BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

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New restaurants, fancy Starbucks

New retail tenants are rolling into the expansion of the Shops at Park Lane The fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant Zoës Kitchen opened last month. Crisp Salad Co. , which arrived last year on Lower Greenville, will soon join the mix as well. A “ flagship” Starbucks , which opened in April, is the company’s first location in North Texas to serve beer and wine in the evenings. Other retailers on the way include discount stores for Forever 21 (yes, there’s an even cheaper version, called F12 red ) and J. Crew Factory . They’ll join the Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s outlets that already exist in the shopping center. Construction began last year on the three new buildings, adding 160,000 square feet of new retail and a five-story office building, with a park plaza at the center.

Charter school takes bank

The Primrose School of Preston Hollow opened in March in the Chase Bank building at Preston and Royal, which had sat empty for about a decade. Julia and David Shelton opened the school, which focuses on early childhood education and features curriculum that blends teacher-guided and childinitiated activities with an emphasis on character development for children 6 weeks to 6 years old. This is the first Primrose School inside the Interstate 635 loop, serving families in Preston Hollow, Park Cities, Lakewood, Lake Highlands and Uptown. The school features 12 private classrooms with wireless technology and four secure, age-appropriate Primrose School of Preston Hollow playgrounds to promote the children’s early development. There’s also a garden on site — the Primrose Patch — for monthly gardening and nature studies.

When will Costco or HEB come to Dallas?

Costco backed out of a deal to buy land on Coit between Forest and Interstate 635 because the landowner, the Texas Department of Transportation, wanted too much for it, The Dallas Morning News reported. That would’ve been the first Costco inside Dallas. HEB, like Costco, is in no rush to enter the Dallas market. The grocer has been buying up quite a bit of North Texas land outside the city limits, according to another recent Morning News story. In Houston, the company is second only to Walmart in the market share. HEB executive Scott McClelland credited that success to using different store formats to target different demographics, and to a lot of research and analysis before opening anything. “A new store is a big investment, and we can’t afford to make a mistake,” McClelland says.

New at Preston Hollow Village

Pakpao Thai is set to open at the end of May with menu items such as pineapple fried rice and braised pork belly made popular at its Design District location. Tangerine Salon, an Aveda lifestyle company, opened in April. Products used for hair treatments are derived from plant power instead of petroleum chemicals.

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Fundraising for children

The Ronald McDonald House of Dallas held its fundraiser, Under the Moonlight, at Trinity Groves recently. Funds were raised for this home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill and injured children. Pictured are Vera Bangs of Preston Hollow, honorary co-chair and former board chair; Cecilie Holman of Greenway Parks, honorary co-chair and community leader; Jill Cumnock, Ronald McDonald House of Dallas CEO; Lauren Swann, event co-chair and community leader; and Cate Ford, event co-chair and community leader.

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