Dennis,
Here's some additional info on Tyson's Corner. It's definitely an upscale mall. The anchor stores are Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Lord and Taylor, Hecht's, and JC Penney. It was my first visit there and I saw very few vacant locations. I also saw very little direct competition for RAIN. No hard rock, planet hollywood or other theme restaurants. A lot of pizza and burger joints and a couple of sit-down restaurants. No major chains (Appleby's, Ruby Tuesday, Hooters, Outback, etc) -- that suprised me.
The only other "major" restaurant I had heard of was the Silver Diner (SLVR). It's a small but growing chain with 5 or 6 current locations around DC. Not in the same league with RAIN, but they seem to be quite popular. A friend says they have tapped a former BOST executive to drive their expansion.
Rain seems to have gotten an ideal location within the mall. They have a corner spot visible from 3 sides and are near an outside entrance with a huge 3-D sign.
Regards,
Bill |
