GNC will close its location in Vienna as part of the company’s plans to shutter between 800 and 1,200 stores across the country.
The vitamins and supplements retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early last week.
The store at the Maple Avenue Shopping Center is a part of several ones closing in Virginia, including locations in Sterling, Franklin and Charlottesville, according to GNC’s website. “Please note that even closing stores may remain open for a period of time,” the website says.
In a June 23 letter to its customers, the company stated that the COVID-19 pandemic “created a situation where we are unable to accomplish our refinancing and the abrupt change in the operating environment has had a negative impact on our business.”
Here’s more from the letter:
As a result, we felt the best opportunity for us to continue to improve our capital structure and address certain operational issues was to restructure through a Chapter 11 reorganization. This gives us the opportunity to improve our balance sheet while continuing to advance our business strategy, right-size our corporate store portfolio, and strengthen our brands to protect the long-term sustainability of our company.
The Town of Vienna can soon expect a new smoothie and juice bar along Maple Avenue.
Viva Sol Juice Company is planning to open this July, according to a Facebook post yesterday. Tysons Reporter spotted permits for the business earlier this year.
Viva Sol Juice Company is set to come to 124 Maple Ave W. in the Vienna Shopping Center.
The business’ Facebook page describes it as “Vienna’s original superfood cafe” and claims that the location will offer 100% cold-pressed juice, bowls, smoothies, doughnuts, an espresso bar and brunch.
The Facebook page says that Viva Sol Juice Company is focused on plant-based, gluten-free food and drinks.
Image via Viva Sol Juice Company/Facebook
After years of pausing the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zone in attempts to revamp it, the Vienna Town Council decided last night to repeal the zoning code and “start fresh.”
The Vienna Town Council held a public hearing last night on the two options for the MAC’s future: either repealing it or extending the moratorium, which has been in place since 2018, on the zoning code to June 2022.
To Repeal or Not to Repeal?
The two choices received a mixed reaction during the public hearing. Supporters for extending the MAC generally side that the zoning code has many good aspects that they don’t want to see completely scrapped, while supporters for repealing argued that town staff and consultants the town wants to hire need a clean slate.
Mary McCullough, who recently left the town’s Planning Commission, urged the Town Council to keep suspending the MAC until the code rewrite is done. “Repeal says we harmed,” she said. “That’s the message you send with repeal.”
Vienna resident Roy Baldwin said that repealing the MAC sends the message that the work from volunteers on the zoning code “is of no value.” Resident Ray Brill Jr. disagreed, saying that people’s hard work on the MAC is not enough of a reason to keep it.
“The fact that we repeal does not mean we don’t incorporate the vision and some of the things we like,” Brill added.
Cindy Petkac with the town’s planning and zoning division told the Town Council said she thought they would be “better off starting fresh.”
“I think it would be more efficient to repeal it,” Petkac said. “It is a cumbersome, confusing process in my professional opinion.”
Consultant ChallengesÂ
The town’s plans to hire a consulting firm to help with rewriting the code also factored into the conversation last night about what to do with the MAC.
The Vienna Town Council initially paused its plans to hire a firm for $250,000 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baldwin, the local resident, testified that he isn’t convinced the town needs to spend money on consultants when locals with expertise “will work for free.”
Council Douglas Noble argued that bringing in a consultant is even more important now to help the town heal from the pandemic. The Town Council will consider hiring the consulting firm on June 15, Mayor Laurie DiRocco said.
Close Vote
After the public hearing and some discussion among the councilmembers about the MAC, Noble proposed a motion to repeal it.
“It’s not about the MAC,” Noble said. “It’s about how do we make Make Avenue commercially economically viable?”
To quell some concerns about ditching the good parts of the MAC, Councilmember and Mayor-elect Linda Colbert offered an amendment that would make reports, studies, surveys, comments from the Planning Commission and Board of Architectural Review and more a part of the package of information the consultants would review.
A lively discussion continued on the idea to repeal, and Noble suggested withdrawing his motion, saying that he thought the councilmembers wanted to talk more.
Ultimately, the council approved Colbert’s amendment and then voted for Noble’s motion 4-3, with Noble, DiRocco and Councilmember Nisha Patel voting “no.”
“We learned over time the MAC code had flaws,” Noble told Tysons Reporter today. “I did not believe those flaws were fixable.”
Image via Town of Vienna
The Vienna Town Council plans to hold a public hearing on Monday about what to do about the contentious Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zone.
The hearing will solicit feedback from community members on whether to extend a moratorium on the zoning guidelines until June 30, 2022 or rescind it altogether.
The MAC zoning code was adopted in October 2014 and then suspended four years. The moratorium on the zoning code has been in place since September 2018.
While several members of the town’s Planning Commission called the zone “dead” during their meeting earlier this month, the commissioners disagreed on what should happen.
The Vienna Town Council meeting is set to start at 8 p.m. People will be able to watch a live stream of the meeting.
The Vienna Town Council is pausing its plans to speed up the Maple Avenue Commercial zone update due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In December, Councilmember Steve Potter proposed that the town use a consulting firm, calling the work on the zoning ordinance a “log jam.”
Last night, the councilmembers were originally set to consider a contract award for consulting fees, but Town Manager Mercury Payton said that the coronavirus pandemic is delaying plans to hire the consultant.
Councilmember Pasha Majdi praised the delay in a statement, saying that using nearly $250,000Â from allocated funds and prior reserves in the town’s budget should be put on hold for the moment.
“For months I’ve been calling for prudent budgeting and spending, which requires delaying nonessential spending at least until revenues stabilize,” Majdi said. “We need to refrain from nonessential spending during the pandemic.”
As the town grapples with the pandemic, the Vienna Town Council is also looking to extend the moratorium on the zoning ordinance from June 30 of this year to June 30, 2022.
The Vienna Town Council is looking to delay the soon-approaching deadline to revise the Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zone.
The moratorium was first put in place in the fall of 2018 so that town staff could redesign the town’s guidelines. Since then, it has been extended several times, drawing criticism from some residents and town officials.
Back in November, Vienna officials voted to push the moratorium to June 30.
But now as the town faces challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic and uncertainty about whether its election that is less than two weeks away will get delayed, town officials want to extend the moratorium again.
At the meeting on Monday (April 27), the council will consider pushing the moratorium until June 30, 2022.
If the council OKs a public hearing on the proposal, the matter will also go before the Planning Commission. The public hearing would be held June 1.
Two lawsuits against the Town of Vienna have been resolved now that Sunrise Senior Living’s plans are moving forward to occupy a different Maple Avenue location.
Steven Briglia, the town’s attorney, told the Town Council on Monday (March 9) that “soon the ink will be dry on both.”
The first lawsuit involved a Vienna couple suing town officials for approving the rezoning for a mixed-use development at 380 Maple Avenue.
“The parties have agreed it can be dismissed with prejudice,” he said. “It has been removed from the court docket.”
The mixed-use development site is now being considered for a Sunrise Senior Living Facility.
After the Town Council killed Sunrise’s original plans to bring a facility at the corner of Maple Avenue and Center Street, Sunrise sued Vienna officials for $30 million.
Sunrise then proposed to take over the 380 Maple Avenue spot and its plans have been moving forward with the town.
Briglia said that on Friday (March 6) that the Sunrise has agreed to drop the case.
“They are very happy with locating to 380 [Maple Avenue] and to move forward on that,” he said, adding that the non-suit “will remove the cloud on that property.”
A currently vacant spot along Maple Avenue will soon be selling alcohol instead of armoires.
Virginia ABC is planning to relocate in the Town of Vienna to move into the former home of Posh! (419B Maple Ave. E.) in the Maple Avenue Shopping Center.
The relocation will let ABC expand, Dawn Eischen, a Virginia ABC spokesperson, told Tysons Reporter.
“This location will allow us to provide a wider selection of products, meet market demands and better serve our customers,” Eischen said.
Eischen said that the current store (436 Maple Ave. E.) is 4,600 square feet, while the former Posh! space is 6,000 square feet.
Posh!, a furniture retailer, left its longtime Maple Avenue home early last year, with the owner partially blaming traffic, parking and development woes. The store moved to 200 Dominion Road NE late last year.
The prominent storefront was one of several vacant spaces that the Town of Vienna has been working to fill with tenants, along with new efforts to help support small businesses that are already in the town.
It will still be a few months before shoppers can step foot in the space.
“Virginia ABC is in the permitting phase and we expect to open the new location in May or June,” Eischen said.
When Wawa comes to the Town of Vienna later this year, people might be able to get wine and beer.
A pending license indicates that the convenience store company is seeking “wine and beer off premises” for its upcoming location at 465 W. Maple Avenue.
The 6,200-square-foot convenience store plans to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will be the first location to feature a partnership with Tesla — meaning people will be able to use eight charging stations for electric cars. The store is hoping to open this spring along Maple Avenue.
While the Vienna location is boasting a lot of “firsts” for Wawa, the beer sales are nothing new. According to news reports, Wawa jumped into the beer sales market several years ago.
Photo via David Levy and AssociatesÂ
Aditi Streetside Indian will soon rebrand as Kochin Kitchen in the Town of Vienna.
Located in Danor Plaza (126 Branch Road SE), the eatery will still be under the same ownership, Andrea West, a town spokesperson, said.
While the eatery is currently closed, an employee said that the owners hope to begin serving food again within the next week.
The owners haven’t announced if Kochin Kitchen’s menu will be similar to Aditi Streetside Indian.
Image via Town of Vienna