A chapter is closing at one of Texas’ most iconic malls—and with it, the last era of old-school enclosed mall construction in the state, where no traditional enclosed mall has been built since 2001.
The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, once a symbol of early-2000s retail ambition, is now slated for demolition within the next year as developers move forward with plans to reinvent the property as an open-air, mixed-use district called The Bend. The transformation marks both an end and a reinvention: the final major enclosed mall built in Texas, giving way to the next generation of retail design.
We all remember the heyday of the mall: teenagers roaming and giggling with shopping bags in hand, department stores endlessly packed with clothing racks and the mediocre but beloved taste of food court Chinese…