Lots of empty storefronts in Mosaic District

[Anonymous]

I think it's doing ok. I live nearby and still go there from time to time. Even before covid some stores and restaurants cannot sustain themselves and had to close. The rate of closures in the last 18 months does not seem much higher than before.

Regarding restaurants, I find that you have to be really careful where to go for a sit down meal. Places we loved before covid now have completely different staff or shortage of staff, and services can be slow to down right unpleasant. Parking is never an issue though, as long as you avoid driving on the busy streets. You have to be willing to park further away and walk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mosaic SUCKS.

I say this as someone that LOVED it 5 years ago. I went there for lunch on Friday and it was so packed, I couldn't park, couldn't navigate the roads, took 10 minutes to be a a$$hole and cut someone off to finally turn left. I'll be frank, I'm not going back again any time soon.

So, let me get this straight... it sucks because it's popular and busy?

[Anonymous]

I was there last weekend for the fall festival and only noticed a few places that had closed. Maybe because of the festival going on, it was harder to see.

Anyway, it was impossible to get a seat in any restaurant there without a really long wait, so that made me happy to see!

I think Great Gatherings closed all of their stores in this area. I know the one near me in Ashburn closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mosaic SUCKS.

I say this as someone that LOVED it 5 years ago. I went there for lunch on Friday and it was so packed, I couldn't park, couldn't navigate the roads, took 10 minutes to be a a$$hole and cut someone off to finally turn left. I'll be frank, I'm not going back again any time soon.

To paraphrase Yogi Berra: Mosaic sucks because it is so crowded and successful.

Thank you for this.

[Anonymous]

So is it crowded, or is it empty with closing stores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Mosaic District today and was honestly shocked by the amount of empty storefronts - 1) because that area is always packed and 2) because some of the closed stores seem to do very well elsewhere. I noticed that Francesca's, a juice store, a children's clothing store, Great Gatherings, and I think a restaurant or two had shut down. What gives?

I went to Georgetown recently and felt that same shock - lots of empty store fronts as you go down Wisconsin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mosaic SUCKS.

I say this as someone that LOVED it 5 years ago. I went there for lunch on Friday and it was so packed, I couldn't park, couldn't navigate the roads, took 10 minutes to be a a$$hole and cut someone off to finally turn left. I'll be frank, I'm not going back again any time soon.

To paraphrase Yogi Berra: Mosaic sucks because it is so crowded and successful.

Thank you for this.

+1

The PP complaining about how packed it was made the error going for lunch on a Friday. Friday is a hugely popular day for lunch out in this entire area, not just at Mosaic, and it always has been. It would be equally busy anywhere around Tysons Corner Mall on a Friday at midday, or along Maple Ave. in Vienna, or at a lot of restaurants in Falls Church. Who could have lived here very long and not realized that?

Plus: Yes, Mosaic is massively popular. Yes, the reconfiguring of Strawberry Lane to partially pedestrian-only affects traffic right in the Mosaic district. Sorry, but the secret is to go when it's less crowded, and that tends to be Monday-Thursday midmorning of midafternoon. Not what that poster wants to hear and I'm sure there's the perfectly legit and real "But I work!" argument. But that's just the reality of trying to go to a busy retail and restaurant area like that. Try an early or late lunch on a Wednesday, PP who fusses about the parking. And were you trying to use the garages? I've never seen all of the three garages' spaces 100 percent full to the very top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's doing ok. I live nearby and still go there from time to time. Even before covid some stores and restaurants cannot sustain themselves and had to close. The rate of closures in the last 18 months does not seem much higher than before.

Regarding restaurants, I find that you have to be really careful where to go for a sit down meal. Places we loved before covid now have completely different staff or shortage of staff, and services can be slow to down right unpleasant. Parking is never an issue though, as long as you avoid driving on the busy streets. You have to be willing to park further away and walk.

DP. Not just re: Mosaic, but everywhere now, this is sadly true. The huge shortages of staff both in kitchens and as servers is really showing. We continue to do only takeout partly for that reason, so we're not sitting for long periods waiting and waiting on meals. I know so many people who were excited to eat in restaurants again who have been very disappointed at incredible slowness and food that wasn't the same as before.

Not blaming the restaurants, though, or the individual (often, very overworked) servers and cooks -- the whole system of restaurants and retail is very screwed right now and will be for a long time to come, possibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is it crowded, or is it empty with closing stores?

It's crowded with a handful of empty storefronts. Why is that difficult for you to understand?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mosaic SUCKS.

I say this as someone that LOVED it 5 years ago. I went there for lunch on Friday and it was so packed, I couldn't park, couldn't navigate the roads, took 10 minutes to be a a$$hole and cut someone off to finally turn left. I'll be frank, I'm not going back again any time soon.

To paraphrase Yogi Berra: Mosaic sucks because it is so crowded and successful.

Thank you for this.

+1

The PP complaining about how packed it was made the error going for lunch on a Friday. Friday is a hugely popular day for lunch out in this entire area, not just at Mosaic, and it always has been. It would be equally busy anywhere around Tysons Corner Mall on a Friday at midday, or along Maple Ave. in Vienna, or at a lot of restaurants in Falls Church. Who could have lived here very long and not realized that?

Plus: Yes, Mosaic is massively popular. Yes, the reconfiguring of Strawberry Lane to partially pedestrian-only affects traffic right in the Mosaic district. Sorry, but the secret is to go when it's less crowded, and that tends to be Monday-Thursday midmorning of midafternoon. Not what that poster wants to hear and I'm sure there's the perfectly legit and real "But I work!" argument. But that's just the reality of trying to go to a busy retail and restaurant area like that. Try an early or late lunch on a Wednesday, PP who fusses about the parking. And were you trying to use the garages? I've never seen all of the three garages' spaces 100 percent full to the very top.

That's probably because you're going on Tuesday mornings, LOL

[Anonymous]

Francesca's went bankrupt and closed most of their stores, the one in Old Town closed too.