Did you know that Seven Corners Shopping Center in Fairfax County Virginia was once the largest regional shopping center in the entire state? Picture this. It’s October 4 1956. Thousands of shoppers flood the newly opened Seven Corners Shopping Center. This wasn’t just any shopping center. It was the first major shopping center in suburban Washington DC.
A grand opening it truly was. Two prominent Washington DC department stores Julius Garfinckel & Co and Woodward & Lothrop anchored the impressive 600000 square foot space. Imagine a bustling 45 store mall. Shoppers filled the aisles of Woolworth’s Bond Stores and Franklin Simon & Co. Even a Food Lane supermarket and the very first cafeteria in Northern Virginia an S&W Cafeteria were housed within this retail mecca. Nearly 1000 people found employment there.
The architecture was unique. A split level design with escalators connecting two levels. The building was shaped like an “I” with two anchor stores at either end. A unique detail was its heating and cooling system. Water from an underground lake provided climate control.
But times changed. Competition from newer malls and the bankruptcy of Garfinckel’s in 1990 led to the decline of the original Seven Corners Shopping Center. Raleigh’s and Woodward & Lothrop closed in 1995. Most of the original structure was demolished. The indoor mall was replaced by a power center. Shoppers now walk along the parking lot. The two levels are no longer connected by escalators.
A dark chapter in the Seven Corners Shopping Center’s history was the 2002 Beltway sniper attack. A deadly shooting occurred in the parking garage of the Home Depot.
Today Seven Corners Shopping Center continues to evolve. It’s a far cry from its original incarnation. The Garfinckel’s building remains. Now occupied by Ross Dress for Less it stands as a testament to the past. But the spirit of innovation and community that defined its early years lives on in this ever changing Fairfax County landmark. The shopping center has always been a major bus stop a testament to its accessibility and its importance in the community. Seven Corners Shopping Center a vibrant hub of activity for over sixty years a place of transformation and a place with a story to tell.