The Shops at Willow Bend is slimming down ahead of the planned redevelopment for the Dallas Stars arena.
Starting Sept. 1, “portions of The Shops at Willow Bend will transition as the property enters its next phase,” according to Centennial, an owner of the mall, in an emailed statement. Crate & Barrel, the furniture and home goods store, and Equinox, the fitness center, are among those that will continue serving guests, it said.
Restaurants Knife and Mexican Bar Co., along with the North Texas Performing Arts, also are slated to remain open, it said.
The struggling mall already has seen exits amid questions about the mall’s future and struggles to attract foot traffic. Macy’s, an anchor store, backed out of the mall last year, and Dillard’s, another anchor, closed earlier this year.
The Dallas Stars, the region’s National Hockey League team, are eyeing the property for a new arena home and a district that could be used for mixed development including retail, dining and public gathering spaces. In recent weeks, Willow Bend has held open houses about the effort with local residents to address concerns and explain the plans.
Even before the plans for the Stars district were announced, owners of The Shops at Willow Bend said in March they plan to start tearing down the mall within the next year.
The 1.4-million-square-foot mall was the last enclosed mall built in Texas when it opened in 2001. Yet despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent by previous owners, the property struggled to attract enough shoppers and stores.
The Neiman Marcus department store at the property is set to close around January 2027.