What is going on with Pickett Shopping Center and all the vacant stores? It has been like that for years! Many years ago the traffic pattern was changed which killed the traffic going into the shopping center but it was since changed back. Why is it in an affluent area like this can't the shopping center owners get tenants? It is a lot of wasted space!!

Well, the parking in that center is dreadful. In-and-out of the center is still difficult, even with the new light. There's no shortage of retail space around. It's just not a real attractive situation there.

Yes, we should replace with some high end stores and restaurants. Plus a new movie muliplex too.

Someone posted about a year ago that they received a memo with all the great new stores that were supposedly coming.

Look about 1/4 way down on this thread:

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/268702/409615.html#msg-409615

The greedy owner refuses to lower and keep lower, the RENTS in these places. The government has given them (the mega-rich owners) tax breaks so heavily on empty, non rented space, The owners can 'write-off' the losses on the vacant space so well and easily they make money on them while sitting empty, adding to the luxery of the owner to maintain high rents even during deep recessions and such.
(This country IS still in a deep recession, and the Big Money Media, the rich and the government are simply lieing to us.)
As long as The Federal Reserve is keeping the Fed Rate under a/the minimum of 3%, all other propoganda published about this nations economy 'recovering' IS A LIE!!! I thought everyone knew this stuff!!

A "lot" of wasted space.

Haha

Let's work through a thought experiment:

Businessman: I would like a business loan. Here's my business plan for your review.

Bank: Seems like a solid project. Can you tell me about the area's demographics?

Businessman: Well, with Yellow Flight seeing the wealthy Koreans moving west, this area represents the full cross-section of central and eastern Fairfax County: illegal immigrants, MS-13 members, Al Qaeda sympathizers, and whites one generation removed from the trailer park. Oh, and transplants from New Jersey.

Bank: The exit is thataway.

That was a good one.

To the: To the room store lady

You are an idiot!

Oh, really? Nothing is inaccurate in thought experiment.

Real Estate Assn. Wrote:
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> The greedy owner refuses to lower and keep lower,
> the RENTS in these places. The government has
> given them (the mega-rich owners) tax breaks so
> heavily on empty, non rented space, The owners can
> 'write-off' the losses on the vacant space so well
> and easily they make money on them while sitting
> empty, adding to the luxery of the owner to
> maintain high rents even during deep recessions
> and such.
> (This country IS still in a deep recession, and
> the Big Money Media, the rich and the government
> are simply lieing to us.)
> As long as The Federal Reserve is keeping the
> Fed Rate under a/the minimum of 3%, all other
> propoganda published about this nations economy
> 'recovering' IS A LIE!!! I thought everyone knew
> this stuff!!


Thought provoking stuff.....But....

Picket shopping center is slated for a total rebuild.
Has been for several years.
That is why all the stores are slowly leaving.
The backs of the stores are going to be facing Main and Picket.
Kind of how they do it out west.

Putting in a Starbucks would be a good idea. There isn't one around for a whole 2 miles and it would bring in other businesses too.

What happened to Record and Tape Exchange? Very little quality stuff and tons of cheap crap.

And what happened to the Poopeye's Love that chickn

I miss the 7/11. I went there as a kid after swimming at the YMCA. Hmmmm a slurpee on a hot summer day.

What's left over there?

- A CVS?

- A Trader Joe's store?

- A Einstein Bagels shop in the middle of the parking lot?

I should have also mentioned a response to the person who indicated this shopping center is scheduled for renovation. So, I guess this will mean a new face lift for the center. Then, they'll bring in a new Subway, a UPS store and more of the same stores that we see in every other shopping center. Ugh!

I say plow it down and make a park out of it.

What happened to the safeway? what about Zany Brainy? The Giant Empolyment Office? C'MON MAN.

C'Mon Man Wrote:
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> What happened to the safeway? what about Zany
> Brainy? The Giant Empolyment Office? C'MON MAN.

Safeway? I've been here 24 years and never recall a Safeway being in that shopping center. Zany Brainy has been gone for about 10 years. The Giant employment office? We'll, they're out of business. Since the Dutch bought out the company, they've changed everything around ... and, not always for the better.

I hope that if the Pickett Shopping Center gets renovated, that Blue Ocean remains.

Why?

Because it's a rarity in the VA/DC/MD area: a Japanese restaurant that is actually owned, run, and staffed by Japanese. Yes, there are only two Japanese restaurants in the entire area with Japanese chefs.

Not Koreans or Chinese wearing hapi coats and fooling the culturally-ignorant wannabe-hip yuppie roundeyes.

Total Wine and Bev is there...I was there right after a car ran off Pickett and hit the building...second it has happened the clerk said

Say What? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> C'Mon Man Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What happened to the safeway? what about Zany
> > Brainy? The Giant Empolyment Office? C'MON
> MAN.
>
> Safeway? I've been here 24 years and never recall
> a Safeway being in that shopping center. Zany
> Brainy has been gone for about 10 years. The
> Giant employment office? We'll, they're out of
> business. Since the Dutch bought out the company,
> they've changed everything around ... and, not
> always for the better.

In fact, when this shopping center opened, its anchor *was* Safeway, which was located along/in the part of the property now occupied by CVS and Trader Joe's. The tall sign in the parking lot retains its original, old Safeway-designed shape.

I am not new to eating Japanese food, and I am not afraid of ordering something other than a California rule. I ate at Blue Ocean and got so sick from the MSG or whatever preservatives they put in their food that I couldn't eat for 2 days.
That particular shopping center is doing fine, it is often hard to get a parking spot. I thought this thread referred to across the street where there is only a Dollar Store and Frame Store and the Giant used to be there. That strip mall is dead!

I meant California Roll- I was distracted thinking about how the inch of snow tomorrow will triple my commute.

Driving through Fairfax City one would never guess it is an affluent area. The shopping centers are old with torn up parking lots, no landscaping, and traffic as far as the eye can see. It's ugly and old. Driving around that area of Fairfax depresses me. It honestly looks like a low income area of most other cities/suburbs. It certainly wouldn't encourage me to move there. The whole area needs a facelift. However, even with a facelift the traffic and overall congestion of the area would keep me away from those shopping centers.

Mimi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> In fact, when this shopping center opened, its
> anchor *was* Safeway, which was located along/in
> the part of the property now occupied by CVS and
> Trader Joe's. The tall sign in the parking lot
> retains its original, old Safeway-designed shape.

Thanks for the correction. I guess the Safeway was before my time.

Sir Lance A Lot Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Driving through Fairfax City one would never guess
> it is an affluent area. The shopping centers are
> old with torn up parking lots, no landscaping, and
> traffic as far as the eye can see. It's ugly and
> old. Driving around that area of Fairfax
> depresses me. It honestly looks like a low income
> area of most other cities/suburbs. It certainly
> wouldn't encourage me to move there. The whole
> area needs a facelift. However, even with a
> facelift the traffic and overall congestion of the
> area would keep me away from those shopping
> centers.

That section of Rt. 236 in Fairfax does have its fair share of blight. Meanwhile, over on Rt. 50/29 (Fairfax Boulevard), many of the shopping centers have been renovated, or bulldozed and rebuilt from the ground up. That section is starting to look pretty classy, in my opinion.

Fairfax blvd. looking good in parts huh i must be going blind faster than I thought? Fairfax City looks like shit in many areas imo

Yes, this thread is about the lot with the Dollar Tree and Frame Store. I'm not sure why people starting talking about the other side.

Wally Pip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fairfax blvd. looking good in parts huh i must be
> going blind faster than I thought? Fairfax City
> looks like shit in many areas imo

I'm talking about the portion of Rt. 50/29 near the intersection of 236. This is referred to as Kamp Washington. Gone is the old Dunkin' Donuts, the old Frank's crafts building and many other structures. In their place, you'll find new strip mall centers that are currently filling up with occupants.

shopping Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, this thread is about the lot with the Dollar
> Tree and Frame Store. I'm not sure why people
> starting talking about the other side.


Ah, I see. I know what you mean. Gone is the Giant, Bagel Bakery, Honey Baked Ham, Blockbuster?, and many others.

So why is it shopping centers are rarely renovated in northern Virginia? Serious question here. Same with the roads around here. A lot of northern Virginia and Fairfax County are just old and dumpy looking. I've lived in less affluent areas that are much nicer with more attention to landscaping, road maintenance, building renovations, etc. I know Fairfax City is supposed to be nice and many of you like it, but it just feels ghetto to me and I don't see the appeal.

Fairfax County is a weird place.

About 20 years ago, I spent some vacation time in Raleigh, NC. I was amazed at how well their shopping centers were landscaped - some to the point where you could barely determine the stores that were present there without driving into the actual parking lot. A few weeks after my visit there, I was reading in Time magazine where they have some of the strictist landscaping requirements for commercial properties. It really shows, too.

You should visit Palm Springs! It is the bomb. Cannot wait till I retire. Only 20 years to go.

four words: chesapeake bagel

Thank You Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mimi Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> >In fact, when this shopping center opened, its
> > anchor *was* Safeway, which was located
> along/in
> > the part of the property now occupied by CVS
> and
> > Trader Joe's . The tall sign in the parking lot
> > retains its original, old Safeway-designed
> shape.
>
> Thanks for the correction. I guess the Safeway
> was before my time.

FAIL:

"In fact, when this shopping center opened, its anchor *was* Safeway, which was located along/in the part of the property now occupied by CVS and Trader Joe's"

Safeway was located where Total Wine, CVS, and Subway or whatever is directly located next to the CVS. The Safeway moved out to University Shopping Center (or whatever it is called) at the intersection of Old Lee Hwy and Main St in the mid 70s and Sloan's Furniture was the first store located in the "old" Safeway.

The Giant Employment office was for all the store located in N. Virginian not the one across the street. On a different note that Giant was either the 3rd or 4th one that opened in N. Virginia. I realize that the Dutch have fucked shit up in that store, like raising beer prices beyond the reach of mortal men.

pom pom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So why is it shopping centers are rarely renovated
> in northern Virginia? Serious question here.
> Same with the roads around here. A lot of
> northern Virginia and Fairfax County are just old
> and dumpy looking. I've lived in less affluent
> areas that are much nicer with more attention to
> landscaping, road maintenance, building
> renovations, etc. I know Fairfax City is supposed
> to be nice and many of you like it, but it just
> feels ghetto to me and I don't see the appeal.
>
> Fairfax County is a weird place.


Actually both Pickett and Turnpike Shopping Centers were renovated around 1990.

Self Fail:

The Giant Employment office was for all the store located in N. Virginian

Fail for "store" when I meant stores and "Virginian" when I meant Virginia. Can't just point out the Fail of others.

I miss Samurai...*sniff*

They should consider putting in middle of the road chain restaurants such as Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill or Carrabba's or On the Border that will attract families and will generate business for the rest of the shops. That area needs to be updated -- there is a lot of lost revenue, and a lost opportunity for the community. So many of the newer areas in Reston and Ashburn and Loudoun County have nice shopping areas and restaurants that just aren't anywhere around this area. Come on, Fairfax, wake up and take advantage of the prime location!

Isn't this referencing Turnpike Shopping Center? Which is across the road from Pickett Shopping Center. Some new stores are finally opening up. curious why all those stores were empty for years. Even before we entered the Great Recession. Doesn't appear to be any refacing of the center itself just empty storefronts now getting a few occupants. i.e. Firehouse Grill and one of them educational centers(korean?) so far
rumored to be a Ross coming to old Giant location

As mentioned on the other thread: Ross, Caribou Coffee, Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt, Elevation Burger, Chipotle, Sarku Japanese Cuisine are all coming soon! Elevation Burger in August 2012, Ross in Winter 2012 and the rest in Spring 2013. The shopping center's name is actually Turnpike Shopping Center and Pickett Shopping Center is the one across the street with Trader Joes, CVS, Chuck'e'cheese's etc...