Dance-floor dreams

Dallas bank launches big 2025 prom dress drive with 7 drop-off sites

A beautiful prom dress can be a dream come true.

Photo courtesy of Comerica

Comerica Bank is hosting its biggest Dallas-area prom dress yet in 2025, offering more ways to donate than ever before.

Comerica's 10th annual North Texas Prom Dress Drive will take place during the month of February at seven participating banking centers, including two new ones for this year. All donations will help teens served by Boys & Girls Clubs of Collin County, Dallas CASA, and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas to make their prom dreams come true.

The public can drop off formal dresses and accessories at these participating Comerica Bank locations in Dallas, Frisco, and Plano:

Mockingbird-Abrams: 6260 E. Mockingbird Ln., Dallas (new)
Preston John Hickman 4111 Preston Rd., Frisco (new)
Chapel Hill-Tollway: 2560 Dallas Pkwy., Plano
Forest-Inwood: 5200 Forest Ln., Dallas
Lovers Lane-Devonshire: 5647 W. Lovers Ln., Dallas
NorthPark: 8850 Boedeker St., Dallas
Parker-Premier: 3310 Premier Dr., Plano

Contributors do not have to be bank customers to donate.

The drive kicks off on Saturday, February 1 at the Mockingbird-Abrams, NorthPark, and Parker-Premier banking centers, which will be open from 9 am-12 noon, while the other locations will start accepting dresses during normal business hours on Monday, February 3. (No banking on Sundays.) The drive will run through February 28.

“For nearly a decade, we have partnered with our colleagues, customers, and the community to send thousands of teens to the prom, including more than 200 students last year,” says Beatrice Kelly, Comerica Bank senior vice president and director of community development banking, in a release. “We hope to serve a record number of teens through this year’s drive in honor of our 10th anniversary.”

The dresses can be new or gently used, but they do ask that garments be cleaned. (A good rule of thumb: Donate them as clean as if you were trying to resell them at a picky consignment store.)

Dresses and ensembles of all sizes are welcome (including plus sizes, 20 and up). They are also accepting donations of new or gently loved shoes, purses, and accessories.

Once the donations are collected and assembled, a "shopping" event for the teens will be held at a later date. Watch for more information to come on the event website.

Project Beauty is also partnering with the bank to help collect dresses, donate beauty swag bags, and give a complimentary prom night makeovers to one lucky teen from each benefiting agency.

Since 2015, Comerica has donated nearly 6,600 dresses, including 380 in 2024, to Dallas CASA and Boys & Girls Clubs of Collin County and Greater Dallas. For more information, visit comerica.com/promdress.

Comerica's is the second local prom dress drive announced for 2025. St. Andrew United Methodist Church's Prom Closet is also currently accepting donations in Plano; more information here.

comerica bank families prom dress charity

RETAIL WATCH

Texas AG Ken Paxton opens investigation into fast-fashion giant Shein

Photo courtesy of SHEIN

Shein is now under investigation from the Texas Attorney General.

Critics of fast fashion have found a strange bedfellow in Ken Paxton. The Texas Attorney General announced December 1 he would investigate online retailer Shein for alleged unethical labor practices and unsafe consumer products.

According to a release from Paxton’s office, the inquiry aims to find out if Shein’s “supply chain and manufacturing practices violate Texas law by using toxic or hazardous materials, misleading consumers about product safety, and misleading consumers about ethical sourcing.” The probe will also look into the corporation’s data collection and privacy practices.

In a statement, Paxton put a partisan spin on the investigation.

“Safe, non-toxic material and products are another key ingredient to [Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s] Make America Healthy Again movement,” said Paxton in the release. “Any company that cuts corners on labor standards or product safety, especially those operating in foreign nations like China, will be held accountable.”

Paxton’s move unexpectedly aligns the AG with environmental watchdogs. Nonprofit Yale Climate Connections has long sounded the alarm about the Singapore-based e-tailer, calling it one of the world’s biggest polluters. Paxton has long railed against climate change regulations and sued the Biden administration several times to block emissions rules.

The investigation is part of a larger Republican crackdown on Chinese consumer products. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are debating new restrictions on Shenzhen-based aerial drone maker DJI, and Senator Tom Cotton has called for investigations of “Communist Chinese” companies Shein and Temu. The September Texas vape ban specifically banned disposable e-cigarettes manufactured in the country.

In a statement emailed to multiple media outlets, Shein said it would comply with Paxton’s investigation.

“Shein takes these concerns seriously and is fully committed to cooperating,” a spokesperson said. “Our mission — to provide affordable, fashionable products to customers around the world — is underpinned by a dedication to safety, compliance, and respect for human rights.”

The controversy will likely have little effect on Shein’s popularity with Zoomers. The company snagged an estimated $38 billion in sales in 2024 and has an average of 24.7 million active app users each month.

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