Addison wrote:Proquest20 wrote:Addison wrote:This is only tangentially related to Willow Bend, but the nearby Bed Bath and Beyond is now set to close.
The stores near the Galleria and Stonebriar live on, for now...
The chain’s in a major struggle right now. In general, the majority of the stores surrounding Willow Bend are doing quite well. Last tine I went to Willow Bend, I went to the Target on the other side of the tollway right after and it seems to be doing quite well. It’s also a nicer Target than most as well.
Normally, a dead mall would drag down the entire surrounding area with it. Shops at Willow Bend, Vista Ridge and Collin Creek have all defied that trend.
All of the Targets in North Dallas and in the Tollway suburbs are pretty consistently nice IMO.
I'm a fan of the Wally World across the street myself (with the Wine & Sushi bar). I call it the Bougie Walmart.
Yeah, I drive past Vista Ridge multiple times per week and it amazes me how nice that area is, yet how dead that mall is. Unfortunately, having Southlake Town Square, Grapevine Mills, Stonebriar, and Legacy West all on the same tollway seems to have done a number on it.
As for the Shops at Legacy, last time I was there it seemed to have been struggling with a number of vacancies as well, especially as you go further south, towards the Marriott.
Willow Bend defies that trend because unlike mall stores, which someone would be willing to travel to the Galleria for, people living in West Plano are going to go to the closest Walmart, Target, or Home Depot stores to them. I think the furniture stores and Neiman Marcus fall in that same category in a way, because with a bunch of single-family homes and growth in the area, they’re more necessary than ever - and they’re destination stores unlike most mall stores. People definitely make trips to Willow Bend just to shop at RH and Crate and Barrel.
What I’d like is for Willow Bend to focus on bringing more athleisure brands into the mall to compliment its Equinox. I’m sure that could be a drawing point to bring Alo, Vuori, Finish Line, Adidas, or even another Lululemon into the mall, provided they’re located in the Crate and Barrel court. I'd like for one major athleisure brand to take over the old Wicker Park Home space (the one next to Express), another to take the old Justice space, another to take the old Brookstone, and the space in between Pop Culture and Squishable. Then, I'd like for the old Forever 21, the old Agaci, and the two big slews of vacant spaces on the 2nd floor over by Dillards to become large-format stores for fast fashion brands (Zara, Uniqlo, Mango, etc;) I think Primark could build a two story store out of some of these spaces, or just that one storefront that was supposed to be an office tower in the food court. Close CPK or relocate it to the district, then add another furniture store (maybe Arhaus?)
Hell, back when Apple originally closed and Sephora was still holding on, I really wanted Sephora to take over the Apple space and build a larger store, like the one at NorthPark. Hopefully they can find someone else to take their place at this point.