Comments on Restonian: News blog from Reston, Virginia, the mauve-colored New Town (tm): R.I.P.: Tall Oaks Fresh World: 2008-09

They are opening another anchor store there. Consu...

2009-09-15T12:54:53.971-04:00

They are opening another anchor store there. Consume Foods from NY - Do your research :)

Well no suprise here with Fresh World. What is in...

2009-09-12T17:33:56.473-04:00

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?

It looks like Fresh World was being sued for back ...

2009-09-11T20:30:01.252-04:00

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/

They feature Mexican, Central American, and Carrib...

2009-09-09T21:41:04.978-04:00

They feature Mexican, Central American, and Carribean foods in their circular. Some of their stores have a taqueria (taco/tortilla shop).

My family enjoyed the old Hunters Woods. We were ...

2009-09-09T18:21:23.173-04:00

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.

From the Observer's facebook status: The Obse...

2009-09-09T15:44:37.440-04:00

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

Agreed- it was almost like Fresh World was done in...

2009-09-09T08:28:38.490-04:00

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.

Hard not to be nostalgic about the old Hunters Woo...

2009-09-08T22:23:40.331-04:00

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.

The produce was never good there. There are other...

2009-09-08T22:02:36.246-04:00

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.

Lots of things hurt Tall Oaks, but what did in Fre...

2009-09-08T17:42:15.044-04:00

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.

Mark Winkler Management owned the apartments along...

2009-09-08T16:07:25.733-04:00

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.

Fritzbees was the Macaroni Grill before there was ...

2009-09-08T14:58:31.108-04:00

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.

I worked at Tall Oaks when there was still a pet s...

2009-09-08T14:46:07.656-04:00

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.

Yes, let's relocate the RA to a foodstore. &q...

2009-09-08T14:44:58.900-04:00

Yes, let's relocate the RA to a foodstore. "Pool Passes are in isle 14, ma'am".

Hunters Woods was a great place when I was a kid. ...

2009-09-08T14:43:24.429-04:00

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.

I'm wondering if this isn't in fact more e...

2009-09-08T14:05:45.663-04:00

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?

To the douche - back in the day (70-80s) Hunters W...

2009-09-08T13:37:41.482-04:00

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.

In Maryland, the counties impose a piggyback to th...

2009-09-08T09:16:10.813-04:00

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).

To the wacko who thought the original; Hunter'...

2009-09-08T09:12:40.098-04:00

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.

Once again, the morons who "run and govern&qu...

2009-09-08T09:11:25.072-04:00

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!

Another lovely "addition" to our communi...

2009-09-08T09:07:36.298-04:00

Another lovely "addition" to our community courtesy of cathy "bring the slugde of society to Reston" hudgins.

Change is good --- vote her out!

Weren't there restrictions on Burger King on i...

2009-09-08T00:02:05.530-04:00

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.

The BK is pretty nasty actually but they had fine ...

2009-09-07T23:42:48.825-04:00

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

Yeah. And how exactly did BOTH a 7-11 and a Burg...

2009-09-07T23:34:30.388-04:00

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.

Of course a total napalm rape like what was done t...

2009-09-07T23:33:44.921-04:00

Of course a total napalm rape like what was done to Hunters Woods Village Center would be the worst solution