Fashion Faux Pas

Dallas shopping scene takes another hit as Saks Fifth Avenue announces its exit from Galleria

While shopping destinations like Highland Park Village and West Village continue to thrive with new, designer-driven boutiques and independent shops, the Dallas department store scene has suffered of late. Last fall, Barneys announced it was exiting NorthPark Center in April. Now, Saks Fifth Avenue intends to close its 170,000-square-foot store at Galleria Dallas on June 15.

The new tenant? Charlotte, North Carolina-based Belk, the largest family-owned and -operated department store brand. Belk has more than 300 stores throughout the South, including Dallas-Fort Worth locations in McKinney, Rockwall and Flower Mound.

The new tenant? Belk, which has more than 300 stores throughout the South, including locations in McKinney, Rockwall and Flower Mound.

“We are proud to join the Galleria Dallas’ list of premium retailers, and we look forward to bringing top brands, the best in service and a deep commitment to this community,” said Tim Belk, chairman and CEO and grandson of founder William Henry Belk, in a statement. “Texas has been a very strong market for us, and we see great opportunities for growth in the state.”

Belk president and chief merchandising officer Kathryn Bufano added, “Our merchants made their first buying trip to the Dallas market last year. We were impressed with the vibrancy of the city and the modern Texas style we saw.”

Saks left the Shops at Willow Bend in August 2010 and closed its Austin location at the Arboretum at the end of December. The New York-based retailer will continue to operate its Off 5th outlet stores in Dallas, Grand Prairie and Grapevine.

Construction on the new Belk store will begin in July, and the company expects to welcome its first Galleria customers in spring 2014.

The family-owned Belk already has stores in locations like McKinney, Rockwall and Flower Mound.

Photo courtesy of Galleria Dallas

The family-owned Belk already has stores in locations like McKinney, Rockwall and Flower Mound.

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First-rate idea

Goodwill transforms former Plano Walgreens into first small-format store

Photo courtesy of Goodwill

An old Walgreens has become a new Goodwill store in Plano.

UPDATE 7-31-2026: Due to construction delays, the store opening has been pushed back to Thursday, August 13.

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Leave it to Goodwill to find a second use for a former Walgreens. The nonprofit is transforming a vacant drugstore building in Plano into its first ever, small-format store.

According to a release, Goodwill Industries of Dallas will debut the first-of-its-kind store at 3000 McDermott Rd., Plano, on Thursday, August 6.

The organization has converted the former pharmacy into a 10,000-square-foot thrift store and donation center. For comparison, that's less than one-third of the size of the massive, 31,000-square-foot "Broadway store" that opened in Garland earlier this year as the largest Goodwill in Texas and the second largest in the U.S.

The nonprofit says the new concept is designed to serve neighborhoods with a smaller footprint while still offering a steady flow of merchandise. Shoppers can expect about 5,000 new items to hit the sales floor each day, ranging from clothing and housewares to books, toys, and other donated goods.

It's also a creative example of "adaptive reuse" for one of the many drugstores have have shuttered in recent years around Dallas-Fort Worth. (CVS, are you listening?)

The Plano location will create 70 jobs, they say, and include a donation center where residents can drop off gently used items to support Goodwill's workforce development programs.

The opening comes as resale shopping continues to surge nationwide, Goodwill notes. According to the 2024 ThredUp Resale Report, the U.S. secondhand market grew 11 percent in 2023 — seven times faster than the broader retail clothing industry — and is projected to reach $73 billion by 2028.

"This store is a blueprint for how Goodwill Dallas turns vacant spaces into neighborhood assets, creating jobs, funding workforce development, and keeping quality goods accessible to families who need them most," Goodwill Industries of Dallas president and CEO Tim Heis says in the release.

The timing is also fortuitous for shoppers: The store will debut just ahead of Texas' 2026 Tax-Free Weekend, August 7-9, which will offer clothing, footwear, school supplies, backpacks without state sales tax.

Once doors on August 6, open the Plano store will operate 9 am-9 pm Monday-Saturday and 10 am-7 pm Sunday.

Goodwill Industries of Dallas has served North Texas since 1923, using proceeds from its retail stores to fund free job training, employment placement, and career services for people facing barriers to employment across eight North Texas counties.

plano thrift store goodwill preservation shopping