Another Major Retailer Winds Down at Plano’s The Shops at Willow Bend

North Texas shopaholics will have another legacy retail institution to mourn before too long as the Dillard’s at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano lives out its final days this month, marking one of the mall’s last chapters ahead of its inevitable redevelopment.

The Shops at Willow Bend has been around for 25 years. Opened in 2001 by developer Taubman Centers, the roughly 1.4 million-square-foot enclosed mall was designed to attract affluent shoppers with luxury anchors, national brands, and dining options at the northwest corner of the Dallas North Tollway and West Park Boulevard.

Unfortunately for the mall (and plenty others just like it), the back-to-back blows of expanded e-commerce and a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic put a serious dent in foot traffic. There was also new competition in the form of outdoor mixed-use districts like the Shops at Legacy North and Legacy West.

Even from its early days, though, the development faced stiff competition from Stonebriar Centre in Frisco several minutes north and the Galleria Mall in North Dallas several minutes south. One social media user claims The Shops at Willow Bend has been “slowly dying from the moment it opened in 2001.”

The property changed hands a number of times before ending up in the possession of the current owner, Centennial Real Estate.

Last November, Dillard’s announced it was going to close its doors at The Shops at Willow Bend, ending its quarter of a century in operation there. Dillard’s was an original anchor at the mall, alongside Neiman Marcus, Foley’s (which became Macy’s), Lord & Taylor, and later Saks Fifth Avenue. All have now either already closed or announced their departure. There’s still a Crate & Barrel, though.

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CandysDirt.com reached out to the Dillard’s at The Shops at Willow Bend and was told that the store would remain open through the end of the month, a little longer than some reports have suggested. Neiman Marcus in January 2027.

All these headwinds set the stage for a reimagining of the site. Centennial Real Estate is looking to demolish big portions of the enclosed mall to make way for an outdoor, walkable district with all the fixings. Known as The Bend, the proposed project includes retail, dining, apartments, office space, and a hotel. Nothing is set in stone, though. Word is the Dallas Stars are giving serious consideration to the site for their new stadium.

Rumors started circulating in the fall, with The Dallas Morning News reporting people with knowledge of the team’s relocation efforts were partial to the site over other potential locations, including spots in Arlington, Fort Worth, Frisco, and The Colony.

”Due to the strong interest in Plano and competition within the region, we do not publicly comment on speculation or economic development projects until they are brought to Council for formal adoption,” a spokesperson for the city told the outlet at the time.

The Stars are looking for a site where they can maintain revenue-generating real estate holdings around the new arena itself — something that can’t exactly be realized at American Airlines Center, where they have a lease until 2031.

Reports indicate that the Stars will need to settle on a site by this summer in order to have an arena up and running for the 2031-2032 NHL season.

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All in all, it seems like a walkable commercial district with a brand-new hockey arena would be a formidable destination for one of the D-FW’s most significant cities. Once a sleepy North Dallas suburb, Plano is now a major employment center and has been translating the region’s population growth into commercial and residential projects.

Still, for those who enjoy mall walking and indoor shopping in Plano, they’re coming on the end of an era. There are still plenty of retailers operating alongside the Crayola Experience attraction and North TX Performing Arts Theatre, but those big department stores are about to be long gone.

A Redditer eulogized the mall last year, and it’s definitely worth a read.