"We're evaluating each location based on multiple factors," Amazon said in January, when it announced that every Amazon Fresh store in the country would close and some would become Whole Foods Markets. "We will share more information at a later date."
The Potomac Yard store at 3801 Richmond Highway was on that list. Eight months later, the local reporting reviewed for this post still shows no Whole Foods conversion and no new grocer announced for the space. Over the same stretch, the Route 1 corridor between Del Ray and the Arlington line lost one of its pharmacies and gained a food hall that now delivers by sidewalk robot. Taken together, the 2026 changes have pulled the corridor's errands away from separate stores and toward one big-box anchor and a set of delivery networks.
Eleven Days in January
The two closures came close enough together to be one event for anyone who shops this stretch.
- Jan. 21, 2026. CVS confirmed this was the last day for its pharmacy at 2601 Richmond Highway. Prescriptions moved to the CVS at 415 E. Monroe Avenue, and the company named its pharmacy inside Target at 3101 Richmond Highway as the next closest location.
- Jan. 27, 2026. Amazon announced it would close all Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores and convert some of them to Whole Foods Market. It did not say which ones.
- Jan. 29, 2026. Local coverage reported that no conversion had been announced for Alexandria.
- Feb. 1, 2026. This was the scheduled final day for the Potomac Yard Amazon Fresh, according to local reports. No later report confirms the exact last day the store operated, so Feb. 1 is the planned date rather than a verified one.
According to ALXnow, the CVS closure still left a dozen CVS locations across Alexandria. The citywide count held up. What changed was the walking distance for anyone who used the 2601 location.
A Grocery Box With a Short Memory
The empty space at 3801 Richmond Highway has been through this before, and that history matters more than the closure itself.
Before Amazon arrived, the building was home to the longtime Shoppers Food Warehouse. After Shoppers left, the space sat empty for four years. Amazon Fresh opened there in July 2024, so the store lasted about a year and a half.
There was also a precedent nearby. In March 2024, four months before the Potomac Yard store opened, an Amazon Fresh in Crystal City closed after less than two years. Amazon also dropped plans for a store on Columbia Pike.
Counting from Shoppers' departure, the full-size grocery space in the Potomac Yard Shopping Center has been empty for about four of the past six years. The 18 months of Amazon Fresh were the exception in that stretch. That is useful background when someone asks how long the space might stay dark this time. The only record so far is a long first vacancy.
The Whole Foods question is still open. Amazon said it would place Whole Foods stores "where they'll best serve customers and perform well." No public announcement has tied that plan to 3801 Richmond Highway, and no other tenant has been named.
What the Corridor Added Instead
The biggest opening on this stretch in 2026 came just before the closures, and it works on a different model from the stores that left.
Wonder held its grand opening on Friday, Jan. 9, at 3615 Richmond Highway, with a 2 p.m. ribbon-cutting listed by the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce. Alexandria Living Magazine reported hours of 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., free delivery, and a lineup of restaurant brands grouped by cuisine under one roof, including The Mainstay by Marc Murphy in the American category. In a single building, a household can order from several kitchens on one ticket until 11:30 at night.
In August, Wonder's delivery got a second option. On Aug. 17, 2026, Serve Robotics announced that Wonder's Alexandria location would offer autonomous delivery through Serve's network, alongside robot delivery on Grubhub in Alexandria. Wonder bought Grubhub last year. ALXnow reported that Serve's robots have run in Alexandria since December 2025, that the city added the platform to its 311 system and can see fleet information, and that the robots cover Northeast Alexandria/Westover, Del Ray, Potomac Yard and Taylor Run.
That 311 detail is the practical one for anyone sharing a sidewalk with the robots. Questions about the fleet go through the same city channel used for potholes and missed trash pickups.
Two other spring openings filled out the corridor:
- Ulta Beauty opened in late March at 3501 Richmond Highway, in the former Dressbarn space. The Potomac Yard store includes a salon.
- Dok Khao Thai Eatery was in soft opening by March 19 at 2514 Richmond Highway in Oakville Triangle, between Potomac Yard and Del Ray. It is a sit-down option at the Del Ray end of the corridor, a few blocks from the restaurant cluster covered in our post on why Del Ray's newest restaurants feel so familiar.
None of these replaces a weekly grocery trip or a prescription counter. The corridor added dinner, beauty services and delivery. It lost the two errands most people run on a schedule.
The Errand Run as It Stands This Fall
Put together, the closures and openings sort the Route 1 errand list as follows. Everything here comes from the reporting above. Nothing is projected.
- Groceries on the corridor. The Potomac Yard Center directory lists Target at 3101 Richmond Highway as carrying groceries. With 3801 empty, Target is the grocery option inside the shopping center itself.
- Prescriptions. CVS's store locator lists a CVS Pharmacy inside that same Target at 3101 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA 22305. Records from the closed 2601 location went to 415 E. Monroe Avenue, so anyone who hasn't picked up a refill since January should check which store holds their file.
- Dinner without cooking. Wonder at 3615 Richmond Highway, open until 11:30 p.m. Dok Khao at 2514 Richmond Highway is the sit-down choice to the south.
- Robot delivery. Serve's coverage area takes in Potomac Yard, Del Ray, Northeast Alexandria/Westover and Taylor Run. It is described by neighborhood names, not exact boundaries.
- A walk between errands. Potomac Yard Park at 2501 Potomac Ave. has a promenade trail and courts. North Potomac Yard Park at 3601 University Drive, a 4.5-acre extension with its own trail segment, opened with a ribbon-cutting in October 2024.
Target is now carrying two jobs that used to be spread across three storefronts. A Saturday that once meant stops at 2601, 3101 and 3801 Richmond Highway can now happen under one roof, with dinner handled from 3615 later that night.
What to Watch at 3801 Richmond Highway
The local sources reviewed show no openings scheduled on this corridor for October through December 2026, so the fall calendar has no planned arrival to wait for. The real open question is the grocery space.
Amazon said in January that it would share location-specific plans later. Any of three announcements would change the errand map again: a Whole Foods conversion, a lease to a different grocer, or a non-grocery tenant. Until one of them comes, the best guide to how long the space could sit empty is its own record, which is four years between Shoppers Food Warehouse and Amazon Fresh.
For more on the city beyond Route 1, our Alexandria neighborhood page covers the wider market.
Changes on a shopping corridor tend to show up in how people talk about a neighborhood well before they show up in any data. At Cristina Sison, we keep track of what has opened, closed or is still undecided on stretches like Richmond Highway, because neighbors and buyers ask about these things. If you live near Potomac Yard and want to talk through what changes here could mean for your own plans, we're glad to help. Schedule a Consultation whenever the timing is right for you.
