Article Text

The Fresh Market will permanently close its Vienna grocery store on May 31, ending a nearly 15-year run at Danor Plaza.

The North Carolina-based chain said it decided not to renew the lease for the store at 150 Branch Road SE. The company did not provide further details about the decision.

Customers began learning of the impending closure on May 8. Some offered condolences to employees and expressed disappointment over losing a grocery store that local residents have come to depend on.

The store is offering a 10% discount on all items beginning Monday. A manager said some employees will have opportunities to transfer to other Fresh Market locations.

Regular hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily will continue through the rest of the month.

The Vienna store opened in July 2011 as The Fresh Market’s first Northern Virginia location. Its closure will leave the Alexandria store, which opened in 2014, as the chain’s only operating location in the region.

The company has also announced plans for new stores in Reston and Falls Church City. Unveiled in July 2024, both locations were expected to open within three years, but The Fresh Market has not provided updated timelines.

The planned 27,000-square-foot Reston store would be part of the Midline at Reston Station development. Construction has not begun on the senior living and multifamily buildings where the grocery store is slated to open.

Comstock Companies had previously anticipated demolishing vacant office buildings at 1831 and 1861 Wiehle Avenue sometime in 2025. The developer has declined to offer a revised project schedule.

In Falls Church, The Fresh Market is expected to occupy about 29,000 square feet on the ground floor of a future residential building at 101 Haycock Road in the West Falls development.

The company said its Alexandria location will remain open and indicated that plans for the Reston and Falls Church stores have not changed.

The 22,000-square-foot Vienna storefront is already being marketed for lease by Papadopoulos Properties, with availability beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026. Marketing materials describe it as a rare grocery or big-box opportunity in a highly desirable market.

Other Danor Plaza tenants include Big Buns Damn Good Burgers, Norm’s Beer and Wine, Pazzo Pomodoro, Sweet Ginger, Kaizen MMA and Chef Tan, a Chinese restaurant that opened last July.