Lakewood news

Venerable Dallas center Hillside Village welcomes 9 new tenants

Froggie's 5 & 10

A venerable Dallas shopping center is enjoying some churn: Hillside Village at Abrams Road and Mockingbird Lane in Lakewood has nine new tenants whose offerings include gift, massage, ice cream, and cake.

Ward Kampf, president of the landlord Northwood Retail, says in a release that the center is very special and generates lots of interest.

"We are asked about this asset more than anything else within our Dallas portfolio, including interest from concepts coming off the best streets in the west side of L.A.," he says. That's probably a reference to SusieCakes, the bakery CultureMap reported on in November.

"The center has a dynamic community feel, which we have been thoughtful to retain as we’ve brought in new national, regional, and local retailers and eateries," he says.

He also touts current tenants including Manny's Tex Mex, White Rock Coffee, and Dream Café, skirting entirely any mention of the pandemic, which surely had a hand in the center experiencing some turnover?

Here's the list:

Froggie’s 5 & 10 and Betty Lou - Now Open
Dallas’s oldest and most iconic toy store is now open at Hillside Village, after departing its location on Knox Street. Froggie’s 5 & 10 provides toys and gifts for all ages. The store will share a retail space with sister company Betty Lou, a boutique with greeting cards, home décor, seasonal gifts, candles, books, and more.

F45 Training - Now Open
F45 Training is a fitness center chain based in Austin with more than 1,750 studios in 45 countries, that offers "functional" 45-minute workouts. Hmm, they seem to like the number 45. They have a database of 3,900 unique functional training movements so you can get a new workout every day.

Ferrari Orthodontics - Now Open
Ferrari provides a personalized approach to orthodontics that includes making every effort to create a comforting and supportive environment.

Pet Bar - Now Open
Newly opened tenant is a subscription-based washing and grooming facility with self-service options. The business also offers pet taxi services for those who don’t have time to take their pet to the vet or training facility.

Parlor's Handcrafted Ice Creams - Opening Spring 2022
This will be Parlor's first brick-and-mortar shop. The local company does nostalgic ice cream flavors made with grass-fed milk and eggs from local farms, with other ingredients from local small businesses they say use sustainable and organic practices.

Susie Cakes - Spring 2022
California-based chain is known for layer cakes and frosting-stuffed cupcakes made with ingredients like Guittard chocolate and European-style butter. This will be their third DFW location: they debuted with a location in Dallas' Preston Center in March 2016 and also have a location in Fort Worth which opened in 2017.

Boardroom Salon - Coming Soon
Relaxed grooming stop for men. The location will offer an "elevated experience" for consultations, haircuts, shaves, styling tips and more.

Massage Heights Coming Soon
Personalized massage therapy treatments.

openings

sudden cupcake shutter

Sprinkles Cupcakes shutters all locations, including Dallas shops & ATMs

Photo courtesy of Sprinkles

Sprinkles has closed all of its locations.

A nationwide cupcake bakery has shuttered all of its locations, including in Dallas-Fort Worth. Sprinkles Cupcakes closed all of its locations on December 31, according to multiple reports.

The company provided a brief statement about the closures to TV station KTLA: “After thoughtful consideration, we’ve made the very difficult decision to transition away from operating company-owned Sprinkles bakeries.”

Founder Candace Nelson shared her own thoughts about the news via a post on Instagram. After noting that she sold the business to private equity in 2012, Nelson stated she was disappointed by the decision.

“Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it, and this isn’t how I thought the story would go. I thought Sprinkles would keep growing and be around forever,” she says in the clip.

The bakery had 20 locations in six states. In greater Dallas, Sprinkles had a location at The Plaza at Preston Center (4020 Villanova St.), in Plano's Legacy West (7500 Windrose Ave.). It had cupcake ATMs at spots around the Metroplex, including Galleria Dallas, DFW Airport, the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Southlake Town Square, and The Shops at Clearfork in Fort Worth.

Sprinkles was widely credited for creating the cupcake craze of the late aughts and early 2010s. Founded by Nelson in 2005, the shop's treats elevated the form with high quality ingredients, a wide range of flavors, and the sort of eye-catching designs that would be now be described as Instagram-worthy — but Sprinkles predates the app’s creation.

It introduced a number of innovations, including a cupcake ATM to satisfy cravings 24-hours-a-day.

As for Nelson, she pivoted to Pizzana, an Italian-style pizzeria she co-founded with her husband Charles, actor Chris O’Donnell and his wife Caroline, and chef Daniele Uditi. The restaurant, which holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide for its original outpost in Los Angeles, has a Dallas location that opened in 2022 and a Houston store that opened in 2024.

closings news-you-can-eat desserts