![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/nagatoshi-shimamura-A2GFw4W6bQo-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
(Nagatoski Shimamura\/Unsplash)\nA New Era for Willow Bend<\/p>\n
After nearly 25 years at The Shops at Willow Bend, Dillard\u2019s is closing its doors. The longtime anchor, Dillard\u2019s will join Macy\u2019s and Neiman Marcus in leaving the Plano mall, marking a major shift as Willow Bend prepares for a massive redevelopment.<\/p>\n
A sign at Dillard\u2019s Clearance Center thanked shoppers \u201cfor the memories\u201d and directed them to other North Texas locations. Dillard\u2019s had been part of Willow Bend since the mall\u2019s 2001 debut.<\/p>\n
From Retail Landmark to New Vision<\/p>\n
The 1.4-million-square-foot mall opened in 2001 as Texas\u2019 last enclosed luxury mall. Anchored by Neiman Marcus, Foley\u2019s, Dillard\u2019s, and Lord & Taylor, it debuted weeks before the September 11 attacks, impacting early performance.<\/p>\n
Ownership changes and redevelopment attempts followed. Starwood Retail Partners invested $100 million in 2014, adding restaurants like Knife Steakhouse, but defaulted on loans by 2020. Centennial Real Estate acquired the mall in 2022 and launched The Bend, a plan for apartments, offices, retail, and green space.<\/p>\n
Originally, Dillard\u2019s, Macy\u2019s, and Neiman Marcus were expected to stay. With all three leaving, the plan is being updated to include nearly 1,000 apartments and a more walkable layout, with a potential professional hockey arena.<\/p>\n
(Nagatoski Shimamura\/Unsplash)
\nA New Era for Willow Bend<\/p>\n
The Dallas Stars are exploring North Texas sites for a $1 billion arena after their lease at the American Airlines Center ends in 2031. Willow Bend is reportedly a leading option.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlano attracts national and international corporations,\u201d Plano Director of Media Relations Amanda McNew said. \u201cWe do not comment on speculation until projects reach the council.\u201d A Dallas Stars spokesperson added, \u201cWe continually evaluate options for our North Texas home.\u201d<\/p>\n
After years of setbacks, The Shops at Willow Bend may finally transform from a fading mall into a premier Plano destination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After nearly 25 years at The Shops at Willow Bend, Dillard\u2019s is closing its doors. The longtime anchor,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,162,161],"class_list":{"0":"post-49130","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-plano","9":"tag-plano-headlines","10":"tag-plano-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49130","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=49130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}