Dulles Town Center

Dulles Town Center is a two-level enclosed shopping mall in Sterling in Loudoun County, Virginia. It is located  north of Washington Dulles International Airport. It is part of the Dulles Town Center census-designated place for population statistical purposes.

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, and Frederick counties in Virginia, 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. 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 and Lord & Taylor) opening November 18, 1998. JCPenney 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 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 Dick's Sporting Goods later filled this space.

An office building was attached to the Sears wing during this period, but was later razed for a Regal Cinemas Multiplex.

Hecht's transitioned to Macy's with their buyout of May Department Stores in 2006.

The dawn of the early 2020s saw several storied traditional department store retailers update their brick-and-mortar formats after being encroached upon to a degree by several digital retailers.

On June 30, 2017, it was announced that Nordstrom had decided against extending its lease again after previously determining the high capacity of additional outposts nearby.

In August 2020, it was announced that upscale specialty department store retailer Lord & Taylor would shutter its traditional brick-and-mortar format as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On February 2, 2021, it was announced that Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its traditional brick-and-mortar format.

Several potential replacement tenants for each space are each reportedly in the midst of early on discussions.

In November 2020, Centennial, the mall development firm, announced it was in preliminary stages for a future enhanced development. The plan reportedly is to include new retail space, a hotel, apartments, a high-end grocery retailer, as well as the introduction of green space.

In November 2022, Centennial announced nine new tenants, three of which are specialty pop-up retailers exclusively for the holidays.

Anchors

Current
JCPenney (since 1999)
Macy's (since 2006)
Dick's Sporting Goods (since 2004)

Former
Hecht's (1998-2006)
Nordstrom (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

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