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I live in Prince William County just a couple of miles from Potomac Mills. Neither my wife nor I ever shop there because the stores sell "discounted" stuff, such as out-of-date items, discontinued items and out-of-season stuff. It is a BIG mall, but most of the stuff is second-rate.
I like the Nordstrom's Rack and several of the other stores. But there are some (clothing stores, women's clothing stores) where I really can't find anything. I think some stores pass their stuff over more quickly than others or something like that. So in some cases, it really does seem like the true leftovers.
You know what mall I like? Dulles Town Center. It's small, but it seems to have all the stores that I want. The parking is wonderful, and there are some nice restaurants circling the whole place, as well as satellite shops selling the things that appeal to me, as well as some practical stores (like Lowes).
It's not perfect, of course. The Lowes parking isn't as good as the town center (it's next to WalMart, which makes driving into the parking lot a minor challenge).
Other than the parking issue at Lowes, I've come to the conclusion that Dulles has the things I want, and I have pretty much stopped going to the other malls.
I like Fair Oaks, too... but I like going there when I'm in a mood for window shopping. It's a good mall for walking, especially at Christmas. I still like Dulles Town Center when I actually need to buy something.
Potomac Mills back 20 years ago was a good cheap place to shop. Thesedays unless you really don't care what you wear, and fashion isn't a main priority for your appearance than it would still be alright, otherwise you are just paying "discounted" clothing that are off-seam-line, defective, or items that cannot remain on the sales rack in regular retail stores. Off season clothing are available but most of the items are defective so it just means paying for crap that was messed up to begin with that wouldn't pass inspection to sell in retail stores.
Tysons II Galleria is where it's at if you're looking for trendy items and in fashion, contrary to what Smerkygrl had to say about that. Tysons I is the older one and it has more urbanized and average retail stores. Anyone can walk in and find something there without breaking the piggy bank. Tysons II unless you are willing to spend a little, don't bother walking through it. The sales customer service reps are awful if you do not make purchases as you go through the stores, or at least walk in carrying shopping bags from other high end retail stores.
I remember when I first moved to Northern Virginia from Southeastern VA, I experienced absolute culture shock at the amount of diversity integrated with economic prosperity. However, I'm used to it now and actually find home and other cities with less diversity kind of boring and like someone before said, 'working-class' and not cosmopolitan. I do agree that balkanization of ethnicities is a problem, but I am truly glad I finally have a diverse group of friends literally from all corners of the world. Tysons is definitely a cosmopolitan melting pot, though too crowded.
I teach in Tysons and there are 40 different languages spoken at my little elementary school! I absolutely love it, it's like teaching in an international school. I've never had sweeter students. It's probably 30-40% white, and the rest of the kids come from just about everywhere.
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Potomac Mills is billed as an outlet mall
