The Shops at Willow Bend (Plano, TX) - July 2026 update. The bEnd is Near!
So someone else recently visited Willow Bend and uploaded the pictures a couple hours ago to here. I also went on my own visit today with my father, as my last visit was in April with my aunt.
Since then, Centennial has confirmed that they will pretty much demolish the whole mall, and the Dallas Stars have signed a letter of intent to build new their hockey arena on the site of Willow Bend, which the City of Plano appears to be willing to fund. As for Willow Bend itself, it is closing on August 31st; a manager at the mall confirmed this. Most tenants have started the process of moving out, and some have closed since my last visit, the most notable being one of the final mainstream tenants in Sweet & Sassy.
Most of the tenants, I've found, are moving to Frisco. Skypony Gallery relocated to the former Lands' End space near Stonebriar, and Chally is also moving to a parcel in Frisco. I don't know where Oxford Street is moving, but if I had to guess, probably somewhere in Frisco too. In addition, the escalators are starting to be roped off, and now the elevators are becoming the likely method of getting to the second floor.
I will return to the mall on its last day with my family to say goodbye, and then a few months after that, maybe return to Neiman Marcus to eat lunch at Mariposa for the last time before Neimans goes as well. Everyone else in the DFW area, and major urbex YouTubers, come visit while you still can and document this Taubman gem before it gets knocked down. It's really beautiful even if it's in extremis (as Sal would say) now.