Linda Fuller, owner of Lake Anne Florist, Virginia Wine & Gourmet, says her shop at Lake Anne Plaza is for sale.
Fuller is 65, and she says that after selling flowers and other gift products in Reston for 40 years, it is time to go.
Fuller started her business in 1974, selling flowers from a van in the Lake Anne Plaza parking lot. She opened her first Lake Anne store in 1976, and eventually moved to a larger space in Herndon and a kiosk at Hunters Woods Village Center.
Lake Anne Florist returned to the plaza in 1996, and in 2007 moved into its current space at 11426 Washington Plaza, where Fuller stocks local food products and wine, and Chesapeake Chocolates leases space.
The business has morphed from flowers into gift baskets, wine pairings and gourmet foods. The store is the site of many special events, including wine tastings and food samplings.
“I need to find someone that has the energy to do the marketing to move the business forward,” Fuller said. “I’m not going to hang around for the redevelopment. I’m done. I have been waiting for 15 years.”
Fuller is speaking of the Lake Anne revitalization project, which will bring more density to the area around Lake Anne, as well as hopefully revitalize the retail area in the historic area of the plaza. Fairfax County chose Lake Anne Development Corporation, a division of Republic Lane Development, last summer to redevelop the aging, 181-unit Crescent Apartments nearby.
LADC plans more than 1,000 housing units, as well as nearly 200,000 square feet of retail and office space, but work has not yet begun on the project.
But meanwhile, it is a period of transition for the existing businesses. In the last six weeks, Lake Anne Florist neighbors The Cupcake Ladi and New Family Naturals have closed up shop.
Earlier in the year, Lake Anne Pharmacy, the oldest continuously operating business at Lake Anne, was sold. If a tenant cannot be found by the end of this month, that store will close. Earlier in the year, Cafe Lakeside, the lunch counter operation within the drugstore, closed.
Also this year, Jasmine Cafe, a longtime Lake Anne restaurant, was shut down after failing to pay the rent. And the Lake Anne Coffee House remains for sale.
Fuller says someone with vision could come in and create a larger and especially viable business that would be well established by the time redevelopment occurs. She added she will stay open at least until the end of the year or until a buyer is found.
The asking price Lake Anne Florist, Virginia Wine & Gourmet is $24,995.
