Tysons Galleria was originally The Galleria at Tysons II, developed by Lerner Enterprises in the mid '80s to capitalize on the critical mass of office workers and shoppers in greater Tysons Corner. The Galleria was supposed to be the upscale compliment to the larger Tysons Corner Center across the street, and the department stores; Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Macy's, along with its own attached Ritz-Carlton hotel were chosen to help establish a unbeatable luxury tenant mix.
Or so they thought.
The Galleria was a flop initally. An expansion at Tysons Corner Center greatly incresed its size and phenomenal popularity (they landed the East Coast's first Nordstrom), stealing the attention back from the newer mall. A recession robbed the Galleria of many of its boutiques leaving it to fill in spaces with substandard mall stores. Critics labeled it "the retail mausoleum" and it wasn't far from that its first ten years of operation. Stores came and went at a remarkable pace.
In the mid '90s, the economy rebounded and the mall was sold to General Growth Properties. An inverted name and new logo were the first of many changes made. GGP, thanks to the rebound in retail spending, was able to greatly enhance the tenant mix with designer boutiques. An abandoned third floor food court was turned into a battery of casual dining restaurants. The formerly fortress-like exterior was renovated to suggest a downtown streetscape. The mall doesn't look much different inside than it did at first, but it's a substantially healthier business and stays crowded with upscale shoppers and diners most days.
Check it out:
This mall is totally '80s, but it's beautiful.
Neiman Marcus, my favorite store at the Galleria.
This mall is always very quiet and relaxing.
Saks never really left the '80s at the Galleria, though the second floor has been remodeled into a prototype Saks "main floor"
Look up at the top of the photo. Notice that while the first two levels are glamourously upscale, the third level is deader than 4:00. The third level has no direct exterior access. As a result, nothing ever survives up here. Even the food court died.
Oh yeah, here's the Macy's. Not much to report here. I don't like this store much.
Third floors are always the first floor to die.
ReplyDeleteThey need to come up with some kind of way to bring people's attention to it. Maybe an entertainement component of some sort.
ReplyDeleteI like nothing better than a good mall post.
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to make it out to Tysons Corner during my time in D.C. but there wasn't enough time. Going to King of Prussia pretty much took up an entire day of my East Coast trip! Thanks for sharing the story and photos with me.
From the late 1970's into the late 1980's, mall developers seemed to believe "if you build it, they will come." No one seemed to question the logic of building a super-upscale mall right next door to a mall that was already successful and served the market well. This mall reminds me of Scottsdale Galleria -- a super-posh mall built down the street from the already successful, recently expanded Scottsdale Fashion Square. The Galleria was so audacious that it had no anchors! As you might imagine, the Galleria opened half-full and closed within a couple years, while Fashion Square continued to expand and is currently one of the most successful malls in the country. Oh, the hubris!
The only way to make the 3rd floor viable would be to create a direct exterior access. Shopper psychology is strange; people don't feel compelled to go up too far -- if a food court didn't draw people to the 3rd floor, I doubt anything else would -- except, maybe, a direct link to the parking!
I have a feeling that the worst may be yet to come for Tysons Galleria. Macy's is taking over the Hecht's across the street at Tysons Corner Center and Federated will also control the Lord & Taylor anchor there as well.
ReplyDeleteThere is a distinct possiblity that one of the Macy's at Tysons Corner will close and considering that the Galleria store is in a weaker mall, that may likely be the one that closes.
If Macy's closes, then Neiman Marcus might try to buy into Tysons Corner Center, taking over the Lord & Taylor anchor space. That would leave Saks at the Galleria alone, and they're not very financially healthy as a company.
Needless to say, things don't look good for that place anchor-wise.
Even if all the anchors stay, adding parking access to the third level would be tricky. Add it to the front of the mall and the visiblity and curb appeal suffers. Add it to the back and the guests at the Ritz-Carlton lose what little view they had.