Sad news — one of the earliest businesses to set up at shop a decade ago at the then-new One Loudoun center is closing its doors by the end of the year. We’re talking about The Meadows Original Frozen Custard shop.
The Meadows originally opened the store back in May 2014.
“We are sad to go, but the conditions at One Loudoun have made the juice not worth the squeeze since they have allowed multiple ice cream places to open in such a small area,” owner Michael Nassif told The Burn.
“Fantasticks was supposed to be temporary, but they are going on their fifth or sixth year and then The Yard Milkshake place was the nail in the coffin.”
Nassif is referring to two other shops at the center that also sell frozen style treats — Fantasticks Custom Gelato Bars & Pops and The Yard Milkshake Bar.
Many tenants and/or shopping centers have exclusivity agreements written into their leases — meaning there can only be one pizza restaurant or one sub sandwich shop or one ice cream shop in the center at a time.
We aren’t privy to the details of The Meadows’ lease, however we do know that sometimes larger regional centers like One Loudoun don’t always have such clauses.
That may be why there is also both an &pizza restaurant and a Matchbox pizza restaurant at the center.
Over at the large Mosaic District in Fairfax, there are two Mexican restaurants, two pizza restaurants, at least two coffee shops, and several restaurants serving Japanese cuisine.
Nassif says he plans to close The Meadows the first week in December and expects to hold some customer appreciation events in the final days.
He’s also exploring re-opening The Meadows at a new location next summer, perhaps in the Reston area.
“We will miss our time at One Loudoun,” he said.