Shop owners facing displacement seek rent relief

The others of long-time small businesses in an aging retail strip in Falls Church say they are being forced to close without being given sufficient time to plan for the future.

Virginia Hospital Center plans to demolish the Graham Center retail strip on Arlington Boulevard at Graham Road and replace it with a medical facility. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors gave the project a green light in October.

VHC told the businesses, most of whom are owned by immigrants, that they must vacate the shopping center by March 31.

The Viet Place Collective (VPC), a local advocacy organization, is pushing VHC and government officials to give business owners a deadline extension and a break on the rent.

VHC purchased the retail strip in September 2023 and filed a zoning special exception application in February 2024. But business owners say they weren’t notified until September.

“I just took over the business a year and a half ago, and I had no idea about this redevelopment,” Tim Lê, owner of Phở Golden Cow, told VPC. Six months’ notice isn’t enough, and “the cold makes moving tough,” he said. “Any assistance from the landlord would help a lot.”

Biên Hòa Oriental Supermarket, one of the last-remaining and longest-standing Vietnamese grocery stores in Northern Virginia, hasn’t determined if they will be able to re-establish elsewhere.

Related story: Board approves medical center to replace retail strip

Fairfax County planning staff didn’t contact any of the businesses before the public hearings, VPC notes. The plans didn’t call for Virginia Hospital Center to provide any rent relief or other assistance to the businesses being displaced. In fact, several businesses saw rent increases during the past year.

“Fairfax County approved this development without consulting the impacted small businesses and without considering how this displacement of the businesses and their workers would affect the community. It’s clear that the outreach that’s legally required is neither sufficient nor considerate,” said Binh Ly, VPC’s core organizer.

“Within the last year before the closure announcement, they [landlord] raised our rent three times. I feel like they were trying to push us out,” said Elviz, owner of the Elviz Styles salon. “We should be given some funds to help us relocate. I would like at least another month or two added to the deadline and for some rent relief.”

“They gave us just five or six months’ notice for moving. It’s not enough time,” said Jarbis Gocer, who opened Modern Shoe Repair & Cleaners in 1978.

Gocer told Annandale Today he plans to retire and that it’s going to be difficult selling his inventory and dry-cleaning equipment. What he can’t sell, he’ll have to throw out. Meanwhile, he still has to pay rent – $2,977 a month plus utilities – through March even though “customers aren’t coming anymore because they know we’re closing.” He has asked VHC to reduce the rent for the final months.

Skyline Nail Supply is also trying to negotiate for rent relief while searching for a new location, said employee Brian Do. Carina’s Fashion already closed – on Jan. 1 – after 18 years at Graham Center.

Other affected tenants include Pupuseria Mana, dentist Na Khoa Tham My, and Boost Mobile.

VPC wrote to Providence Supervisor Dalia Palchik and Virginia Hospital Center officials to request an extension of the deadline to vacate, rent relief in the final months, and funds for relocation assistance.

They have not yet received a response, says Quynh Nguyen of the VPC.

“During our conversations with the business owners and employees, we heard intense frustration about this sudden upheaval of their livelihoods and their exclusion from outreach and public hearings about this redevelopment,” the VPC emails state. “Many people across Asian, Latino, and other communities are devastated to hear that these businesses will soon be displaced.”

“These thriving immigrant-owned small businesses have supported the multicultural communities of Falls Church and beyond with integral services, products, and food for 20+ years.” It continues. “They’ve provided gainful employment for dozens of community members, and they want to continue serving the community.”