Dulles Town Center is a two-level enclosed shopping mall in Sterling in

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun ...

. It is located north of

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and F ...

. It is part of the Dulles Town Center

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

for population statistical purposes. Dulles Town Center is anchored by the traditional chains

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores ...

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gi ...

, and

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

. It features typical mall staples such as

Books-A-Million Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, is a bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states. Stores range in size from 4,000 to 30,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, manga, collectibles, toys, technology, ...

, American Eagle, Aeropostale, PacSun,

Hollister Co. Hollister Co., often advertised as Hollister or HCo., is a retail brand owned by Abercrombie & Fitch Co, selling apparel, accessories, and fragrances. Goods are available in-store and through the company's online store. Hollister uses a narrativ ...

, and

Ann Taylor Ann or Anne Taylor may refer to: * Ann Taylor (writer, born 1757) (1757–1830), English writer *Ann Taylor (poet) (1782–1866), English poet and children's writer, daughter of the above * Ann Taylor (actress) (born 1936), British actress, hostess ...

. It encompasses of gross leasable area and is the sole enclosed shopping center in Loudoun County. The mall serves a wide geographic area, drawing customers from Loudoun, Fairfax,

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

, and Frederick counties in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, as well as Jefferson County, West Virginia.

History

In December 1987, Loudoun County officials approved the jurisdiction's first regional shopping mall, to be developed in a joint venture between Lerner Enterprises and

Cigna Cigna is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Bloomfield, Connecticut. Its insurance subsidiaries are major providers of medical, dental, disability, life and accident insurance and related products and se ...

. The mall was originally planned to be named the "Windmill Regional Shopping Center" but took its present name a year later. Construction did not commence until years later, due to the nationwide recession. It was eventually scheduled to begin construction in spring 1994, with a planned opening date of 1996, but this timeline never came to fruition. Construction did ultimately begin in 1996, with a target completion date of spring 1998. Delays further pushed the opening back to November 1998, with its first two anchor stores (

Hecht's Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland. By 20 ...

and Lord & Taylor) opening November 18, 1998.

and Sears opened in late Spring 1999, with the official grand-opening commencing August 12, 1999. Another wing was added in 2002, anchored by

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...

as well as a two-level access corridor of various stores. Around the same an Edwards Cinema was proposed for the adjoining area. An LA Fitness and a relocated

later filled this space. An office building was attached to the Sears wing during this period, but was later razed for a

Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...

Multiplex. Hecht's became

with their buyout of May Department Stores in 2006. The later 2010's saw multiple traditional chain anchors update their brick and mortar fleets after being disrupted by digital retailers in recent years. On June 30, 2017, it was announced Nordstrom was not renewing their operating agreement due to the number of additional outposts nearby. On August 27, 2020, Lord & Taylor announced it would shutter its brick-and-mortar fleet after modernizing into a digital collective department store. On February 2, 2021, it was announced that Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing plan to phase out of brick-and-mortar. In November 2020, Lerner Enterprises sold the mall and surrounding properties to Centennial Real Estate of Dallas, Texas. Centennial announced it was eying the center for a future mixed-use redevelopment.

Anchors

Current

(since 1999) *

(since 2006) *

(since 2004)

Former

(1998-2006) *

(2002-2017) * Lord & Taylor (1998-2020) * Sears (1999-2021)

Dining

The mall features a large food court in the center court upper level featuring numerous fast food restaurants. The backside of the mall property also has several pad sites featuring many National chain restaurants. The front center entrance to the mall features a Cheesecake Factory.

References

External links

Dulles Town Center
{{authority control 1998 establishments in Virginia Buildings and structures in Loudoun County, Virginia Shopping malls established in 1998 Shopping malls in Virginia Shopping malls in the Washington metropolitan area