Color me mine.

paint your own pottery.

I'll reserve comments at this time.

I think it'll be a great addition to BTC, especially with so many young families in Brambleton. Great place to take kids.

I agree - although I don't think Mr. Raguland will be thrilled about it - nothing he would do. But it will be fun to take little Ragu when she gets older.

Personally, I don't see how these specialty stores can survive. They serve a finite audience thus dooming their long term business sustainability. Really, how many times can you take a kid there? 2 maybe 3 before the idea is worn out.

I am still at a loss with the thought (or lack thereof) process of the developer. Why aren't they aiming for retailers that people need over and over and over? How long until the paper place, the closet place and now the pottery place can't afford to keep their doors open. I do realize they have a captive audience in Brambleton but again, there's no long term prospect for a business like that.

I think it would be great to have a Little Gym or something along those lines!

Three words for you

Developer Doesn't Care.

Instead of a little gym, I'd really like a funzone place where you can take your kid and let them run wild while you sit and have coffee (ok, technically, i'd prefer a bar but coffee will do). I want something open to the public where I don't have to pay for a whole class but I can pay $5-$10 for a day of fun for my son.

I agree with Boopie, how will these stores survive without something pulling in new business?

YES! YES! YES! This would be an enormous hit. I can't tell how many nasty, rainy weekends I've wanted to take the kids someplace to run around and play and we've had no place to take them.

YES!! I have talked about something like this for YEARS! The only place that I know of that's close would be the dreaded Chuck E. Cheese. Wait, they DO have beer there, right? Might not be too bad at 10:00AM.

That would be AMAZING. I DESPISE Chuck E Cheese - did you know that they did a germ testing and those archade machines and ball pits have more nasty germs than a airport bathroom. YUCK.

I didn't really need to know that. I suspected, but I really didn't want to hear that from a reliable source.

ChuckE Cheese has scary robots though.

What robots? The mouse up front? Or the ticket muncher?

Don't they have the band that plays music? ITs been ALONG time since I've been to ChuckECheese.

Just the big mouse. There are a bunch of tv screens up front where they are playing videos. I am not even sure what's on the tvs. I think I've seen them showing kids dancing and some back up music for when the giant mouse is singing.

At least I don't remember a band there. I wasn't even drunk the last time I went.

Hmm, maybe I will be venturing to CEC. The last time I went, there was a robotic band that played music. It was kind of like the robotic bear band at Disney World.

+100 Next time you and Mr. Kimchee go out on a date and I watch lil'Kimchee, I think I'll take her some place else...like the bathroom at Dulles airport.

Germs are good for kids. They build up the immune system.

I certainly agree that there's a sustainability issue with a paint your own pottery business, especially with another Color Me Mine in Ashburn Farm and the Pot and Bead in Ashburn Village. I do think the paper store has better long-term prospects. I know that I routinely need wrapping paper, cards and stationery and will try to pick those things up in Old Town when I'm down there. (I really like Caspari papers and cards, which simply say Happy Birthday and don't have sappy poems.)

As for a funzone, there was a Discovery Zone in Skyline Mall. The place was a zoo and parents let larger kids run roughshod over toddlers. A few days after taking fanlet there, she developed Coxsackie virus. I'd never take her to another place like that again.

I hadn't thought of something like that - anything that will give the kids opportunity to run around and be kids (especially on a rainy day) would be terrific!


Yes, that animal robot band still exists. We were just at a CEC party (in Herndon) in September and they still have it.

God, where have I been looking then? Now I feel like I have to run in just to verify that I haven't lost my mind. The only one that I've been to is the one in the DTC. Hmmph. Maybe Lil Kimchee was too busy playing on the other side getting all germed up that I didn't pay much attention.

Pottery should be legal.

Eh, they have all that stuff at Target! God knows we have enough of those around here!

I've been wondering the same thing--who is going to keep these places in business? From what I can see, Go Bananas seems to be doing well, Scotto's is going strong (though I think pizza quality is on a steady decline to the point where we avoided it last week), Cleaners is A-Ok, Caribou is fine and I'm sure Coldstone will be ok this summer. But the other places? Not sure. California Tortilla looks pretty empty to me, as does Subway.

Subway and CT seemed to get a good lunch crowd (construction workers).

Target doesn't carry Caspari or Crane's. Call me a paper snob but I really don't care for cards or stationery with cutsey dogs on it or cranky old women.

Remember that the Brambleton Phase I (around Harris Teeter) is being sold as catering to the neighborhood. The stores in Phase II (movie theater) are more of a Reston Town Center, Clarendon Market Common mix. The developer wants destination stores to pull in people from farther away hence The Papery, The Closet store, etc. They are counting on people from longer distances to keep those stores going... not that all of us will go and paint pottery 5 times a year... although I do agree that three paint your own pottery places in ashburn seems a bit excessive... but we seem to be able to support 8 Thai restaurants just fine so I guess anything goes.

I personally would like to see more "Mall stores" go into Brambleton so we don't have to go to Dulles Town Center or Tysons for everything.

And The Papery does carry Caspari, Crane's, William Arthur, and Papyrus products.

Also, if Fairfax Corner can support a store that is all about Curtains I bet we can support one about closets.

Are you some how affiliated with the BTC?

The Clarendon town center (which also has a B&N) has a Container Store. Now, I think THAT would be sustainable.

YES! I always need containers. (seriously, I am not being funny.)

Business getting out of hand?

Never out of hand! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA

But I do need to find alternative ways to store/transport. It's all good!!

Large panel van with logo?

Nah - that would be too creepy for me. Long story.

I would personally do my share to keep them in business. I love Container Store, and I hate going to the one in Tysons (which I think is the closest one to us). The two-level one in Clarendon is sweet.

And she's back! Yay!!!!

Welcome back, Candy! And thanks for the party!

Businesses like that (and Curiosity Zone, etc.) survive on classes and birthday parties.

No I do not work for BTC. Ironically however, I do work Part-time for the Container Store. And, I can tell you that unfortunately they have no plans to open any additional stores in the DC area in the next two years. Past they they don't tell us anything. The chain is very risk adverse and DC is already an anomoly for them in that it has 4 stores in the metro area. However, whenever you stop into the Tyson's store make sure you comment how much you wish that they would open in Loudoun County and be sure to give your phone number at the register as one of things they use it for is where people are coming from to shop.

As for my support of the "one-time" stores at BTC... I am just tired of every strip mall in Ashburn having the same mix of stores. If we could get better stores rather than just more Asian food and Ice Cream the traffic between here and Sterling and Reston/Herndon would improve.

I for one appreciate the Coldstone. I do wish it was another Maggie Moos though. I mean really, who wants to go to Broadlands?

Ice cream snob!