NorthPark plans new stores, including Tesla

March 21, 2014

NorthPark Center is making room for the first North Texas store for electric car maker Tesla Motors.

The Dallas mall, which always has a list of retailers waiting to get in, expects the Tesla store to open in July in a space between Dillard’s and Macy’s.

Other spring and summer openings include Tory Burch and the region’s first Spanx store, which opens in May. Chipotle is opening in the food court by the end of this month. Lorna Jane, an Australian active wear brand, will open this spring.

Victoria’s Secret’s popular Pink store is being added in May. Robert Graham, a New York-based men and women’s apparel boutique, will open in June between Dillard’s and Neiman Marcus.

Eiseman Jewels will unveil a renovation in May that includes a separate Rolex shop.

“We stay on top of opportunities and always have a backlog of stores that want to come into the mall,” NorthPark spokeswoman Kristen Gibbins said. “We’re often speaking to retailers for years before we can find the right place and time that makes the best business sense.”

Tesla is a coup. There’s always a lot of buzz about the electric car maker, and Texas is a top market for its cars, ranking second behind California.

Tesla has a service center in Farmers Branch, but the only other Tesla store in Texas is at the Houston Galleria.

The California-based car company has been in the news again recently. Buckling to the powerful auto dealership lobby, New Jersey banned the direct sale of Tesla cars to consumers this month. Texas and Arizona also have laws favoring dealership networks, but Texas law doesn’t prohibit anyone in the state from buying a Tesla off the company’s website.

Barneys New York moved out of NorthPark a year ago, and that set off a chain reaction inside the shopping center, which stays almost fully leased. NorthPark has nearly doubled its sales since it completed a major expansion in 2006.

Tory Burch will open April 15 between Dillard’s and Neiman Marcus.

The only other Tory Burch store in the Dallas-Fort Worth market is at Highland Park Village. That store has been in a temporary space while its permanent location is being remodeled. The HP Village location will move into its new space in April.

In July, two home furnishings stores will move in.

Arhaus Furniture, which sells living room, dining room, bedroom and office furniture made with eco-friendly materials, is taking up 24,000 square feet. The Ohio-based chain also has stores in Austin and Houston.

Pirch, which recently changed its name from Fixtures Living, will occupy 32,000 square feet on the upper level. It sells home hardware and appliances, including indoor and outdoor kitchens, and this is the company’s first Texas store.

Existing NorthPark tenants CH Carolina Herrera and Kate Spade opened larger stores last month, and a Nespresso coffee boutique just opened.

NorthPark is one of the few malls in the U.S. with annual sales of more than $1 billion. It attracts 26 million shoppers a year and has the No. 1 volume Neiman Marcus store for the Dallas-based company.

The mall’s Nordstrom, Macy’s and Dillard’s are the highest-volume stores in North Texas for each of those department stores. The AMC Theater at NorthPark is one of the top 25 in the U.S.