American Girl is planning a big move in Dallas out of the Galleria and into the Shops at Park Lane next year.
The popular and pricey doll brand has plans to open a 15,400-square-foot, two-level store at The Shops at Park Lane, according to planning documents filed with the state. The cost of the project is estimated to be $9 million and construction would begin in August and end in late January.
The Shops at Park Lane is across N. Central Expressway from NorthPark Center. A bridge over the highway connects the two properties. The area is one of Dallas’ main shopping districts extending a couple of miles east and west along Northwest Highway to Abrams Road and Preston Road.
Galleria Dallas declined to comment. American Girl’s lease expires this year. The landmark North Dallas shopping center had been planning a redevelopment, but now that’s going to take a new owner. Ownership of the 1.9 million-square-foot, three-level mall and attached Westin Hotel was transferred to lenders in December.
American Girl and The Shops at Park Lane haven’t been reached for comment. The Galleria store may remain open through the key Christmas shopping season for toy retailers. It’s the brand’s only store in Texas.
American Girl opened in the Galleria in November 2007 with people camping out overnight to be the first of thousands that showed up. It was one of the first stores to open in select cities in the mid-2000s. Mattel has owned American Girl since 1998 and the premier doll brand has continued to operate from Middleton, Wisc. where it was founded in 1986.
The retailer permanently closed several stores during the pandemic and as its leases, typically for 15 years, expired. It has 10 stores in the U.S. and six in Canada.
In Los Angeles, a new store is opening this summer in the Century City Westfield Mall after closing in The Grove shopping center in April 2022. The Grove store opened in 2006, a year before the Galleria location, and had a 15-year lease that was renewable annually.
For several months American Girl has operated a popup location in Century City.
Twitter: @MariaHalkias
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