Electrifying opportunity

High-end electric automaker sparks rumors about possible move to Dallas-Fort Worth

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price would welcome Tesla.

Gov. Greg Abbott confirms Texas is in talks with Tesla Inc. about the automaker moving its headquarters from California to the Lone Star State. And while the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth have been courting CEO Elon Musk on social media this week, other officials around the state are remaining tight-lipped.

On May 13, Abbott retweeted a Forbes report about the Tesla talks, adding: “It’s true. Texas is a perfect fit for Tesla.” The Forbes story cites an interview Abbott gave to a Wichita Falls TV station.

“I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Elon Musk, and he’s genuinely interested in Texas and genuinely frustrated with California,” Abbott said in the May 12 interview. “We’ve just got to wait and see how things play out.”

Peeved about a coronavirus-mandated shutdown of production at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, Musk threatened May 9 to yank the automaker’s headquarters from nearby Palo Alto, and relocate it to Texas or Nevada.

“Frankly, this is the final straw,” Musk tweeted. “Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately.”

Since Musk posted that tweet, production at the Fremont plant has resumed. But he complains that the situation remains “super messed up.”

In February, Musk caused a stir when he hinted on Twitter that Tesla might open a factory in Texas, and later added to the mystery when he temporarily switched his Twitter location to “Austin, TX.”

Austin Mayor Steve Adler declined to comment on Tesla, as did the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

“We do not comment on prospective or ongoing economic development projects,” says Danielle Treviño, vice president of marketing and communications at the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Meanwhile, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price have made unabashed overtures on Twitter in hopes of securing the automaker’s headquarters.

On May 9, Johnson tweeted, "Dallas will be the first major city in Texas to rebound from COVID-19 if I have anything to do with it. Southern Dallas would be a wonderful location for Tesla. Let’s make it happen, @GregAbbott_TX!"

On May 12, Price tweeted a photo of herself standing next to a Tesla sign, with a message for Musk that read, in part, "Hey @elonmusk, Cali is so yesterday — #FortWorth is NOW. We have more available land than any other major city in #Texas."

In response to Musk’s “final straw” tweet, U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican, wrote on Twitter: “Texas gets better every day. Good conservative principles make good governance, and attract the best and the brightest. The future is happening in Texas.”

John Boyd, principal of New Jersey-based corporate location consulting firm The Boyd Co. Inc., says it would “make perfect sense” for Tesla to consolidate its headquarters staff at a single site in Texas. Currently, the automaker’s corporate employees are scattered among three buildings in Palo Alto and Fremont, he notes.

More importantly, Boyd says, being based in the Lone Star State would enable Tesla to take advantage of Texas’ pro-business climate, lack of a state income tax, and central location in the U.S. A Tesla headquarters in Dallas-Fort Worth or Austin would enable corporate executives to easily travel to either coast, he notes.

“There’s a more important ‘executive time in transit’ factor than ever before, given all the uncertainties associated with air travel and the pandemic,” Boyd says.

As for Tesla setting up manufacturing operations in Texas, Boyd says the Austin-San Antonio corridor would be “a logical option.” A nearly 1,500-acre site in Hutto was a finalist for a $5 billion, 6,500-job Tesla battery factory in 2014, and San Antonio is home to a Toyota truck manufacturing plant.

Aside from the Hutto site, Musk is quite familiar with Texas. He’s co-founder of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, which designs, makes, and launches rockets and spacecraft. Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX operates rocket production facilities and launch sites near Waco and Brownsville. A government official in Hidalgo County, west of Brownsville, has publicly invited Musk to consider his area for Tesla’s headquarters.

cars

SWEET comeback

DFW developers rescue legendary Texas candy brand from closing

Courtesy of Lammes Candies

Lammes Candies’ neon lamb sign announces the Austin candy maker’s return after it appeared to be closing for good.

A Fort Worth-based hospitality duo has stepped in to rescue one of Texas' oldest and most beloved candy brands.

Austin's Lammes Candies looked like it had reached the end of its 141-year run in April, when the confectionery announced it would close. But its death was short-lived.

Craig Cavileer and Kayla Wilkie-Kinne of Fort Worth's Delightful Development Co., known for leading the revival of the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, have acquired Lammes in partnership with the Lammes Candies family.

Craig Cavileer and Kayla Wilkie-Kinne of Fort Worth-based Delightful Development Co.Photo courtesy of Lammes Candies

The Lamme family will remain involved in the transition and preservation of the company’s recipes and traditions, according to a release. The first sweets are already on their way back: Sherbet Mints, Longhorns, and Texas Chewie Pecan Pralines in legacy boxes.

“Our vision isn’t to change what Lammes Candies is known for,” Wilkie-Kinne said in the announcement of the sale. “It’s to bring back the legacy recipes, traditions and heritage that made Lammes so special for 141 years.”

For now, Lammes’ return is happening solely online. A separate Austin developer purchased the former Lammes building this spring.

Preorders opened September 29, with nationwide shipping set to begin November 1. A fuller relaunch is planned for spring 2027, although no brick-and-mortar plans have been announced yet. Texans will be able to buy products from retail locations around the state.

Lammes’ holiday Sherbet Mints are among the first sweets returning in a limited legacy-box run.Photo courtesy of Lammes Candies

For generations of customers, Lammes was tied not just to candy, but to holiday gift boxes, Valentine’s chocolate-covered strawberries, chewy pralines, and the familiar candy cane pole outside its Airport Boulevard shop.

Lammes’ history began in downtown Austin. David T. Lamme Sr. opened his first candy shop at Eighth and Congress in 1885, later moving to 919 Congress and establishing the Red Front Candy Shop. The company’s chewy pecan pralines date to the 1890s, when Lamme used pecans from trees along the Colorado River. The lamb logo was adopted so customers would know how to pronounce the family name.

Over the decades, Lammes grew from a downtown candy shop into one of Austin’s most recognizable legacy businesses. Its Airport Boulevard factory opened in 1956, marked by the neon lamb sign and striped candy cane pole. Three generations of the Lamme family ran the business there.

Although the brand is most closely associated with Austin, where it maintained its production facilities and retail stores, the pralines and other candies are widely available at spots like Spec's, Walmart, and Central Market throughout Dallas-Fort Worth.

Cavileer and Wilkie-Kinne headed the modern redevelopment of the Fort Worth Stockyards, including Mule Alley and Hotel Drover. Delightful Development has also purchased the historic Williamson County Jail in Georgetown, another landmark property being considered for adaptive reuse. Their new company was founded in 2025 to develop hospitality destinations and build on legacy brands in Texas.

“Lammes Candies is more than a confection and candy company,” Wilkie-Kinne says in the release. “It’s a significant piece of Texas history that Craig and I will honor, preserve and celebrate with future generations of Texans and customers around the country.”

Lammes Christmas and Easter Sherbet Mints will be available at select Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations nationwide. Details on future restocks and new releases have not yet been announced. Updates will be posted at lammes.com and on Instagram.

candy desserts hotel drover mule alley openings reopenings