{"id":200150,"date":"2026-03-11T18:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/200150\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T18:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:02:10","slug":"crayola-experience-permanently-closes-at-willow-bend-amid-dallas-stars-speculation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/200150\/","title":{"rendered":"Crayola Experience permanently closes at Willow Bend amid Dallas Stars speculation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Crayola Experience at The Shops at Willow Bend has come to end amid talk about the Dallas Stars moving to the mall site.<\/p>\n

The crayon-focused attraction \u2013 one of the key draws at the struggling mall \u2013 has closed \u201cpermanently\u201d after about eight years in operation there, according to its website. That follows being temporarily closed earlier this year after a lockout notice was posted on its windows and pointing to \u201cdelinquent rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it would reopen by early March and then \u201ctemporarily\u201d close again before the permanent shuttering of the attraction that\u2019s operated under a license by Brite Management\/BrightColors LLC. The Crayola Experience remains open in some other states. <\/p>\n

The closure brings yet another exit to the mall that\u2019s been the subject of speculation about a future Dallas Stars home. The News first reported in October that the NHL team was eyeing Willow Bend<\/a> as the site for a more than $1 billion arena. In addition, the City of Plano \u201chas been in earnest discussions\u201d<\/a> with the NHL hockey team for the past year regarding the site. <\/p>\n

D-FW Retail News<\/p>\n

The latest on retail openings, closings and trends in D-FW.<\/p>\n

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Dillard\u2019s, the large department store, closed recently at The Shops at Willow Bend, and the North Texas Performing Arts group was told by the landlord<\/a> it would have to make plans to leave the mall. Neiman Marcus is set<\/a> to exit with the sale of its site. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Neiman<\/p>\n

Crayola said it understands the closure is disappointing and frustrating to those in the Plano area who have enjoyed visiting \u2014 and those who made plans to do so. The website lists options for those seeking refunds or have other questions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain committed to our location-based entertainment growth strategy,\u201d Rick Stringer, EVP, consumer experience, Crayola, said in a statement. \u201cCrayola Experience is key to that strategy and an important representation of the Crayola brand as a family destination for interactive play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crayola has no plans to open another Experience at this time in North Texas, it said, though it continues to look for and evaluate opportunities. <\/p>\n

\"People<\/a>Target debuts in Oak Cliff after long wait<\/a><\/p>\n

The store in Wynnewood Village brings the well-known retailer to southern Dallas.<\/p>\n

\"Birds<\/a>Consumer prices tick up in February, boosted by rising energy prices<\/a><\/p>\n

The data was in line with expectations, but the escalating Iran war will push prices up further in March.<\/p>\n

\"Employee<\/a>Ikea debuting in Dallas with over 3,000 items to buy on the spot in new, smaller store<\/a><\/p>\n

The format packs a punch in its new retail size that\u2019s nearing an open later this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Crayola Experience at The Shops at Willow Bend has come to end amid talk about the Dallas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,1115,6765,160,952,808],"class_list":{"0":"post-200150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-dallas-stars","12":"tag-malls","13":"tag-plano","14":"tag-retail","15":"tag-shopping"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}