Fair Oaks Mall

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Interior of Fair Oaks Mall (upper level)

Fair Oaks Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside the city of Fairfax. It is located at the intersection of Interstate 66 and U.S. Route 50. The mall has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 1,574,000 sq ft (146,200 m2).[1]

In August 2007 it was announced by Taubman Centers that preliminary plans were in the works to expand the mall by 34%.

History

Fair Oaks Mall is an enclosed two-level regional shopping mall located in Fairfax, Virginia. The mall's main competition is Tysons Corner Center in McLean.

Fair Oaks Mall officially opened on July 31, 1980.[2] The 1,400,000-square-foot (130,000 m2) mall, developed by the Taubman Company, opened in the midst of a recession, with only four of six anchor stores in operation (Hecht's, JCPenney, Sears, and Woodward & Lothrop) and 15 other storefronts occupied, leaving three fourths of the storefronts empty. The two remaining anchors opened shortly after: Garfinckel's on August 21, 1980, and Lord & Taylor in spring 1981. Developers expected 60 to be occupied by the Christmas season and 100 by the following year. Upon opening, it was the largest mall in the Washington, D.C., area. It included the first suburban Washington location of the British homegoods store Conran's.[3]

In 1982, the Fair Oaks Mall was one of the first sites used by Sears as part of its effort to offer financial services to customers, including stocks, bonds, insurance and real estate, from its Dean Witter, Allstate and Coldwell Banker subsidiaries.[4]

In 1987, the mall's owners attempted to evict Garfinckel's and a related company, Raleigh Stores Holding, Inc., claiming that the store owners had not received the landlord's permission to assign the lease after Allied Stores divested some lines of business.[5]

In 1988, seeking to reach out to a broader range of patrons, the Fairfax library system opened a 10,000-volume branch at the Fair Oaks Mall.[6] The mall also contains a Virginia DMV customer service center.

Fairfax Corner, a planned lifestyle center, opened in 2004 just south of Fair Oaks.

Anchors

  • J.C. Penney (257,000 square feet)
  • Lord & Taylor (127,000 square feet)
  • Macy's - 2 locations (formerly Hecht's; 449,000 square feet)
  • Sears (121,000 square feet)

References

  1. ↑ International Council of Shopping Centers: Fair Oaks Mall, accessed January 1, 2007
  2. ↑ "Mall: The Fountains! The Parasols! The Parking," by Lynn Darling, The Washington Post, Aug 1, 1980, p. C1.
  3. ↑ "New Fair Oaks Mall Runs Afoul of Recession," by Jerry Knight, The Washington Post, Jul 27, 1980, p. F1.
  4. ↑ "Sears's Experiment In Financial Sales", The New York Times, October 7, 1982. p. D1.
  5. ↑ "Mall owners sues to evict unit of Garfinckel's". (Fair Oaks Mall, Va.) Daily News Record, December, 1987 by Betsy Stanton
  6. ↑ "Branching Out; Area Libraries Aren't Just for Books Anymore", The Washington Post, October 13, 1988. pg. v.01

External links

Washington, D.C.
Suburban Maryland
Northern Virginia
Defunct centers

Coordinates: 38°51′47″N 77°21′32″W / 38.863°N 77.359°W / 38.863; -77.359

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