News and notes from Reston (tm).

Monday, September 7, 2009

R.I.P.: Tall Oaks Fresh World: 2008-09

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This sad photo of the Tall Oaks Shopping Center stucco wasteland off North Shore tells the whole story: Fresh World, the Easter miracle that graced Tall Oaks after Giant departed and bleach-intensive Bloom passed, is no more.

We saw this coming, of course. The store opened to booming business, but over time, the parking lot became less and less full. Then signs popped up proclaiming new ownership, as well as vague promises that a better selection of foodstuffs was on its way. Now just a sad sign reading "CLOSED" and various people wandering in and out to do final inventory remain.

We're sad because we no longer have a place to get fresh eel, sushi-grade salmon, and seaweed by the sheet. But we're wondering what happens to the entire shopping center now, especially since there were rumors predating Fresh World that the owners were basically just waiting for it to fail so they could build something awesomely Manhattan-y in its place. Only in this economic climate, those rumors seem less likely to happen now.

Or maybe we've found the perfect space for the new RA headquarters! They could put the child labor cubbies back behind the produce section.

Posted by Restonian at 5:43 PM

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29 comments:

  1. So it lasted a little over a year? How sad...but you're right, now it's the perfect location for the RA HQ. They could lead the way to returning financial health to that very sad shopping center. Well, sure -- the many employees have to eat somewhere so other food places will move in. Right? Right? Is anyone listening at RA?
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  2. Oh, that's too bad. I really enjoyed shopping there when it first opened, but everything other than the produce (and eel) was so mind-bogglingly overpriced that I couldn't justify making the trip over there knowing I'd have to go someplace else anyway.

    I hope they do something with that shopping center- it's been in decline more or less since I moved to Reston in the early 80s!
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  3. I was sitting next to a guy on a plane from SFO in May who was working on the bankruptcy case of one of the owners. Sad. Lotte in Chantilly is doing so well...
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  4. Been shopping at Tall Oaks since it opened - soccer practice at Brown's Chapel and then groceries at the Giant. Miss the BK & the 7-11 more than anything. Really need a 7-11. Awesome traffic on Whiele - If they only had a little exposure...
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  5. Of course a total napalm rape like what was done to Hunters Woods Village Center would be the worst solution
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  6. Yeah. And how exactly did BOTH a 7-11 *and* a Burger King both go out of business? Both franchises are pretty much a license to print money.
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  7. The BK is pretty nasty actually but they had fine tacos once - ummmmm goooooood. Some real signage would help at the road but Reston would prefer to open it all up to the road ala strip mall rather than allowing a conventional, customer drawing sign/entryway
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  8. Weren't there restrictions on Burger King on its application for drive-thru window? It has a real strange layout now that spills over into the parking lot.
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  9. Another lovely "addition" to our community courtesy of cathy "bring the slugde of society to Reston" hudgins.

    Change is good --- vote her out!
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  10. Once again, the morons who "run and govern" Reston need do no more than take a road trip to Columbia, MD to see successful governance with abundant and propserous "village" (read: suburban shopping) centers.

    No Metro there; no bloated RA, just an efficient HoCo government, lower taxes, progressive CA assessments, a very streamlined Columbia Association that focus on festering eyesores rather than matthews-like empire building, and increasing property values -- imagine that!
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  11. To the wacko who thought the original; Hunter's Woods was desirable --- you are on crack!

    That place was a dangerous dump with the most disgusting, filthy Safeway in the world.
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  12. In Maryland, the counties impose a piggyback to the state income tax. It can be as much as a 50% surcharge (as in Montgomery & PG counties).
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  13. To the douche - back in the day (70-80s) Hunters Woods was a fine place to hang out with a library, ice cream store, hardware store, hobby shop, bank or two, restaurant/bar, tailor, beauty parlor, drugstore (with lunch counter), post office, fountain, gas station with real service, doc offices and a very nice Safeway. Lots of places for kids to have fun. On a hot day you could go into the 31 Flavors and drink from their ice-cold water fountain. I think the restaurant was called Fritzbes.
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  14. I'm wondering if this isn't in fact more evidence of the coming shake-out in commerical office and retial space that a lot of economists are forecasting. Perhaps Tall Oaks is a victim of its relative proximity to North Point, which arguably might be the nicest looking and most successful of all the village centers in Reston?
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  15. Hunters Woods was a great place when I was a kid. I think Fox Mill center put the nail in its coffin, though. Also things like Hechingers (Now Home Depot) killed he small hardware store.
    Fritzbees was very popular in its heyday, a proto-Fridays type joint that served up decent brown food, and had a little bar scene. There was also good Thai food and a cake shop that did well. The used bookstore was a nice place and of Course Baskin Robbins was the place to go if you were 12-14 years old.

    I miss the old Hunters Woods, the new "re-imagining" is just a giant parking lot that is never more than a quarter full.
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  16. Sacastic Much?Sep 8, 2009 11:44 AM
    Yes, let's relocate the RA to a foodstore. "Pool Passes are in isle 14, ma'am".
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  17. I worked at Tall Oaks when there was still a pet store there. It seemed to always be pretty busy, lots of people going to Giant and eating at the chinese restaurant or going to 7-11. Was it Henry Winkler that managed that property? I think the rents got too high, and of course we can always blame the gleaming shit-pie-in-the-sky RTC for Tall Oaks' downfall.

    After that place got built it seems a collective amnesia settled over Restonians and they stopped shopping at their local shopping centers.
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  18. Fritzbees was the Macaroni Grill before there was a Macaroni Grill. Brown starchy foods rock!

    Here's an arial shot of the old Hunter's Woods for the morbidly curious. Note that Tall Oaks is already much more of a traditional strip mall than HW ever was.
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  19. Mark Winkler Management owned the apartments along North Shore Dr.

    Tall Oaks is hurt by the fact that it takes a roundabout way to drive there from Uplands, Forest Edge, and North Lake Anne despite being closer than Northpoint as the crow flies...

    It also doesn't help foot traffic to the plaza to have to go through the dark wooded path past the subsidized housing complexes around Forest Edge.
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  20. Lots of things hurt Tall Oaks, but what did in Fresh World was the way it was being run, it was just getting dirtier-- the last time I went in my feet were sticking to the floor and the place always smelled bad--- like rotting fish... As nice as the produce may have been, it could have been free and I wouldn't have bought it after a while: going in there was just gross.
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  21. The produce was never good there. There are other Korean stores that are better. The Sterling Grandmart has improved a lot in the last year.
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  22. Hard not to be nostalgic about the old Hunters Woods. I remember Kimberly who worked in the postal substation in the hardware store and Frank out at the cash register. Reston was a small town then and Hunters Woods was the center of town.

    Too bad about Fresh World. They had really good catfish.
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  23. Agreed- it was almost like Fresh World was done in by the management on purpose. It was like "the producers" of grocery stores.

    I miss the old hunter's woods, too (before it was ruined by loitering gangs of teenagers). I also really miss the old hardware store- I hate the home depot! The guys who worked in that store actually knew stuff and would help you! They took something unique and turned it into just another strip mall with a huge parking lot. I miss a lot of the shops in the old hunters woods. And I remember when the old library was there as well. Sigh.
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  24. From the Observer's facebook status:

    The Observer Newspapers| Fresh World at Tall Oaks in Reston has closed its doors and in a few weeks Compare Foods Supermarket from New York will open in its place. The retailer describes itself as an American supermarket with international flair. Compare Foods will begin moving in on Sept. 16 and will open within 45 days.
    2 hours ago · Comment · Like
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  25. My family enjoyed the old Hunters Woods. We were told the new layout would result in increased safety. That theory certainly hasn't worked out.
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  26. They feature Mexican, Central American, and Carribean foods in their circular. Some of their stores have a taqueria (taco/tortilla shop).
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  27. It looks like Fresh World was being sued for back rent not long after they filed for bankruptcy. Sued for breach of contract on June 5th by Tall Oaks.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-vaedce/case_no-1:2009cv00636/case_id-243082/
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  28. Well no suprise here with Fresh World. What is interesting is that they spent a lot of money on those electronic signs, how annoyed are the other tennants at that? I love Momma Wok. But I noticed another new supermarket coming in on the window. So here we go again.....why doesn't RA just move in? Or split the space and put in smaller stores?
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  29. They are opening another anchor store there. Consume Foods from NY - Do your research :)
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