Eden Center

{{infobox shopping mall

| name = Eden Center

| image = Eden Center.jpg

| caption = Eden Center archway at night in 2023

| address = 6751-6799 Wilson Blvd., Falls Church, VA 22044

| location = Falls Church, Virginia, United States

| opening_date = 1984

| owner = [https://douglasebenstein.net/ Douglas Ebenstein], [https://www.capitalcommercialproperties.com/ Capital Commercial Properties]

| number_of_stores = 120+

| coordinates = {{coord|38|52|25|N|77|9|14|W|type:landmark,region:US-VA|display=inline,title}}

| floor_area = {{convert|200,000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}

| floors = 2, split level with most businesses in front and some in back

| parking = 1,100 spaces

| website = {{URL|edencenter.com}}

}}

File:Eden Center map.png

File:Eden Center flags on festival day.jpg

Eden Center is a Vietnamese American strip mall located near the crossroads of Seven Corners in the City of Falls Church, Virginia. Eden Center is the largest Vietnamese commercial center on the East Coast{{cite web |author=Zeng |first=Amy |date=2013-01-25 |title=Secret Menus in Plain Sight: A Vietnamese Culinary Tour of Eden Center |url=http://www.asianfortunenews.com/2013/01/hidden-menu-secret-menus-in-plain-sight-a-vietnamese-culinary-tour-of-eden-center/ |access-date=2013-08-22 |website=Asian Fortune |publisher=}} and is considered Falls Church's top tourist destination.{{Cite web |title=Eden Center The #1 Tourist Attraction in Falls Church |url=http://www.fallschurchva.gov/Content/Government/Departments/EconomicDevelopment/EdenCtrPresentation010609.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120220040926/http://www.fallschurchva.gov/Content/Government/Departments/EconomicDevelopment/EdenCtrPresentation010609.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-20 |access-date=2010-05-27 |website=Falls Church}} The center is home to more than 120 shops, restaurants and businesses catering extensively to the Asian American, especially the Vietnamese-American, population. Eden Center has created an anchor for Vietnamese culture serving the Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and Pennsylvania areas, as shown by the large number of phở soup restaurants, bánh mì delicatessens, bakeries, markets, as well as Vietnamese-American cultural events that are regularly held at the center.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yqk62941UfAC&pg=PA283 |pages=283 |title= Race, Ethnicity, and Place in a Changing America |first= John W. |last= Frazier |author2=Eugene Tettey-Fio |publisher= Global Academic Publishing |year= 2006 |isbn= 1-58684-264-1}}

History

The center opened in 1962 as the Plaza Seven Shopping Center, with a Grand Union supermarket and a Zayre discount store serving as anchors.{{cite web|url=https://wamu.org/story/19/02/25/this-is-how-the-eden-center-became-a-hub-for-vietnamese-in-virginia/|title=This Is How The Eden Center Became A Hub For Vietnamese In Virginia|last=Blitz|first=Matt|date=February 25, 2019|work=WAMU|access-date=2019-07-21}} After the Grand Union store closed in 1984, Vietnamese merchants displaced from the "Little Saigon" area in the Clarendon neighborhood of nearby Arlington, Virginia, due to Washington Metro subway construction and redevelopment moved into the space, as the Vietnamese-American community in Northern Virginia (and the Washington, DC, metropolitan area) grew following the Vietnam War.{{Cite web |last=Glasser |first=Zoe |date=2024-12-03 |title=A New Chapter for the Eden Center in Falls Church? |url=https://www.arlingtonmagazine.com/eden-center-falls-church-redevelopment/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Arlington Magazine |language=en-US}} The mall is named after the Eden Arcade market in Ho Chi Minh City.{{Cite web |date=2017-09-28 |title="Capital within a Capital": Covert Action, the Vietnam War, and Creating a "Little Saigon" in the Heart of Northern Virginia |url=https://themetropole.blog/2017/09/28/capital-within-a-capital-covert-action-the-vietnam-war-and-creating-a-little-saigon-in-the-heart-of-northern-virginia/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=The Metropole |language=en}} The cluster of stores took on the Eden name, and erected an "Eden" sign. It ultimately evolved into the name for the entire center. The landlord, Capital Commercial Properties, later added a clock tower and an arch flanked by lions, inspired by the Bến Thành Market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Layout

Most businesses are located on ground level and offer direct access to the sidewalk and parking lot, as would a conventional strip mall. About 65 more stores and restaurants are inside three enclosed malls. In the rear of the mall are additional businesses, currently including a nightclub.

The main parking lot has about 900 spaces, with about 300 more behind the stores.

The mall flies a South Vietnamese Flag, as do many Vietnamese-owned businesses in the Washington, D.C., area.

Stores

Eden Center is host to a variety of business types, a few of which incorporate "Eden" in their names. Most are food-related: restaurants, supermarkets, and specialty delicatessens catering prepared foods.{{Cite web |last=Taranto |first=Katie |date=2024-08-13 |title=At the Eden Center, historic businesses stand tall and new ones plant roots |url=https://www.arlnow.com/2024/08/13/at-the-eden-center-historic-businesses-stand-tall-and-new-ones-plant-roots/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=ARLnow |language=en-US}} Restaurants range from carry-out-only places that serve stir-fry dishes and spring rolls to high-volume phở soup restaurants to sit-down restaurants with large varied menus and a formal decor. Other businesses include jewelry stores, herbal medicine shops, clothing and toy stores, and travel agents.{{Cite web |last=Novak |first=Dan |last2=Weaver |first2=Caty |date=2021-11-05 |title=Eden Center Is the Heart of Vietnamese Culture in Washington |url=https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/eden-center-is-the-heart-of-vietnamese-culture-in-washington/6295613.html |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}

A 44,000-square foot Good Fortune supermarket opened in the former Ames building in November 2014.{{Cite web |last=Cole |first=Sally |date=2014-11-25 |title=Good Fortune Supermarket Now Open in Eden Center |url=https://www.fcnp.com/2014/11/25/good-fortune-supermarket-now-open-in-eden-center/,%20https://www.fcnp.com/2014/11/25/good-fortune-supermarket-now-open-in-eden-center/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=Falls Church News-Press |language=en-US}}

Eden Center was featured on the January 19, 2009, episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations that focused on the Washington, D.C., area, with Bourdain visited the Song Que deli.{{Cite news |last=Carman |first=Tim |date=August 4, 2014 |title=Song Que deli at Eden Center to close Sept. 15 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/going-out-guide/wp/2014/08/04/song-que-deli-at-eden-center-to-close-sept-15/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |work=The Washington Post}}

Events

File:Interior of Eden Center annex.jpg restaurants and shops line the interior and exterior of the Eden Center.]]

Eden Center hosts an annual Tết, or Vietnamese New Year festival, and an annual Moon Festival, both widely attended with a vibrant display of special food, performers, fireworks, and lion dancing.{{Cite web |last=Arzate |first=Héctor Alejandro |last2=Turner |first2=Tyrone |date=Jan 23, 2023 |title='Together We Can Do Big Things:' Vietnamese Community Celebrates Lunar New Year At Eden Center |url=https://dcist.com/story/23/01/23/va-vietnamese-lunar-new-year-eden-center/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=DCist |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Gustafson |first=Heather |date=2025-01-29 |title=Lunar New Year: DC area celebrates as Year of the Snake begins |url=https://wtop.com/fairfax-county/2025/01/lunar-new-year-dc-area-celebrates-as-year-of-the-snake-begins/ |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=WTOP |language=en}}

Each September, the Eden Center plays host to the annual "Miss Vietnam DC" scholarship pageant, the preeminent contest of its kind in the Washington, D.C., area.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Crime

In 1997, after a fatal shooting, the Falls Church Police Department opened a substation at Eden Center. The property landlord also began operating 48 closed-circuit monitoring cameras.{{Cite web |last=Hall |first=Charles W. |date=2012-10-26 |title=Falls Church Targets Crime at Shopping Center; Crime at Eden Center Alarms Officials |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-704941.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026120131/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-704941.html |archive-date=2012-10-26 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=The Washington Post |via=HighBeam Research}}

On August 11, 2011, federal agents, Virginia State Police, and local police jointly raided several businesses in Eden Center, seizing more than $1 million in cash from one business and small amounts from other businesses. Also seized were several gambling machines; and 19 people were arrested on suspicion of gambling and alcohol crimes.{{cite news |author=Wu |first=June Q. |date=2011-08-12 |title=Police raid Falls Church cafes, say Dragon Family gang ran illegal gambling ring |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/police-raid-falls-church-cafes-say-dragon-family-gang-ran-illegal-gambling-ring/2011/08/12/gIQAtoFtBJ_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919213941/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/police-raid-falls-church-cafes-say-dragon-family-gang-ran-illegal-gambling-ring/2011/08/12/gIQAtoFtBJ_story.html |archive-date=2011-09-19 |access-date=2013-08-22 |newspaper=Washington Post}} Police blamed the Dragon Family gang, a Vietnamese-American criminal gang that operates in Asian-American hubs across North America. No felony charges were ever filed, and ultimately, though some defendants pleaded guilty, many had their cases dismissed before trial. At least one defendant went to trial and was found not guilty of the charges.{{cite news |author=Bromley |first=George |date=2011-09-15 |title=Eden Center Raid Controversy Continues; Charges Against Four Suspects Dismissed, One Acquitted |url=http://fallschurchtimes.com/30529/eden-center-raid-controversy-continues-charges-against-five-suspects-dismissed/ |access-date=2013-08-22 |work=Falls Church Times |publisher=}} The raid ignited tensions between the Eden Center businesses and the City of Falls Church government. After a second raid five months later arrested suspects on a variety of gambling and money laundering charges, many in the community alleged racism and poor investigation by the police.{{cite news |date=2012-02-04 |title=2nd Illegal Gambling Bust in Eden Center |url=http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Fairfax-County-Police-Make-Another-Illegal-Gambling-Bust-in-Eden-Center-138705789.html/ |access-date=2013-08-22 |work=NBC4 Washington |publisher=}}