Reuse is in full stride at Remix.
With roots in Springfield, local entrepreneur Mark Harrington loves the concept of repurposing stuff instead of filling landfills. So he recently bought an empty store in central Springfield to house his second Remix Market, a second-hand furniture, clothing, and home goods retailer focused on sustainability and reuse.
His other business is Junk Luggers so the two work in tandem. Step one is being hired to empty out a place and single out the good stuff, and step two is to set it up on the showroom floor at Remix so customers can get what they need at second-hand prices.
“This project is about giving both the building and its contents a second life,” Harrington said. “We’re excited to create a space the community can enjoy.” He’s hoping to have a soft opening in late March or early April.
When Harrington’s Junk Luggers truck gets full, the first stop is the Remix instead of the landfill.
Harrington started with a Remix store in Warrenton in 2020, and then moved it to Gainesville earlier this year. The space in Springfield is a 6,250-square-foot, two-story building with 40 parking spaces nearby, that will bring an active, community-oriented use to the corridor. The location is expected to create around 10 jobs and operate six days a week.
A portion of all proceeds also benefits the Sweet Julia Grace Foundation, which supports children with complex medical needs and the families who care for them. Their mission is to "Bless, Celebrate, and Love children who are medically fragile, have complex special/medical needs, or are currently facing a medical crisis," states their website. They call their children clients the "raindancers," because despite the storms they face every day, they have learned to “Dance in the Rain."
"She's local, I'm local" said Harrington, an alumna of Forestdale Elementary School and then Lee High School, recently renamed John R. Lewis High School. Julie Grace also grew up nearby. “It’s great to partner with her,” he said.
This new Remix building was once occupied by MVC videos which featured two floors of adult entertainment and novelties. In 2018, MVC moved across Old Keene Mill Road and became “Le Tache Couples Boutique,” which is still open today, selling much of the same adult entertainment videos and other materials. Harrington is aware of this past tenant of the space and admitted some have joked about it when they found out where he’s opening his store.
Part of the Bigger Plan
A couple of years ago, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors reauthorized a consideration Comprehensive Plan amendment for Springfield Boulevard, and it targets three surrounding parcels of land, but seemingly not the one slated for the Remix store. For those three parcels, the county recommends a mixed use multifamily residential with ground floor retail at a maximum building height of 85 feet.
On one of the colorful redevelopment maps in the zoning document, the Remix site will be landscaped and bordered by a proposed bike path. Nearby there is a spot identified as a "place making opportunity sites," and possibly a pocket park. Parcels described as "mixed use development," are identified as well, so the area is ripe for improvement.