At the very end of 2009, we discovered that the Crate & Barrel anchoring the Galleria North shopping strip on Alpha Road was heading further north up the Dallas North Tollway to The Shops of Willow Bend in January 2011, leaving a rather gaping hole in the development across the street from the Galleria. A Friend of Unfair Park just sent word of another major tenant's departure: Restoration Hardware, which sits right next to Crate & Barrel. Its final day at that location is May 22, confirms an employee there to whom I just spoke.
And, yes, says this employee: Restoration Hardware's decision to leave the location has everything to do with Crate & Barrel's eventual move north. "Business has been really good -- fantastic," says the Hardware store worker. "Our store is very, very large, but receipts are comparable with smaller locations. But with Crate & Barrel moving, it makes sense for us to head out, I believe. Restoration Hardware's closing a couple of other locations but opening three more [nationally]. It's just the ebb and flow of things."
A friend of mine in the commercial real estate business says word of its shuttering has
been circulating for about two weeks. But the store's staff didn't find
out till yesterday.
Locals don't know if the Corte Madera, California-based company plans
to open another Dallas location. Come the end of next month, the Knox Street spot will be all
that remains of Restoration Hardware locally following the Stonebriar store's shuttering at the
beginning of the year. The company's California spokesperson says on her voicemail she is
unavailable till April 19.
I asked my friend in the commercial
real estate business how significant this is, given C&B's adios
come year's end. He says, "They'll eventually find some tenants.
There's no reason to think it won't fill back up -- it's in a great
location. But it will be a major challenge." If nothing else, there's
now a going-out-of-business sale -- up to 30-percent off.
