Maps
The Pennywise Thrift Shop found a new home in Vienna — just around the corner from its previous location.
The shop originally resided nearf the corner of Church and Mill streets, but was forced to move after a fire ravaged the 100-year old building in January. The new location (214 Dominion Road NE) has been open for roughly a month and offers slightly more retail space, Mary Coulombe, a shop spokesperson said.
The shop sells a variety of everyday items including clothes, kitchen items, books, shoes, glassware and small furniture.
The shop is run by the Church of the Holy Comforter, and all of the proceeds go to charities, Coulombe said, adding, “We are here as a mission.”
This year marks the thrift shop’s 57th anniversary, Coulombe said. Another staff member told Tysons Reporter that the new location will be the thrift shop’s home for at least the next couple of years.
The shop plans to celebrate its new spot with a grand re-opening ceremony on Saturday (Nov. 23) from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Pennywise Thrift Shop is open from Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The shop is closed on Sundays and Mondays.
When the big top returns to Tysons next summer, people can expect a circus show about a power struggle.
Cirque du Soleil plans to bring “Alegría” to Tysons from July 28 to Aug. 30, according to a press release.
Attendees can expect gymnasts flying from one high bar to the next, a fire knife dancer, somersaults on trampolines and other acrobatics.
Here’s Cirque du Soleil’s description of the show:
Alegría (“joy” in Spanish) takes audiences at the heart of a once glorious kingdom now in decay led by the king’s fool and a dusty aristocracy. Carried by an intangible wind of change, an emerging movement from the streets strives to shake this established order, instilling hope and renewal to bring light and harmony to their world. With its joyful spirit, Alegría is a vital, energizing force driven by a thirst for a brighter tomorrow.
The show started in 1994. “To mark the show’s 25th anniversary, Cirque du Soleil is now revisiting its iconic ‘Alegría’ through today’s lens — including refreshed costumes and set design, a renewed acrobatic vocabulary, and modernized musical arrangements — to touch new generations of spectators,” the press release said.
Tickets are on sale now, and people can receive 40% off certain tickets Nov. 19-Dec. 2.
A Thoreau Middle School teacher, who allegedly sexually abused a student, is facing another felony charge after a second teen victim was identified, according to Fairfax County police.
Back in October, police arrested 31-year-old Maryland resident Matthew Snell in El Paso, Texas for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to a minor. NBC 4 reported that the investigation started after the mother of a Thoreau student “found inappropriate messages from Snell on the student’s phone.”
Earlier this fall, Snell was charged with carnal knowledge of a child and taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial relationship.
Now, he faces an additional felony charge of taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a custodial relationship, FCPD announced today.
Snell is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center as the investigation continues, police said.
“Detectives are seeking anyone who has information or may have had inappropriate contact with Snell to call our Major Crimes Bureau detectives at 703-246-7800,” police said.
First image via Google Maps, second image via FCPD
A strike against the contractor of Metrobus could affect service by the Fairfax Connector.
The union that represents Fairfax Connector drivers indicated that a strike is possible amid an ongoing labor dispute with Transdev, the operations contractor of the Fairfax Connector service.
The county has recently warned that ongoing negotiations for a new labor agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764 could result in service delays.
Here’s more from the county:
The Fairfax Connector operations contractor, Transdev, is currently negotiating a new labor agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1764, which represents Fairfax Connector drivers and mechanics. Even though Fairfax County is not a party to any labor negotiations between Transdev and labor unions, Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) has encouraged negotiations in good faith with the goal of completing a new contract prior to the expiration of the current one on Nov. 30, 2019.
FCDOT strives to provide effective communications and excellent customer service to our customers. We understand that you depend on us to take you where you need to go with reliable service. If the current negotiations are not successful and labor action occurs, FCDOT will communicate with passengers about service impacts and travel alternatives.
The county offers updated about Fairfax Connector service online. Residents can also sign up for email service alerts through the county’s BusTracker.
NEW: Metro’s leader sends letter to both sides involved in ongoing Metrobus strike in Northern Virginia – urging them to find a mediator and come to a resolution #wmata @nbcwashington @ATULocal689 @Transdev pic.twitter.com/Sze0Z4C2MX
— Adam Tuss (@AdamTuss) November 13, 2019
This story was written by Fatimah Waseem
Two Merrifield restaurants now have Fairfax County approval for a plan to address parking problems.
The Board of Supervisors approved an amended parking plan today (Tuesday) for 8100 Lee Hwy — the site of TRIO Grill and Open Road, which are both operated by Metropolitan Hospitality Group.
Back in 2013, the board OK’d a parking reduction from 123 to 100 spaces on the site, with 98 spaces for customers and two spaces — one for an employee and another for a shuttle for employees, according to county documents. The board made the decision because of the restaurants’ proximity to the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station.
Several conditions were put in place for the 2013 reduction to incentivize the employees to not drive, including a shuttle to and from the Metro station for employees and reduced-fare vouchers for public transit.
“However, soon after the restaurants opened, the operator discontinued the shuttle program and instead instituted valet parking on adjacent sites,” according to county documents.
To address concerns about the parking situation, the Zoning Administrator requested a parking study in July 2017. The study found that the site requires 123 parking spaces.
Roughly 50 employees are on the site during peak operating hours, according to county documents.
Now, the board approved changes that will have:
- 100 spaces on the site of the restaurants
- 23 spaces off-site for the restaurants
- 74 spaces off-site “for additional parking demand”
The off-site spaces will be valet-parked at 2757 and 2843 Hartland Road.
“The total proposed parking supply of 197 spaces is adequate to meet the projected peak parking demand of 182 spaces, which is based on yearly sales data for the restaurants and potential parking demand associated with this data,” according to county documents.
Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth likened the situation to the children’s tale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” saying that it’s important to get the parking numbers right — “not too much, not too little.”
“Parking is vital to the success of any business,” Smyth told her fellow board members. “This has been a dilemma here.”
Image via Google Maps
