Shopping News

Southlake Town Square welcomes a bounty of new shops and restaurants

Newcomers include a funky chic wine bar.

Postino

Southlake's best-known shopping center, Southlake Town Square, is poised for an infusion of new shops and restaurants. The 130-acre mixed-use development with 120-plus retail shops and restaurants will be home to a host of new brands over the next few months.

The center is owned by Kite Realty Group, an Indianapolis-based real estate investment trust that owns dozens of similar open-air shopping centers across the U.S.

Kite Realty Group VP Jason Kasal says in a statement that Southlake Town Square is experiencing an incredible evolution in its merchandising mix.

“Over the last 12 months, Southlake Town Square has taken the most significant leap forward in attracting more premier retail brands than the project has experienced in its 20-plus-year history," Kasal says. "From announcing Nike, Aerie, YETI, Brandy Melville and HeyDay earlier this year to now being able to welcome Aritzia, Faherty, Tecovas, Mizzen + Main and Gorjana to the mix, this momentum will propel the project forward over the next few years."

Here's the full list of openings coming soon as well as recent openings:

Spring 2023
Gorjana, a jewelry brand based in Laguna Beach, California owned by husband-and-wife duo Jason and Gorjana Reidel is taking over the space previously occupied by Kendra Scott, which moved to another location in Southlake Town Square. Gorjana features fine jewelry and 18k gold plated styles.

Rowan is an ear-piercing place where the ear piercing is done by a licensed nurse using hypoallergenic earrings made from nickel-free materials. Located between Tyler’s and Pottery Barn, next to the Sprinkles ATM.

Summer 2023
Aritzia is a Canadian fashion brand delivering “Everyday Luxury” that will be located near Apple and Tesla.

Mizzen + Main, makers of dress shirts and other menswear. Located near the new and expanded Kendra Scott.

Third Love is an American lingerie company founded by Heidi Zak and her husband David Spector in 2013 known for marketing body positivity while offering size-inclusive bras and half-cup sizes. The company produces bras in 78 different sizes and will be located between Athleta and Fabletics.

Postino, the funky wine café from Phoenix, opens its first Tarrant County location in Southlake Town Square. Located near Free People and Moxie's, the space is being reconfigured with an indoor/outdoor environment that the release says will be unlike anything in Southlake Town Square.

Fall 2023
Faherty offers men’s, women’s and children’s clothing and accessories. The family-owned company is sustainably minded and will be across from Anthropologie.

Tecovas Austin-based retailer of cowboy hats, Western wear, cowboy boots, leather accessories, and denim products. Located near Apple and Tesla.

Open in 2022
Brandy Melville, the European clothing and fashion accessories brand, opened between Anthropologie and Sephora on Grand Avenue West in September.

YETI, the outdoor brand, opens October 13 in a space between Travis Mathew and Peloton. This is the first YETI in Tarrant County and the second in DFW.

Aerie, specializing in athleisure, swim, and undergarments, opens on October 20, located on Grand Avenue next to Starbucks.

Nike will open a location on Grand Avenue between Bath and Body Works and Victoria’s Secret before the end of the year.

Lululemon, known for athletic apparel, has relocated to a new location near Tesla and Apple on Grand Avenue that doubles its size to a 7,000-square-foot flagship location.

HeyDay which specializes in skincare products, will open between Athleta and Fabletics on State Street by the end of 2022. Southlake will be their second location in Texas.

Ferah Tex-Med, offering modern Mediterranean cuisine with a Texas twist from its location on Carroll Avenue, next to Nothing Bundt Cakes, is now open.

Nikko, specializing in sushi and Asian cuisine, opened next to Trader Joe’s.

Stella Trattoria offering authentic Italian cuisine on State Street, across from Market by Macy’s.

shopping

Movie Review

Daniel Craig searches for elusive new bond in audacious film Queer

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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