Hi All,

It's so good to see that others hold the old Tysons in a special place in their hearts.

The restaurant workers in the 80's were a community like no other! I am happy to say I spent my 20's in that community.
Lums/Summers/Le Mistral/Winstons............better than college!

After being away 40 some years, work brings me back to the area and I am flooded with nostalgia.

I know some of us have passed ..Denise and later Neil the love of my life. Dick Corey passed too.

If any of you out there please connect. Doug, Greg, Sue, Diane, Fran, Bobby, Scottie, Dennis, David, Hamid.........
You can never go home again, but I think of you often.

Love Melanie

It's funny how history repeats itself- they opened up a Spencer's near Zumiez a couple years ago when I was thirteen; my friend and I spent a good two hours laughing at the merchandise. I came across this thread because I was curious to know what my beloved home was like before it became such an urban area.

The little soft pretzel store was usually my first stop when I'd go as a kid. Just to the west (I think) down that section was the bird cages. Across from the bird cages was a shoe store where I got my first pair of "cool kid shoes" which was a pair of blue Adidas shoes.

http://www.farrellsusa.com/locations-and-menus.php

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/26/calif-suv-ice-cream-shop/8188573/

The ice rink was located near Templeton Oldsmobile further down Route 7. It closed in the early 80's????? when Templeton bought it for dealership expansion.

Shakey Pizza

Bar Mart had the Live Red Parrot

Wow, this brings memories. I remember the bird cage, and Hot Shoppes next to Woodward and Lothrops, and working as a gift wrapper through high school and my first two years of college. and the woods across the street. I left for 5 years and came back and it was all replaced by concrete!

I remember when Tyson's opened, and some psychic lady .. Jean Dixon? predicted that the huge crystal chandelier hanging (maybe outside of Hechts) was going to fall. My mother wouldn't let us go for the longest time. I remember that People's drugstore had a lunch counter; my sister worked there. I also remember the restaurant in the basement of Hecht Company - they even sold alcohol! I know, bc I used to work there. Our bosses were Dorothy and Jim. I remember the Pits .. where we'd go dirt biking. I have a hazy memory of the area where Koons Ford is (is that the one at the intersection of 7 and where you turn to get onto 123?) ... anyway - does anyone remember what used to be there? I have some memory of it being like a big dump - like a big trash pit. I don't know if it's a real memory or not .. so if anyone else remembers that, pls let me know.

I grew up in Pimmit Hills during the time before,while and after Tysons was built , I worked at Woolworths, Burger Chef, The sandwich Gallery,and spent lots of my formative years there hanging out. Great times. Very heart warming reading everyone's comments. Had dinner at Flemings last Friday with some old friends and we talked of all those places; the Pits, Evans Farm Inn, Wilsons leather etc. Glad so many remember those great times as a teenager.

Who else got attacked by that mean goose at Evans Farm Inn? Remember barrels of candy and civil war bullets in the little store by the pond?

Geese in general are mean. Everyone who went there got attacked by them. Safer on the other side of the drive where you could give apples and carrots to the horses.

Does anyone remember what the name of the head shop at the back of World Imports was?

The patio store next to Tyson's on Rt. 7 used to be a Roy Rogers!

Traci, Do you remember the name of the fabric store?

I wonder if you will see this after so many years past...Okay - here's one for you. My father worked for Burger Chef until 1969 when we moved to VA where he and his partners opened Bunky O'Niels - crazy that you mentioned both! I wasn't legally old enough to work there, but got a "permit" of some sort so I could work a few hours each week. So many great friends came out of working there so many years ago !! I found Kenan Lott on here - where's the rest of you ?? Glad to hear customers have fond memories of Bunky's - I sure do !!

Reese Wrote:
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> The patio store next to Tyson's on Rt. 7 used to
> be a Roy Rogers!

That Roy Rogers is where friends and I went pretty much 5 days a week after school to get a roast beef sandwich and a holster of fries. It's likely responsible for the 20 extra pounds I carry to this day...but it was worth it.

I bought a fishing license at the K Mart on RT. 7 in Tyson's Corner back on 1979.

It was just east of Dick Herriman Ford.

traffic at tysons is awful

i hate the new tysons. im more old school

I think they removed the bird cages because it was a health hazard, the birds would fling droppings.

I didn't know Tyson's had a head shop, I would have stopped in there. A lot. Our go-to shop was Penguin Feather in Herndon. And from the head shop now we'll go to Farrell's and order The Trough. Remember when they brought it out the employees would make everyone in the dining room oink.

There was an S&H Green Stamps showroom out in the west parking lot. I seem to remember taking in a bunch of filled stamp books and leaving with a cot and sleeping bag.

Gino's/Kentucky Fried Chicken - back when the chicken was actually cooked on premises and had spicy flavor. Have you eaten at a KFC lately? It's all frozen from the commissary and I'll never eat there again.

They say you always embellish your childhood memories thinking everything was better. But Northern Virginia back in the '60s and '70s really was better. The traffic was better, the cars were better, the food was better. Even the airports were better, it was fun to fly, they fed you a meal.

Theres been a lot of media attention on Fairfax Underground today so Im just bumping this excellent thread so some new eyes can see it. Sorry if this isn't allowed.

it's fine. damn this thread is making me curious. didn't go to tysons corners because i lived in fairfax and would go to fairfax mall. the oldest thing i remember is the rainforest cafe closing in 2007.

speaking of the fairfax mall, anyone remember what it was like?

If I recall correctly, there was some store on the first floor right next to Bloomingdale's that had like neon or something on the exterior and closed in the early 2000s.

I heard that it was a gym, but does anyone remember what that store was?

I think the head shop in the back of World Imports was called "Bar Mart"

I just ran across this old thread. I hope it's not too late to add a memory of the area.
Before Tysons mall, there was a membership-only, no-frills discount department store called GEM (for Government Employees Mart), west of the future mall site on Rt. 7, in the building that now houses Marshall's, Payless, and recently had Sports Authority. It wasn't actually government-affiliated, but gov't employment was a criteria for getting in. I was pretty young, but I recall it looked sort of like a K-mart inside. I think it lasted into the '70s, and may have become a Memco for a while.
I think this was the first big commercial operation at Tysons, pre-dating the mall, and even the car dealerships.

Anyone that remembers the original multi screen movie theater (very small screens and seating area, I called it the big screen TV theater) in the back part of the -mall which was near Farrells and the parking lot outside of Lord & Taylor (now under "The Plaza", this area is still inside the mall.

This original space is now buried deep inside Tysons and it is of all things an indoor Baseball Batting Cage with 2 "lanes". It is for community use of local Little League and possibly other organization and it unmanned or un-managed. Access is from the rear of the area, near the Chiptole and the new &Pizza. The is a non-descript door with access code lock and you enter this dark black hole and have to walk down like 2-3 stories of stairs to access this spooky pitch black area until the lights are turned on.

Once in side, the area has been painted up nice, had decent lighting and netting to control the balls. What is funny is the floor is still sloped from the original theater and you can see all the anchors in the concrete from the rows of chairs. This is how I original figured out where we were inside the bowels of the mall. I had to laugh when I figured this out because I recall going to the original theaters after they opened as a younger kid around 10-11 years old back in the early 70's.

Is the original southeast corner of Tyson’s Corner still there? Comparing historic aerial maps it seems like the original route 123/Chain Bridge road is now the short service road running form international drive to the lee highway service road. That corner - next to the building housing the woo law oak restaurant - would be the SE corner of the original Tyson’s Corner before the malls.

The whole triangular area bounded by chain bridge, lee highway, and international drive seems to be the last of the 1960s era buildings left. Stockyards inn anyone?

JR's Stockyard building is still there, the restaurant closed about 4-5 years ago as I recall. I think it is vacant, but not 100% sure.

Next to Woo Law Oak, the carwash is still there and the Petsmart is in an old grocery store building.

HW9FE Wrote:
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> JR's Stockyard building is still there, the
> restaurant closed about 4-5 years ago as I recall.
> I think it is vacant, but not 100% sure.
>
> Next to Woo Law Oak, the carwash is still there
> and the Petsmart is in an old grocery store
> building.

Yes.

https://youtu.be/fPotea6V4MM



https://youtu.be/xjHaFOGBPzk
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Tank you for your consideration and kindness that we found in the safe house hidden in the Tysons Corner basement back during the cold war, yours always in communism , we vill be pulling out all the stops to get JOE in ! He's been in hiding to avoid any critical comments because he is verrry stupid.

Boris and Natasha
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https://youtu.be/Xg9aQvjMS60
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Silver Line
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HW9FE Wrote:
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> and the Petsmart is in an old grocery store
> building.

It was a Bed Bath & Beyond back in the 90s, up until about 10-15 years ago.

https://youtu.be/2R_1crJy-o8
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Good work resurrecting a long dead thread.
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Guys who can't get women have to find sexual satisfaction from jerking their own penises. Guys with extra small penises can only find sexual satisfaction from jerking other guys penises.

I remember the Tyson's ice rink. Skated ice dance there for years.

Funny you should recall the Hot Shoppes and not the birds. “The Aviary Court” that held all the birds in their cages, was right outside the entrance to the Hot Shoppes! At some point in Tyson’s renovation, the bird cages were removed, so perhaps you visited there after, just before the cafeteria itself closed.

That fied chicken I had the hotshppes before it closed, was suspect.

It tasted like card vied4h

Prior to Metro, there would have no way for us to get to Dulles Crossing or Reston or Herndon.

Now, thankfully, we are able to pick your pockets, impregnate yor women, jack your rides and mobrob your stores.

Who said the middle class is shrinking?

All my kids wear top of the line Jordans and get them polished at the Tyson kiosks in business for JUST THAT PURPOSE.

Thanks to Metro, we can afford to shop at Tysons and spend fat, stacks of cash on jewelry, cosmetics, clothes and whores, all available at Tysons!

Some of you white people benefit from our activities and some of you get taxed. Haha. Call "DIY Reparations".

We enter the system at Springfield but we gets to those same areas.

All I can say is there's plenty to go around.

When we cashout, usually it's at blessed. Thems got the best of it all.

The tyco whores we hit up is all asian. Is that what you seeing?

Please post pics of aforementioned hot tyco Asian Chicks.

mfjoae Wrote:
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> traffic at tysons is awful
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ARE THEY SOME NEW TYPE OF WATER JUGS

Here one batch a bitches we cavorted with at the hotel attached to the mall...

These girlies be lovin the long dark, brah.
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Hell no!

Our whores ain't korean...they the soul sisters Tha be prancing about with dem big assess hanging out!

Are you saying that you wouldn't touch some fine k-girls?

K-girls don't associate with the negro.

Me likey these chicks

We have had groups of k-girls several times before, especially when conducting operationso in Annandale, but never in Tysons.

We fuck you all up.

No k-pops for us.

We gonna bang the bitches what want it.

Does anyone remember the name of the cafeteria at Tyson's corner? This is the early 70's to mid-'70s. I use to go there with my Grandmother (RIP). Always loved to be able to get my own tray and get the chocolate pudding. We spent many afternoons walking around the original Tyson's Corner. Many great memories that are fading (like the name of this cafeteria.) I want to say Morton's but that is not it.

I believe Tyson's had Hot Shoppes Cafeteria, a Marriott operation. I probably ate there but don't remember it. I do remember eating at S&W Cafeteria at Seven Corners.

Just surging around - saw your post from 12 years ago. My dad "was" Bunky O'neil - it was a barbeque place - honestly don't remember that we had spagetti :) I was only 14 when my dad and his partners opened the Tyson Corner location. What was strange is that you mentioned Burger Chef - befor my dad opened Bunky's, he was head of franchising and leasing in the western states for Burger Chef! I know it and recall it well! After he sold the Bunky O'Neils store at Tysons Corner, we moved to Arizona in the mid-70's.

Happy to know you recall the restaurant and Burger Chef!!

Regards and Merry Christmas!
Kelly

Hi Carol, Just surfing around and found your comment from many years ago. Bunky O'Neil was my dad!! I was 14 and got a workers permit to work there a few hours a week. When the restaurant was sold in the mid-70s we moved to Arizona - my dad's favorite state of all !!

Nice to see that you remember our restaurant!

Regards and Merry Christmas!
Kelly O'Neil

I remember seeing the birds in Tysons when I was a kid. I worked at Lums from about 1979-1981. I think it was by the theatres and there was a Magic Pan or some other restaurant to the left. Lums was at the bottom of the escalator.

Yes, I remember Dr Burns! We had cats, and we took them to Dr Burns back in the 60s and 70s. I don’t remember exactly when it closed, but I do remember that an Asian restaurant took over the office space.