Fairfax County General :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
I remember Springfield mall in the 1990s being not too bad. I got my VA driver's license at that location.
I have not been there in probably 12 years, but I heard its as bad as Landmark Mall.
Very odd for a county as large and as wealthy as Fairfax and nearby surrounds to have two or, maybe, three viable malls in NoVa (Tysons I and Tysons II and Pentagon City). I consider Dulles Town Center and Potomac Mills to be ex-area.
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"...your suffering will be legendary even in Hell!"
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
Shopper's Fool Warehouse
()
Date: January 12, 2012 02:54PM
It's hard to believe, but at one time Springfield Mall rivaled Tysons as THE place to shop in Northern Virginia. It's amazing how far that place has fallen. Others are correct, though...not the 80s and 90s, but the heyday was the mid to late 70s. It opened in 1973.
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
Mall historian
()
Date: January 12, 2012 02:56PM
When Springfield Mall was first constructed in the 70's it was the place to be. Not a lot of construction had happened yet out west of the beltway and Tysons was just starting to develop. Once Tysons came on the scene a little bit of business was syphoned off but Tysons was trying to be more "upscale" which basically means the same crap cost more so Springfield Mall was still going strong. Once development started gaining momentum west of the beltway there were more options for movies and nightlife closer to the population centers of those areas and Springfield Mall started it's decline.
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
Bill.N.
()
Date: January 12, 2012 05:18PM
IIRC Springfield Mall in those days had Montgomery Ward, JCPenny and Hechts. Tysons had Bloomingdales, Woodward & Lothrop, Hechts and Garfinkels/Lord & Taylor. You make the call.
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
Former Springfieldian
()
Date: January 12, 2012 05:42PM
Springfield mall had the edge on movies obviously since most people in the Tysons area prolly went to the cineplex in FC. Other than that the arcades were better in Springfield, and the foodcourt used to be bigger but much crappier. Tysons was also completely out of the way back then I feel like for where most people in the county lived. The 267 area was much less dense than it is now and days and I feel like most people south of 66 towards 95. Tysons was the place to go if you had the time to go out of your way or if you needed something particularly nice.
Springfield mall was also close to a massive Toys R Us on commerce drive which was ballllller if you needed a sweet new lego set.
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
skinner
()
Date: January 12, 2012 07:17PM
In the late 70's Springfield mall was the place to go when I was a kid. Time out and Spaceway Raceway which became Time out 2 . I thought that it was awesome to have bumper cars at the mall.
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
Elope
()
Date: January 12, 2012 08:35PM
Princess Diana 4 Ever Wrote:
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> Princess Diana went to Springfield Mall and not
> Tysons so you make the call.
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
Bill.N.
()
Date: January 12, 2012 08:47PM
Elope Wrote:
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> Princess Diana 4 Ever Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Princess Diana went to Springfield Mall and not
> > Tysons so you make the call.
>
> When did she go to Springfield Mall?
I believe it was when she went to visit the Straight Incorporated drug rehab facility in Springfield.
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
Diana4Ever
()
Date: January 12, 2012 08:51PM
Elope Wrote:
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> Princess Diana 4 Ever Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Princess Diana went to Springfield Mall and not
> > Tysons so you make the call.
>
> When did she go to Springfield Mall?
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
That makes sense
()
Date: January 13, 2012 10:33AM
Well she did have an affinity for visiting the poor haha, she was the people's princess not the ritzy princess. I made my child self sad by calling him poor (so true).
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
ronsen
()
Date: January 15, 2012 11:55AM
It's a crying shame what happned to that mall, it really is. The last time I went in I almost wanted to start crying it was that upsetting. All of the memories I had growing up in the 90's and graduating in 2002 started to set in. Remember taking my dates to Ruby Tuesdays and Bennegins, remember the old arcade there, the hot topic, and the movie theater. I remember Friday and Saturday nights when the mall seemed to be packed and during the weekdays going to the food court. Although I lived closer to Fair Oaks and didn't really go to Springfield Mall too much, it seemed every time I went there I had a memory. Sad to see this place look like something out of Kabul, Afghanistan. Now the only reason I would go there is to see what it's like to be deployed
ronsen Wrote:
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> Sad to see this place look like something out of Kabul,
> Afghanistan. Now the only reason I would go there
> is to see what it's like to be deployed
Totally. Other than it not being in a desert, bombed to shit, with random power failures (when it has power at all), not having the acrid smell of smog and burning tires/trash/anything flammable, and being the territory of ms13 instead of Taliban, its TOTALLY LIKE Kabul and Afghanistan.
Re: In the 80s or 90s, did Springfield Mall ever rival Tysons 1 Mall?
Posted by:
John Bigtbooty
()
Date: January 16, 2012 01:16PM
Springfield Mall was always the "dirt mall", but in the 80's it was "the" mall to hang out at. Two arcades, one with an outside entrance complete with guys selling shitty drugs, Hong Kong and Far East Bazaar for all your band t-shirt needs, and plenty of hot girls to hit on. Man I miss those days. I was in there doing a bit of Xmas shopping last month and what a ghost town. Not even any scary wanna-be gangstas. So sad...
Pinhead the Cenobite Wrote:
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>
> Fairfax and nearby surrounds to have two or,
> maybe, three viable malls in NoVa (Tysons I and
> Tysons II and Pentagon City). I consider Dulles
> Town Center and Potomac Mills to be ex-area.