Texas: A Shopping Paradise (Houston, Dallas: delivery, foods, relocation)

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by madrone2k

KT, are you referring to the opening of the Houston Galleria N-M store ca. 1969? That was a cool event. Recently, I have read that store's sales are 2nd in the N-M chain, after the Dallas NorthPark store. Which would put it ahead of the downtown Dallas N-M store. (I give multi kudos to the downtown Dallas store and I wish the downtown Houston store were still alive. I just point this out to give some perspective on the current situation.)

Yep! At the time N-M only had two full-linestores (Downtown Dallas and NorthPark) and this was the first store outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. They had closed the small, curated Downtown Houston (think The Woodlands Nordstrom) store to build the first full-line store outside of DFW. The building still exists (it's the building with the Holy Cross Chapel and the CVS on Main Street).

The Galleria store still harks to the space age (especially when Clear Lake is the home of NASA and astronauts patronized this location) especially with that chandelier over the fragrance counters between the two red guardrail narrow escalators. The architecture (and fixtures--like the old-school grand urinals and faucet taps) haven't changed since 1969!

Fun fact: the store was designed as a stand-alone building, which explains why the second level doesn't line up between the mall and the store (and the reason for the stairs). The Galleria I was built on the west parking lot of the store the next year.

But I seriously was disappointed at the second Nordstrom location in The Woodlands when I discovered it isn't a full-line like The Galleria location, but rather a "curated collection"--meaning fewer items, sizes, and higher priced items on the rack in a smaller square-footage store.

[Dallas retail updater]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

Yep! At the time N-M only had two full-linestores (Downtown Dallas and NorthPark) and this was the first store outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. They had closed the small, curated Downtown Houston (think The Woodlands Nordstrom) store to build the first full-line store outside of DFW. The building still exists (it's the building with the Holy Cross Chapel and the CVS on Main Street).

The Galleria store still harks to the space age (especially when Clear Lake is the home of NASA and astronauts patronized this location) especially with that chandelier over the fragrance counters between the two red guardrail narrow escalators. The architecture (and fixtures--like the old-school grand urinals and faucet taps) haven't changed since 1969!

Fun fact: the store was designed as a stand-alone building, which explains why the second level doesn't line up between the mall and the store (and the reason for the stairs). The Galleria I was built on the west parking lot of the store the next year.

But I seriously was disappointed at the second Nordstrom location in The Woodlands when I discovered it isn't a full-line like The Galleria location, but rather a "curated collection"--meaning fewer items, sizes, and higher priced items on the rack in a smaller square-footage store.

Nordstrum's marketing niche seems to be very flexible like JC Penneys. As many super wealthy think of luxury as wasteful, they will tend to prefer the Buick over the Caddy. Likewise, they also tend to prefer shopping at JC Penneys. Well, they did until they started shopping online in a big way. Penneys markets sensible and economical luxury like Sephora and, prior to that, Martha Stewart. They attract the super wealthy into their stores by marketing themselves as general upscale. They then introduce them to sensible and economical luxury brands within the store.

Don't pooh pooh this thing called JC Penneys.

My dad was genuine middle class. He was willing to pay more for the same exact items sold at K-Mart. My dad got out and worked with tools however. So, he appreciated the durability and ergonomics of Craftsmen tools.

I inherited a lot of his craftsmen tools and they still work.

It is interesting contrasting Forty-Five-Ten downtown with both Stanley Korshak in Uptown and the boutique called Elements located in the Miracle Mile portion of Lovers Lane in University Park. As Forty Five Ten markets itself as searching the world over for the best of the best, Stanley Korshak's expertise is more blue collar luxury and focused on customer service. Elements on Lovers Lane searches the world over for the unusual under the radar products.

[rynetwo]

While not all that impressive San Antonio is getting the nations 6th Tory Sport (La Cantera) and makeup retailer Bluemerucury. (Quarry)

[Jasonsim]

Originally Posted by rynetwo

While not all that impressive San Antonio is getting the nations 6th Tory Sport (La Cantera) and makeup retailer Bluemerucury. (Quarry)

Great Update ! Thanks for sharing. Very interesting that Texas now has 2 Story Sport locations, and Bluemercury continues its Texas expansion.

[Dallas retail updater]

In prior posts, I mentioned two luxury shops with one each locating in Inwood Village and Preston Center. Kohlers is putting a flagship store within the Knox Street district. Also, why isn't Weir's Furniture listed? It is the reason so many furniture and home furniture stores chose to open in the neighborhood of Knox-Henderson.

[Jasonsim]

Originally Posted by Dallas retail updater

In prior posts, I mentioned two luxury shops with one each locating in Inwood Village and Preston Center. Kohlers is putting a flagship store within the Knox Street district. Also, why isn't Weir's Furniture listed? It is the reason so many furniture and home furniture stores chose to open in the neighborhood of Knox-Henderson.

The constant trolling and driving the thread off topic lead me to stay off and not comment on your postings. Sorry would you like a cookie for your good work on stores that I chose to leave off my master lists? The lists I compose mostly consist of nationally recognized brands.

Yes of course that is why they chose to open a Kohler Signature store, that area is a hot bed for home furnishings.

[Dallas retail updater]

Originally Posted by Jasonsim

The constant trolling and driving the thread off topic lead me to stay off and not comment on your postings. Sorry would you like a cookie for your good work on stores that I chose to leave off my master lists? The lists I compose mostly consist of nationally recognized brands.

Yes of course that is why they chose to open a Kohler Signature store, that area is a hot bed for home furnishings.

Sorry, it isn't my intention to stumble members up. I'm not a T word nor have I ever been one. Could you please clarify the status of the original Forty-Five-Ten in the Knox district? Is it reopening as a home furnishing store? If so, I think that annoucement went under the radar.

And what about Weirs Furniture? What that Neiman Marcus department store has long been to downtown Dallas, Weirs furniture has remained a similar faithful anchor for Knox Street even after it became seedy. I was reading that that furniture store, if it isn't today, was the highest volume selling furniture store in the nation.

Thanks

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by Dallas retail updater

Sorry, it isn't my intention to stumble members up. I'm not a T word nor have I ever been one. Could you please clarify the status of the original Forty-Five-Ten in the Knox district? Is it reopening as a home furnishing store? If so, I think that annoucement went under the radar.

And what about Weirs Furniture? What that Neiman Marcus department store has long been to downtown Dallas, Weirs furniture has remained a similar faithful anchor for Knox Street even after it became seedy. I was reading that that furniture store, if it isn't today, was the highest volume selling furniture store in the nation.

Thanks

No "official" word on the McKinney 4510, but rumor is that it will focus on gifts and home. Makes sense because Nest just closed next door.

No more waiting: Forty Five Ten is days away from its Main St. Dallas opening* | Retail | Dallas News


Honestly, the significance of Weir's is that the family owns a huge amount of land on the Knox Street side of Knox-Henderson. The store itself is pretty awful- it's dumpy, overstuffed traditional furniture with no point of view. They're nice people and its consistently reliable, but not anything exciting. I'd be shocked if if were ever anywhere near the highest volume furniture store in the US. Weirs and Neiman's in NO WAY belong in the same sentence. Have you even set foot in Weirs before???

[Dallas retail updater]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

No "official" word on the McKinney 4510, but rumor is that it will focus on gifts and home. Makes sense because Nest just closed next door.

No more waiting: Forty Five Ten is days away from its Main St. Dallas opening* | Retail | Dallas News


Honestly, the significance of Weir's is that the family owns a huge amount of land on the Knox Street side of Knox-Henderson. The store itself is pretty awful- it's dumpy, overstuffed traditional furniture with no point of view. They're nice people and its consistently reliable, but not anything exciting. I'd be shocked if if were ever anywhere near the highest volume furniture store in the US. Weirs and Neiman's in NO WAY belong in the same sentence. Have you even set foot in Weirs before???

Let me find the article about it. I will post it when I do. They claim Weirs as an anchor was used to entice all those other furniture and home furnishing stores to that area.

[Dallas retail updater]

REAL ESTATE KNOX STREET IS A NEW STREET AND GEORGE BAYOUD IS WHY – D Magazine

This is an old article, but it is insightful and informative. Here is the claim about Weir's:

"It was only after Bayoud was turned down by a string of trendy clothing retailers who seemed demographically suited to an urban setting like Knox-Gap, Armani Exchange, and Fitigues, among them-that he began to look at Weir’s in a different light. Some would argue that Weir’s is as much a vestige of the past as many of the tenants Bayoud and Co. were trying to evict, but the numbers pointed in a different direction. Weir’s, as it turns out, does more volume per square foot than any other furniture store in the country, according to industry insiders."