UPDATE: Holiday Decor Coming to Bradlee, Foxchase After All

(Editor’s note: We have updated this story to reflect information provided to Patch from Washington REIT, the owners of the two Alexandria shopping centers that, as of Monday, were not decorated for the holidays — which some thought was neglectful on their part.)

ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Usually, people complain about stores that jump the gun with holiday decorating — with some stores selling Christmas decorations and adding wreaths, bows and whatnot to their stores as early as October.

But what about shopping centers that don’t decorate at all for the holidays?

On Monday, with Christmas less than three weeks away, two Alexandria shopping centers — Bradlee Shopping Center on King Street and the Shoppes at Foxchase on Duke Street — were completely devoid of a single holiday decoration, with nary a red bow in sight.

Driving onto the parking lot of both centers on Monday, less than three weeks from Christmas, you won’t find a single holiday decoration, other than those from the local merchants themselves. Don’t look for holiday ribbons, wreaths, bows or banners.

At Bradlee, you’ll find blue and yellow banners bearing an image of the sun, maybe left over from the summer?

It seems out of place with most other retailers decorating for the holidays before Thanksgiving for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. To entice customers, retailers usually go all out with the holiday cheer.

In nearby Shirlington Village, you’ll find a holiday tree lighting ceremony taking place Monday night with a holiday performance, visits with Santa, holiday lights on every tree and store events coordinated with the shopping center owner and promoted on social media to would-be customers.

At Alexandria Commons shopping center on Duke Street, you’ll find large white snowflakes attached to the light poles that light up at night. And all along the streets of Old Town, you’ll find lights and holiday decor.

Holiday decor is coming, owner Washington REIT reports

The owner of both Bradlee and Foxchase, Washington Real Estate Investiment Trust, said over several phone calls Monday that customers will see holiday decor this week. Bradlee Shopping Center will be decorated Tuesday and the Shoppes at Foxchase on Wednesday, according to a spokeswoman.

There was no explanation on the record from anyone with the company why the shopping centers weren’t already decorated.

Patch reported on the lack of holiday decor because it seemed like the shopping center owner didn’t care about the local community — the businesses leasing space at the centers or its customers. It’s not like the shopping center is neglected by local residents — you’ll find both shopping centers jam-packed most days.

Store owners leasing space at the shopping centers did not want to speak on the record because of their lease contracts with the company.

Holiday coupons or “deals” and Santa visits

Customers are welcome to “like” the shopping centers’ Facebook pages to look for holiday deals from merchants there instead of expecting any mailings with holiday “deals,” a spokeswoman said. You can find the Bradlee Shopping Center Facebook page here and the Shoppes of Foxchase Facebook page here.

In years past, Santa Claus paid visits to Bradlee; Washington REIT says there are no plans for Santa visits going forward.

Parking lot lights, street light concerns by customers

Other signs of neglect include reports of dark parking lots, with burned out lights going unreplaced, according to store owners. Patch plans to visit the parking lots this week to see if the lights have been replaced, as a spokeswoman reports, and will report back.

On King Street, where residents cross the street to the shopping center, the street lights have been out for months, from Quaker Lane to Interstate 395, in front of Bradlee Shopping Center. Although Washington REIT is not responsible for public street light outages in front of its properties, a spokeswoman said she would pass along the information.

This is an ongoing problem that has been reported to Dominion, with no action taken by the company. Patch will contact Dominion, Arlington County and the City of Alexandria to try to find out why the lights have not been replaced.