Wal-Mart comes to Tysons

When you think shopping in Tysons Corner, you think of Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, among others. Well, move over designer brands. A new store is coming to town and it’s called (ready?) Wal-Mart.

According to a Washington Post article on March 22, the Bentonville, AR-based chain plans to open a 79,000-square-foot store on the site of the former Moore Cadillac on Route 7 at Westwood Center Drive in Vienna.

It would be part of a mixed-used development (stores/condos/offices) at the Tysons West Metrorail station. While negotiations are not final, construction could begin this summer for completion in 2013, the same time that the first phase of the Silver Line is expected to open.

The Tysons Wal-Mart would be about half the size of its traditional supercenters and focus on groceries and fresh foods. A similar-size store recently opened in Alexandria. Four stores with grocery components are planned for the D istrict of Columbia as well.

Project developer JBG Co. of Chevy Chase, MD, is handling the negotiations with Wal-Mart. If the project proceeds as expected, it will be one of the first developments to be built along the newly constructed Dulles Metro extension.  It will also be only the second grocery store to serve Tysons. Harris Teeter is the other. The population of Tysons Corner is expected to surge from 20,000 to 100,000 in the coming years as more mixed used developments are built.