DFW Bucks Trend of Amazon Monopoly

DALLAS—To say that multi-channel retailing is having a dramatic impact on the way people shop and how retailers operate is an understatement. Needless to say, this is a global structural change that is here to stay. However, this online retailing often means weaker demand for physical retail space, according to a recent study by TH Real Estate.

Given the ease and convenience of Internet retailing, brick-and-mortar retail assets are working harder to capture foot traffic. Customer experience is crucial to staying ahead of online competition and experiential retail has become more commonplace.

“Landlords are increasingly focused on creating a sense of place for their patrons; an environment where people convene, eat, shop and socialize,” Todd H. Rollins, senior director–portfolio manager with TH Real Estate, tells GlobeSt.com. “Centers are increasingly being adapted to include green spaces, fountains, best-in-class restaurants, etc. There continues to be a hyper-focus on entertainment. For example, Triple Five is building American Dream in the Meadowlands with a pronounced emphasis on engaging the shopper with multiple entertainment uses which reportedly will include an indoor ski park, water park, a Nickelodeon park, a Legoland Discovery Center, an aquarium and a 4-D theater. All of these venues compliment a strong line-up of traditional retail stores and restaurants.”

While online retail sales have grown rapidly during the last few years, Internet penetration varies considerably across geographies. That is evident in DFW, which remains a hotbed of retail activity with a number of new construction projects planned for this year and 2019, according to Weitzman.

A number of major anchor retailers are in McKinney at the intersection of Hardin Boulevard and US Highway 380, where Stein Mart opened during the first half of 2018. When built out during the next few years, the intersection is on track to have 1 million square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space.

Texas Live! is a 200,000-square-foot entertainment-and-eatery-focused development located between the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Park and the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington. The complex’s first phase, which will also include a Loews hotel, is set to open this month.

Kroger Marketplace, a 123,000-square-foot large-format superstore, is on track to open during the second half of the year on Sublett at US Highway 287 in the Arlington/Kennedale market.

Walmart Supercenter is located at the southeast corner of Park Vista Boulevard and Golden Triangle Boulevard in north Fort Worth. The store is approximately 183,000 square feet and is prompting peripheral small-shop retail.

There is a new $125 million entertainment-and-dining expansion at The Shops at Willow Bend, located at the Dallas North Tollway and Park Boulevard in West Plano. The new open-air phase includes a 60,000-square-foot Crayola Experience, an Equinox and a restaurant district with a number of destination restaurants. Cinepolis luxury cinema, with 10 screens and an IMAX, is soon to open. The new phases began opening during the first half of 2018 and will continue into 2019.

Broad Street Marketplace is a Market Street-anchored center at Broad Street and SH-360 in Mansfield. The grocery occupies 80,000 square feet, and the center has Pet Supermarket, several services and restaurants.

The Shops at Broad is a mixed-use development with approximately 430,000 square feet at the northwest corner of East Broad Street and US Highway 287. Anchors, many of which are on track to open during the second half of 2018, include Academy Sports + Outdoors and At Home. Other concepts to open in late 2018 or by 2019 include Belk department store and Flix Brewhouse.

High Point Crossing is an approximately 180,000-square-foot project at E. Northwest Highway and Abrams Road in northeast Dallas. The center, scheduled to open by year-end, features Academy Sports + Outdoors, Marshalls and Burlington.

Glade Parks is a retail project at SH-121 and Glade Road in Euless, with a lifestyle expansion totaling 180,000 square feet. The new phase features a number of restaurants, fashion retailer F21 Red, Total Wine & More, Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill and a hotel.

At Home, a home furnishings superstore, is scheduled to open three new locations by year-end. The three stores, which together total 314,000 square feet of new space, are opening in Garland, Plano and Mansfield.

The Shops at Clearfork, an open-air project from Simon located in southwest Fort Worth off of the new Chisholm Trail Parkway includes anchor Neiman Marcus. In 2018, the project added entertainment anchors AMC Clearfork 8 and Pinstripes Bistro, Bowling & Bocce and restaurants.

Irving Music Factory, a mixed-use dining and entertainment project near the Irving Convention Center, will have additions of an eight-screen Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and numerous restaurants.

Tom Thumb is on track by year-end to open a 60,000-square-foot store in street-level retail space in The Union, a mixed-use project at Field Street and Cedar Springs in Uptown Dallas.

The mixed-use project, Victory Park, is including an 85,000-square-foot retail expansion at Stemmons Freeway and Woodall Rogers Freeway in Dallas.

Alamo Drafthouse and Rooms to Go opened as part of the expansion of a retail district at W. University Drive near IH-35 in Denton.

Grandscape, a 400-acre mixed-use development located on SH-121 in The Colony, is anchored by Texas’ only Nebraska Furniture Mart. A number of new restaurants, including Truck Yard, are opening in 2018 and 2019. Andretti Indoor Karting & Games is set to join next year.

Flix Brewhouse opened at the northwest corner of FM 423 and King Road in Little Elm as the anchor for Main Marketplace.