• Home
  • popular
  • Events
  • Submit New Event
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • News
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Home + Design
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • Innovation
  • Sports
  • Charity Guide
  • children
  • education
  • health
  • veterans
  • SOCIAL SERVICES
  • ARTS + CULTURE
  • animals
  • lgbtq
  • New Charity
  • Series
  • Delivery Limited
  • DTX Giveaway 2012
  • DTX Ski Magic
  • dtx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Your Home in the Sky
  • DTX Best of 2013
  • DTX Trailblazers
  • Tastemakers Dallas 2017
  • Healthy Perspectives
  • Neighborhood Eats 2015
  • The Art of Making Whiskey
  • DTX International Film Festival
  • DTX Tatum Brown
  • Tastemaker Awards 2016 Dallas
  • DTX McCurley 2014
  • DTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • DTX Beyond presents Party Perfect
  • DTX Texas Health Resources
  • DART 2018
  • Alexan Central
  • State Fair 2018
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Zatar
  • CityLine
  • Vision Veritas
  • Okay to Say
  • Hearts on the Trinity
  • DFW Auto Show 2015
  • Northpark 50
  • Anteks Curated
  • Red Bull Cliff Diving
  • Maggie Louise Confections Dallas
  • Gaia
  • Red Bull Global Rally Cross
  • NorthPark Holiday 2015
  • Ethan's View Dallas
  • DTX City Centre 2013
  • Galleria Dallas
  • Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty Luxury Homes in Dallas Texas
  • DTX Island Time
  • Simpson Property Group SkyHouse
  • DIFFA
  • Lotus Shop
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Dallas
  • Clothes Circuit
  • DTX Tastemakers 2014
  • Elite Dental
  • Elan City Lights
  • Dallas Charity Guide
  • DTX Music Scene 2013
  • One Arts Party at the Plaza
  • J.R. Ewing
  • AMLI Design District Vibrant Living
  • Crest at Oak Park
  • Braun Enterprises Dallas
  • NorthPark
  • Victory Park
  • DTX Common Desk
  • DTX Osborne Advisors
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • DFW Showcase Tour of Homes
  • DTX Neighborhood Eats
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • DTX Auto Awards
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2017
  • Nasher Store
  • Guardian of The Glenlivet
  • Zyn22
  • Dallas Rx
  • Yellow Rose Gala
  • Opendoor
  • DTX Sun and Ski
  • Crow Collection
  • DTX Tastes of the Season
  • Skye of Turtle Creek Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival
  • DTX Charity Challenge
  • DTX Culture Motive
  • DTX Good Eats 2012
  • DTX_15Winks
  • St. Bernard Sports
  • Jose
  • DTX SMU 2014
  • DTX Up to Speed
  • st bernard
  • Ardan West Village
  • DTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Taste the Difference
  • Parktoberfest 2016
  • Bob's Steak and Chop House
  • DTX Smart Luxury
  • DTX Earth Day
  • DTX_Gaylord_Promoted_Series
  • IIDA Lavish
  • Huffhines Art Trails 2017
  • Red Bull Flying Bach Dallas
  • Y+A Real Estate
  • Beauty Basics
  • DTX Pet of the Week
  • Long Cove
  • Charity Challenge 2014
  • Legacy West
  • Wildflower
  • Stillwater Capital
  • Tulum
  • DTX Texas Traveler
  • Dallas DART
  • Soldiers' Angels
  • Alexan Riveredge
  • Ebby Halliday Realtors
  • Zephyr Gin
  • Sixty Five Hundred Scene
  • Christy Berry
  • Entertainment Destination
  • Dallas Art Fair 2015
  • St. Bernard Sports Duck Head
  • Jameson DTX
  • Alara Uptown Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival fall 2017
  • DTX Tastemakers 2015
  • Cottonwood Arts Festival
  • The Taylor
  • Decks in the Park
  • Alexan Henderson
  • Gallery at Turtle Creek
  • Omni Hotel DTX
  • Red on the Runway
  • Whole Foods Dallas 2018
  • Artizone Essential Eats
  • Galleria Dallas Runway Revue
  • State Fair 2016 Promoted
  • Trigger's Toys Ultimate Cocktail Experience
  • Dean's Texas Cuisine
  • Real Weddings Dallas
  • Real Housewives of Dallas
  • Jan Barboglio
  • Wildflower Arts and Music Festival
  • Hearts for Hounds
  • Okay to Say Dallas
  • Indochino Dallas
  • Old Forester Dallas
  • Dallas Apartment Locators
  • Dallas Summer Musicals
  • PSW Real Estate Dallas
  • Paintzen
  • DTX Dave Perry-Miller
  • DTX Reliant
  • Get in the Spirit
  • Bachendorf's
  • Holiday Wonder
  • Village on the Parkway
  • City Lifestyle
  • opportunity knox villa-o restaurant
  • Nasher Summer Sale
  • Simpson Property Group
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2017 Dallas
  • Carlisle & Vine
  • DTX New Beginnings
  • Get in the Game
  • Red Bull Air Race
  • Dallas DanceFest
  • 2015 Dallas Stylemaker
  • Youth With Faces
  • Energy Ogre
  • DTX Renewable You
  • Galleria Dallas Decadence
  • Bella MD
  • Tractorbeam
  • Young Texans Against Cancer
  • Fresh Start Dallas
  • Dallas Farmers Market
  • Soldier's Angels Dallas
  • Shipt
  • Elite Dental
  • Texas Restaurant Association 2017
  • State Fair 2017
  • Scottish Rite
  • Brooklyn Brewery
  • DTX_Stylemakers
  • Alexan Crossings
  • Ascent Victory Park
  • Top Texans Under 30 Dallas
  • Discover Downtown Dallas
  • San Luis Resort Dallas
  • Greystar The Collection
  • FIG Finale
  • Greystar M Line Tower
  • Lincoln Motor Company
  • The Shelby
  • Jonathan Goldwater Events
  • Windrose Tower
  • Gift Guide 2016
  • State Fair of Texas 2016
  • Choctaw Dallas
  • TodayTix Dallas promoted
  • Whole Foods
  • Unbranded 2014
  • Frisco Square
  • Unbranded 2016
  • Circuit of the Americas 2018
  • The Katy
  • Snap Kitchen
  • Partners Card
  • Omni Hotels Dallas
  • Landmark on Lovers
  • Harwood Herd
  • Galveston.com Dallas
  • Holiday Happenings Dallas 2018
  • TenantBase
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2018
  • Hawkins-Welwood Homes
  • The Inner Circle Dallas
  • Eating in Season Dallas
  • ATTPAC Behind the Curtain
  • TodayTix Dallas
  • The Alexan
  • Toyota Music Factory
  • Nosh Box Eatery
  • Wildflower 2018
  • Society Style Dallas 2018
  • Texas Scottish Rite Hospital 2018
  • 5 Mockingbird
  • 4110 Fairmount
  • Visit Taos
  • Allegro Addison
  • Dallas Tastemakers 2018
  • The Village apartments
  • City of Burleson Dallas

    Home Maintenance Tips

    Get your home summer ready with these easy maintenance tips

    CultureMap Create
    May 19, 2014 | 1:21 pm

    Summer is about iced lemonades, biggest-splash-ever cannonballs and neighborhood barbecues. And right before the fun times begin, it’s important to take a few moments to focus on home maintenance. From ensuring your air conditioning system is working efficiently to scheduling the sprinklers, Dave Perry-Miller & Associates brings you helpful home maintenance reminders so you’re prepared for summer.

    Outdoors
    At the top of the checklist is HVAC maintenance. This is a critical must-do, because a hard-working air conditioner is essential during triple-digit summer heat. The experts at Angie’s List — an online business created to empower consumers by endorsing the best contractors and experts in specific areas, including HVAC — report that you need to have your system checked annually. A professional can also clean your system to ensure the filters and parts are primed to operate at full capacity.

    Next, if you have a swimming pool, give it a little TLC by making sure the water is topped off, the filter is clean, and leaves and debris are removed from the bottom. Also consider having the water professionally tested to ensure the mineral content, pH and chlorine are at the appropriate levels. To keep your pool in picture-perfect shape all year long, have a professional test the water monthly.

    Other experts recommend outdoor maintenance tasks such as cleaning gutters and inspecting your home’s foundation for signs of termites and other pests. A roof inspection, including skylights, is also recommended every three years, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

    Another helpful hint: Check your sprinklers to make sure they’ll give your thirsty plants a refreshing drink this summer. Turn them on to confirm each one is efficiently watering its target — and not the sidewalk. Repair any sprinkler heads that have been damaged by lawn care equipment or age. Also, for automated systems, check that the days and times you have programmed are in line with your neighborhood’s ordinance. All across Dallas, water restrictions are in effect, so it’s vital to follow the schedule.

    Indoors
    Inside the home, consider checking and cleaning appliance vents, such as the range hood and dryer, according to experts at The Nest. These professionals also recommend testing smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms to ensure they are in working order. (This is a quick task that can be done on a monthly basis throughout the entire year.) And inspect fire extinguishers too.

    Home building and maintenance expert Bob Villa offers a final piece of advice: Check the seals around your doors and windows for air flow. Replace weather stripping where needed to help keep the cool air inside. As the temperatures spike in the coming months, you’ll appreciate the effort.

    What seasonal home maintenance tips would you like to share? We welcome your ideas and suggestions.

    ---

    Dave Perry Miller & Associates is a premier residential real estate firm with five locations that specialize in marketing the key areas of the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, Uptown, Lakewood, East Dallas, and Kessler Park. Dave Perry-Miller & Associates is a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and Luxury Portfolio International. For more information on luxury living, please contact an associate today at 214-369-6000. Also visit daveperrymiller.com/blog for the latest news in Dallas real estate.

    Check the seals around your doors and windows for air flow. Replace weather stripping where needed to help keep the cool air inside

    Interior door
      
    Photo courtesy of Dave Perry-Miller & Associates
    Check the seals around your doors and windows for air flow. Replace weather stripping where needed to help keep the cool air inside
    unspecifiedpromoted
    news/home-design
    promoted
    series/dtx-dave-perry-miller
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Dallas intel delivered daily.

    Toy News

    Japanese collector toy store to open at Firewheel center in Garland

    Teresa Gubbins
    Jun 11, 2025 | 12:25 pm
    Gashapon store
    Gashapon
    undefined

    A new store for people who like to collect small plastic objects is coming to Garland. It's called Gashapon Bandai Official Shop, and it's opening in June at Firewheel Town Center, where it will sell "capsule toys" — miniature plastic toys packaged in clear plastic capsules.

    Gashapon is a type of vending machine that dispenses capsule toys. The concept is popular in Japan, with machines found in train stations, arcades, convenience stores, and other locations. (The name "Gashapon" is derived from the sounds of turning the handle ("gasha") and the capsule dropping ("pon").)

    The toys inside Gashapon capsules can be characters from cultural realms like manga, video games, or Japanese anime franchises. Or they can be coasters, or food miniatures, or charms you attach to your purse or notebook, or little animal figures, or little whimsical animal figures, or little statues, or an assortment of little plastic hats, or a quartet of tiny jewelry stands in pastel colors (buy them all!).

    The machines take tokens which cost $2 to $2.50 each; most toys "cost" 2 to 4 tokens each.

    The idea of capsule toys — coin-operated vending machines — actually originated in the U.S. in 1907 along with bubble-gum machines. Japan embraced it in the 1960s, and the Gashapon chain was launched in Japan in 1977.

    The first U.S. Gashapon Bandai Official Shop opened in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district in February 2023.

    The entire thing is driven by collector frenzy. The toys are produced in limited quantities, and in sets, which encourages customers to acquire every member of the set.

    Customers do not know what they will get until they turn the vending machine handle — not unlike slot machines. Like gambling. Or as Gashapon says more delicately, "The element of surprise brings excitement during the purchase and gets everyone hooked!" … furthering the frenzy even further.

    Garland will make the fifth location in Texas; following Hurst, which opened in May; Grapevine Mills Mall and Houston, which opened in 2024; and Mitsuwa Marketplace in Plano which opened in 2023 (There's also a kiosk at Grapevine Mills Mall.)

    openingsshoppingkids
    news/home-design
    promoted
    series/dtx-dave-perry-miller

    most read posts

    Chef and caterer opens Southern to-go cafe south of Dallas

    Barnes & Noble to open 2 new Dallas-area stores but will close Plano

    Celeb-owned L.A. pizza chain Pizzana to open in north Dallas

    Loading...