New Apple Store design hits paydirt at Virginia’s Fairfax Corner
Though the Fairfax Corner open-air center in affluent Fairfax County, Va. is just 20 years old, Peterson Companies decided to invest $110 million to add 30,000 sq. ft of retail space and 80,000 sq. ft. of residential space.
Fairfax Corner used the new space to move Arhaus into an enlarged 19,000-sq.-ft. store with a 4,000-sq.-ft. terrace where the brand displays outdoor furniture. It also made way for Apple to enter the center in one of its one of its new prototype footprints.
“The Apple Store immediately established a presence at Fairfax Corner. Apple was very excited about it--as were the rest of our tenants,” said Peterson’s COO Paul Weinschenk. “It’s simple and elegant without being Spartan. The wood paneling imparts the space with a very warm feeling. You can be in there on a crowded Saturday and everyone can hear each other better without noise bouncing off of hard wall surfaces.”
Peterson’s investment paid out rather well.
“From Thanksgiving to Dec. 25, our traffic was up by 57% over the year before,” Weinschenk noted. “We’re absolutely attributing that to the arrival of Apple.”
Peterson Companies, which owns and operates meticulously designed centers such as National Harbor outside of Washington, D.C. and RIO in Gaithersburg, Md. is an operator that constantly reviews local demographics to keep its tenant curations relevant.
In 2019, Peterson launched a $30 million reinvestment in RIO to, in part, add new and enhanced retail, dining, and entertainment options. On the shore of the property’s 9-acre lake, it added a jogging trail and a 19th Century-style carousel.
Over the past year, Fairfax Corner has opened some 53,000 sq. ft. of new tenants. New food and beverage tenants included the Southern comfort food brand Ruthie’s All Day, King Arthur Baking Company, and Sweetgreen.
“It’s a really difficult time to do any ground-up construction right now,” Weinschenk noted, “but if you can do it, you can be picky about landing great tenants.”
