Neiman Marcus is bowing out of The Shops at Willow Bend, ending more than two decades in Plano.
Saks Global, which acquired Neiman in last year’s $2.7 billion merger, sold the three-floor, 150,000-square-foot anchor site at 2201 Dallas Parkway to Dallas-based real estate developer Centennial, the mall’s owner and redeveloper, the Dallas Morning News reported. The store will be open until January.
It’s a symbolic blow to the luxury brand and the struggling 1.4 million-square-foot shopping center, the last enclosed mall built in Texas. Willow Bend debuted in 2001 with Neiman’s as the anchor but has been plagued by sluggish traffic despite heavy, multi-million dollar reinvestment over the years.
Centennial, which bought the property in 2022, has been working on a multi-year redevelopment strategy, pivoting to mixed-use after Macy’s announced earlier this year it would close its Willow Bend location as part of a broader retrenchment.
The redevelopment is expected to take years and include apartments, hotel, office, restaurants, retail and townhomes. Plano city officials gave their stamp of approval on the project earlier this year.
The metroplex is a core market for Neiman Marcus, with stores at NorthPark Center, Downtown Dallas and in Fort Worth, Saks Global said. But each is under review. The historic downtown flagship narrowly avoided a March shutdown after tense lease negotiations, and Saks has pledged a “reimagination” of that site alongside upgrades at NorthPark.
Company officials framed the Plano exit as part of aligning with Centennial’s vision for the property. Employees will be offered transfers to other stores or separation packages.
Centennial is pitching its overhaul of Willow Bend as a way to finally make the shopping center relevant to the surrounding community. The loss of another anchor might make the redevelopment push more urgent — and potentially easier, as it clears the way for a large-scale reset of the site.
Centennial is also in the second phase of a $252 million redevelopment of the 1970s-era Hawthorn Mall in the Chicago suburb of Vernon Hills.— Eric Weilbacher
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