It's Z End

Haute home decor brand pulls the rug out from under 3 Dallas-Fort Worth stores

Mirrors: get 'em while you can.

Photo courtesy of Z Gallerie

Calling all fans of faux fur and mirrored furniture: now is the time to stock up. Home decor brand Z Gallerie is closing 24 of its 76 stores, and seven of those are in Texas.

The mecca of all things mirrored filed for bankruptcy in March and in May was sold to DirectBuy Home Improvement, a subsidiary of Indiana-based, e-commerce business CSC Generation.

Included in the underperforming stores set to close are three in Dallas-Fort Worth, three in Houston, and what was the only location in Austin. The lone San Antonio store, at The Shops at La Cantera, remains unaffected.

You have until the end of July to shop in-person at The Arboretum location in Austin, The Shops at Clearfork in Fort Worth (which only opened in 2017), Watters Creek in Allen, the Dallas Galleria, Houston's Highland Village, Market Street in The Woodlands, and Sugar Land Town Square.

In addition to San Antonio, only four other Texas stores remain: Houston's CityCentre, on Knox Street in Dallas, in Southlake, and at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano.

Z Gallerie confirms that online orders are still being fulfilled as normal through its website.

This is the second bankruptcy filing for Z Gallerie, which was founded in Sherman Oaks, California, in 1979. It previously filed for Chapter 11 and closed 25 stores in April 2009.

greener grass in tx

Texas blossoms as No. 1 best state for gardening and homesteading

Photo by Laura Ohlman on Unsplash

Texas is an ideal place to homestead, the study found.

If social media is any indicator, homesteading has been one of the hottest trends of 2024. And Texas is leading the charge as the No. 1 best state for homesteading and gardening, according to a new report by First Saturday Lime.

Analysts at First Saturday Lime, an insect repellant company featured on Shark Tank, evaluated the "suitability for sustainable living" across all 50 states based on six factors: Climate, community interest (a.k.a online search trends), gardening resources, farmland costs, and others.

The Lone Star State led the nation with the most farms and ranches on the market and the highest total acreage for sale. As of the study's publication, there were 7,520 total properties for sale, spanning more than 2.19 million acres of land.

Texas also ranked favorably for its farmland affordability. The state came in at No. 9 nationally with its average farmland price coming out to $2,800 per acre, the report said.

For comparison, New Mexico (which ranked No. 11 overall) had the most affordable average price per acre of farmland at just $700 per acre. Massachusetts (No. 48) and Connecticut (No. 42), however, tied for the most expensive price per acre, at $14,300.

Among the three remaining categories in the study, Texas performed the worst for its "gardens on Yelp per capita" rank. The study calculated Texas has 0.30 gardening and community garden establishments on Yelp per capita, placing Texas at No. 49.

Meanwhile, Texas' historically hot weather meant it ranked No. 43 out of all 50 states in the "favorable climate" rank, and the state earned a middle-of-the-road No. 35 rank in the "search interest per capita" category.

"Homesteading and gardening are growing in popularity, but some states provide better opportunities than others," the report's author wrote. "Whether you're after fresh produce or the freedom of self-sufficiency, choosing the right state can make all the difference."

Following behind Texas to complete the top three best states for homesteading and gardening are Oregon (No. 2) and Washington (No. 3), two notoriously rainy West Coast states.

Meanwhile, three East Coast states ranked at the bottom of the list as the worst states for homesteading and gardening: Rhode Island (No. 50), New Jersey (No. 49), and Massachusetts (No. 48).

The top 10 best states for homesteading and gardening are:

No. 1 – Texas
No. 2 – Oregon
No. 3 – Washington
No. 4 – Vermont
No. 5 – Delaware
No. 6 – Arizona
No. 7 – Wyoming
No. 8 – Montana
No. 9 – Hawaii
No. 10 – Colorado

The study sourced its data from Yelp, Google Trends, and the UDSA to determine each state's ranking.

gardening sustainability nature farmers