Supermarket News

Sprouts Farmers Market supermarket coming to Dallas' Lakewood in fall

Sprouts grocery store farmers market produce section

The store will be smaller than the usual Sprouts.

Photo courtesy of Sprouts Farmers Market

Following dozens of feverish Facebook posts and hold-your-breath rumors, it's official: A new Sprouts Farmers Market supermarket will open in Dallas' Lakewood area, at the northeast corner of Abrams Road and Mockingbird Lane.

According to a release, the store is going into Hillside Village in Lakewood, in the former Stein Mart space, which tragically closed during the pandemic.

In addition to the Sprouts, there are three other new tenants coming to the shopping center: Alchemy 43, Sugared + Bronzed, and Modern Animal.

Hillside Village has undergone a massive churn ever since it was acquired by new owners Northwood Retail in 2017. Recent openings include Susie Cakes bakery, Parlor's Handcrafted Ice Creams, toy store Froggie's 5 and 10, and Palmer's Hot Chicken.

Here are the newcomers:

Sprouts Farmers Market. Opening: fall 2022.
The Hillside Village store will be laid out in a new, simple and intuitive format that evokes the chain's farmers market roots. At 23,000 square feet, it's 20 percent smaller than the chain's standard 28,750-square-foot size, with a tighter focus on meat, seafood, plant-based products, grab & go meals, first-to-market products, and produce.

"We are thrilled to bring a wide selection of quality products that cater to a healthy lifestyle to the Dallas community," said David McGlinchey, chief strategy officer of Sprouts. "Sprouts offers fresh seasonal produce, custom-cut meats, vitamins and supplements, ready-to-eat meals, dietary options such as gluten-free or paleo and thousands of other natural, organic, non-GMO, vegan and plant-based products. We can’t wait for our Hillside Village neighbors to see what’s in store."

The closest other Sprouts are on Henderson Avenue near Ross, and the Lake Highlands store at Skillman and Walnut Hill Lane. It'll open across the street from a Tom Thumb store, and also across the street from where an Albertson's used to be.

Alchemy 43. Opening: Fall 2022
Aesthetic bar specializing in cosmetic micro treatments, with the philosophy that the best work goes unnoticed. It'll be located between Texas Goods Co. and The Little Gym.

Sugared + Bronzed. Opening: Winter 2022
The nation's largest sugaring hair removal and sunless tanning destination will open its first Texas location at Hillside Village. next to Ebby Halliday and Texas Goods Co. The release says that the company has revolutionized airbrush tanning with a proprietary solution and revived an all-natural, ancient Egyptian form of hair removal called sugaring.

Modern Animal. Opening in 2023
California-based veterinary clinic chain will open its first Texas location at Hillside Village next year. The company offers greater access, convenience and flexibility in every interaction, in-person or virtually. Located next to ChopShop and Betty Lou, the brand was built as the first human-focused veterinary company, one that is committed to improving the experience of accessing care as a client and delivering care as a provider.

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Tex-Mex News

Upscale Dallas Mexican restaurant Hugo's Invitados closes last outlet

Photo courtesy of Hugo's Invitados

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A highly-regarded Mexican restaurant has closed: Hugo's Invitados, which had been wowing crowds at its Las Colinas location 5240 N. O'Connor Blvd. #160 since 2018, closed in mid-May.

According to spokesperson Matt Whiteley, the lockout came as a surprise. The restaurant issued a statement which said that "we find ourselves unexpectedly closed," before apologizing for the "incredible inconvenience."

"We assure you, this was not our decision. We were in the midst of ongoing negotiations with property ownership, when the proprietors elected, without warning, to suddenly and fully terminate the terms of our lease," their statement said.

Hugo's first opened as a partnership between entrepreneur Mark Hulme and restaurateur Hugo Miranda (Meso Maya), with an ambitious and well-executed menu of chef-driven Mexican food with dishes such as Wagyu carne asada, Mexican cioppino, and scallops with huitlacoche & corn couli. Margaritas were made with organic ingredients, and everything on the menu was gluten-free.

They went on to open a Tex-Mex spinoff Hugo's Lost Colony in 2021, followed by the debut of a fresh taqueria called Honest Taco in Dallas' West Village in 2022. (They also had plans to open a second Hugo's in Uptown Dallas in the McKinney & Olive luxury tower but that plan got scuttled; they went on to open a Hugo's in the West Village in 2023.)

Their momentum got derailed due to a string of unfortunate circumstances — including Miranda contracting COVID in 2020, as well as a change at the West Village, where restaurateur Mike Karns took over as majority owner and promptly installed his own concepts in the Honest Taco space: first Mexican Test Kitchen, a pop-up, which he replaced with UnaVida, now reportedly closed.

But the original Hugo's at Las Colinas still had a loyal and consistent following, and had also become a destination for gluten-free diners, Whiteley says.

"That location was still doing very well," he says. "We had regulars from the neighborhood as well as customers who came from outside the area, and we also had the same staff who were with us from day one, who cared deeply and who get all the credit for the quality and service."

They hadn't lagged significantly on rent and were anticipating a brisk Mother's Day weekend with full reservations; alas, the new-ish landlord, a company called Water Street O'Connor LP, abruptly locked the space the Thursday before.

"It would have been a special weekend for our customers as well as for our 70-plus employees, whose livelihoods depended on this small business," Whiteley says.

It's an unfortunate ending for a restaurant that could have been a run-of-the-mill Tex-Mex but was instead something much better, and Whiteley says that, at this point, as much as they'd like to revive it, the likelihood that it will resurface is slim.

tex-mex closings