Gymboree opens at Woodbridge shopping center; other retailers to follow

WOODBRIDGE, Va. -- At age 6, Elizabeth Ahern is already a fashion diva.

So naturally, Roxanne, her mother, had to swing by Gymboree's latest location in Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center on Wednesday.

"A lot of things you can match [at Gymboree]," said Roxanne, a Woodbridge resident. "My daughter is a matcher. Pants, clothes, tights -- they all have to match."

Ahern moved to Woodbridge nine years ago and started shopping at the Gymboree outlet in Potomac Mills mall about a year and a half ago. She only visits the store a few times a year but likes the clothes and the frequent sales.

Ahern didn't realize there was a new location in Woodbridge until an errant run with her co-worker Wednes-day morning. Having opened just a month ago, Gymboree is one of the first tenants to move into the shopping center after anchor tenant Wegmans opened in June 2008.

Neibauer Dental Care moved into Stonebridge in October. Other retailers will soon follow Gymboree, said Jeff Edelstein of Washington-based Roadside Development.

Popular national lunch chain Zoe's Kitchen of Birmingham, Ala., Bubbles Salon for Men and Women, AT&T retail store and banks Chevy Chase and PNC have signed leases and are scheduled to open in the center by March.

By the end of April, Dallas-based Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Cafe is slated to open. An 11,000-square-foot restaurant that will feature extensive indoor and outdoor seating, Uncle Julio's was voted as one of the top 75 Mexican restaurants in Texas and already has locations in Fairfax Corner, Reston Town Center, Arlington, Bethesda Row and Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg.

"It's really nice to get these retailers open," Edelstein said. "It will be a great complement with what Wegmans is already providing the community."

Edelstein said while not necessarily high end, the yet-to-be-completed development will offer a mid-to-high end shopping experience with an opportunity for public events and outdoor seating, both at restaurants and along the yet-to-be constructed streetscape.

Roadside is in negotiations with several retailers, many of which could be moved in by 2011 as part of the develop-ment's phase II, said Edelstein. The construction of a fountain and sidewalk seating could be finished by 2011, as well.

Roadside is also planning 500 apartments near the retail site, as well as 500,000 square feet of Class A and medical office space.

"It's going to be that eclectic mix of restaurants, clothing stores, home furnishings, potentially giving that live, work, play environment," Edelstein said. "We are not scaling back on our design with any kind of concerns with the economy."

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.<p>