A new Barnes & Noble concept store is opening at Plano's Legacy West.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
New urban mixed-use complex Legacy West in Plano is further cementing itself as the center of the universe by adding a new Barnes & Noble concept store to its growing list of tenants. The new 9,000-square-foot store, which will feature a restaurant with an expanded menu as well as beer and wine, is scheduled to open in March 2017.
Barnes & Noble VP David Deason says in a release that the store represents something new for the chain. "We are excited to be opening a smaller format store, as part of a number of different concept stores that we’re testing nationwide," he says.
According to an announcement from the company in June 2016, these stores will feature bars with wine and beer and "better food" in cafes that are twice the size of their usual food spots.
In addition to the standard cafe items, the new Barnes & Noble concept will serve a full breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu with waiter service. The company has hired an executive chef.
Barnes & Noble operates 640 bookstores and is the nation's largest retail bookseller and a leading retailer of content, digital media, and educational products. There are nine stores around Dallas.
But Legacy West represents one of five new concept stores for the chain, along with 2017 openings in New York, Minnesota, California, and Virginia.
Legacy West developer Fehmi Karahan calls the new Barnes & Noble concept store "a huge win."
"It provides the community a unique experience, where people can relax, discover great new books, or meet a friend to listen to an author speak and have a glass of wine," he says.
Barnes & Noble joins Dean & DeLuca, which will open its first location in Texas at Legacy West, which will be home to the North American headquarters of Toyota and FedEx Office. Restaurants already announced include Shake Shack, Taverna, Bistro 31, Toulouse, True Food Kitchen, North Italia, Eddie V's, Velvet Taco, Oishii, and Sprinkles Cupcakes.
Dallas actress and longtime resident Irma P. Hall, best known for playing Big Mama Jo in the 1997 film Soul Food, died Tuesday, November 10, surrounded by loved ones, according to an announcement from her family. She was 91.
Hall built a nearly five-decade career in film, television, and theater, earning an NAACP Image Award for Soul Food and a Jury Prize at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in The Ladykillers.
"Her commanding presence and remarkable ability to bring depth and authenticity to every character made her one of Hollywood's most respected and recognizable character actresses and a cultural icon," her family says in a statement.
Before becoming a familiar face on movie screens, Hall spent more than 20 years teaching English and foreign languages in Dallas public schools. She maintained her ties to her native Texas throughout her Hollywood career.
Born Irma Dolores Player on June 3, 1935, in Beaumont, Hall grew up in Chicago before returning to Texas to attend Texas College in Tyler. Her path to acting began unexpectedly when actor and director Raymond St. Jacques discovered her talent during a poetry reading in Dallas, her family says.
She made her film debut in Book of Numbers in 1973, launching a second career that would take her from Dallas stages to Tinseltown sets.
Hall became widely recognized for her portrayal of Big Mama Jo in Soul Food, the 1997 film about a close-knit family whose Sunday dinners bring generations together. She starred alongside stars Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, and Michael Beach.
"One of the most iconic mother roles in film history, "A Song for Mama" by Boyz II Men was written and produced by Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, specifically centering on Irma P. Hall's character in Soul Food," the family statement says. "Decades after its original release, this song is still one of the most popular and enduring Mother's Day anthems of all time."
Hall's other credits included A Family Thing (1996), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), Beloved (1998), Patch Adams (1998), The Ladykillers (2004), Collateral (2004), and Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2008). She also reprised her role as Mama Joe in the television series based on the film.
Hall's performance in Soul Food earned her an NAACP Image Award for outstanding supporting actress in a motion picture. In 2004, she shared a Jury Prize at Cannes for The Ladykillers, in which she starred opposite Tom Hanks. She also received honors from the Chicago and Kansas City film critics associations for A Family Thing and was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.
Courtesy photo
Irma P. Hall stayed connected to the Dallas arts and theater community throughout her life.
Hall remained connected to Dallas and its arts community her whole life, her family says. She co-founded the Dallas Minority Repertory Theatre in 1973. Her contributions are also remembered through the Irma P. Hall Black Theatre Awards, known as The Irmas, an annual celebration of performing and technical theater talent across Dallas-Fort Worth, founded in 2015.
Education remained another lifelong passion. Hall received an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts and Education from Texas College in recognition of her work in the arts and education. At Inspiring Body of Christ Church in Dallas, where she was a longtime member and cherished Church Mother, she regularly visited the church's University of Dreams school to read to children and share her love of storytelling. She also participated in the church's theater ministry.
“Today, we celebrate the extraordinary life of a woman whose faith, wisdom and love touched so many," senior pastor Rickie G. Rush says in a statement. "Our beloved Church Mother, Irma P. Hall, has taken her final bow on the stage of life and stepped into eternity.”
Hall is survived by her only daughter, Irma Hall Crayton, who remembered her mother's influence as both an educator and a mentor.
“She started as a teacher in the classroom but ended up being a teacher to the world,” Crayton says. “My mom used to always say, ‘To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.’ And she was just that to many people.”
Funeral services and memorial arrangements will be announced at a later date.
