Business Buzz

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

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Half Price Books develops land next door

Half Price Books plans to develop the six acres next door to its flagship location at 5803 Northwest Highway. Just to clarify, the flagship store will not be moving — leadership is just trying to freshen up the neighborhood with a brand-new, bustling shopping center, says executive vice president Kathy Doyle Thomas. The property in question is the space around and including the Starbucks at the northeast corner of Northwest Highway and Shady Brook. Half Price Books, which operates 113 stores in 16 states, had been buying up the land in pieces for several years, and it finally secured the entire six acres with the purchase of the Starbucks in 2006. The time wasn’t right in 2006, but now that the economy is picking up, Thomas says they are ready to move forward with the development. Thomas and her team have been talking with national retailers and restaurants about options for the space, although she says she isn’t ready to reveal which stores her team and Lincoln Property Co., which is their broker for the project, are talking with just yet. She does know that they’re not interested in cheap fast-food joints, and that they’re open to talking with local retailers or restaurants. “The goal is to put in some great neighborhood restaurants and stores,” Thomas says. For more about Half Price Books’ plans, visit lakewood. advocatemag.com and search “Half Price Books.”

Promise of Peace garden changes plans

Change of plans for the Promise of Peace community garden. Founder Elizabeth Dry decided to move to a different parking lot in Little Forest Hills and broke ground on that parking lot during the “love in” in June. The parking lot still belongs to the White Rock United Methodist Church, but it’s the back parking lot, instead of the one across the street from the church on Oldgate. Dry says she thinks this will be a much better fit for the garden than the parking lot across the street. The chosen space is hedged on three sides by the back side of the church, a playground and a clump of trees, giving it a cozy, private feel. “It’s so much better,” Dry says.

Personal Touch Tree Service moving

Personal Touch Tree Service is moving from 6818

More business bits

Garland to a new location farther east off Samuel Grand across from Oak Grove cemetery. Owner Jim Breaux says it won’t happen until sometime this fall (if he’s lucky) since the city must plat the land at the new site to allow for an office building. He’s settling in for what he expects to be a time-consuming process with the city. Personal Touch has been in the tree-service business for 21 years, specializing in trimming and pruning as well as dead tree and stump removals. A certified arborist also is on hand for tree care and treatments. The landowner, Jack Keller of Keller’s Drive-in, has no specific plans for the Garland Road site once Personal Touch leaves but says he’d like to see a restaurant there that caters to the neighborhood and those visiting the Dallas Arboretum. He says the Arboretum has approached him with a “minor inquiry” about possibly buying the property, but that doesn’t seem to carry much weight for Keller, at least right now. “We’ve had a lot of inquiries about it. We seldom sell anything.” There’s no correlation between that and Personal Touch’s decision to move. Breaux says the rent simply became too high.

Kid-mom haven opens in East Dallas

Three East Dallas moms opened Bake and Play Café in the shopping center at the southeast corner of Mockingbird and Abrams during the last days of July. Bake and Play has a large baking room where kids from age 3 to teens can make everything from cupcakes to pizzas. There also is a craft area where the kiddos can decorate their aprons and chef garb. Bake and Play will also host themed kids’ camps, featuring cooking classes and crafts of all kinds, and they’re considering hosting date-night events on Friday and Saturday night, where parents can drop their kids off for a relaxing night out. And that’s just the half of it. Under the same roof is a cafe where, during the week, parents can grab a cup of coffee and a cupcake or some other delicious baked good. The kids can run off to play with other kids in the playroom while mom or dad mooches off the WiFi. The playroom will feature several “play stations,” such as dress-up or a train track. In the cafe, Bake and Play serves a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Half Price Books

214.379.8000

HPB.com

Promise of Peace

7446 East Grand 214.240.9220

PromisEofPEacE.us

Personal Touch Tree Service

214.328.7213

PErsonaltoucHtrEEsErvicE.com

Bake and Play Cafe

6434 mockinGBird

214.801.2584 facEBook.com/BakEandPlaycafE

The Wine Therapist 1810 skillman

214.821.9463 tHEwinEtHEraPist.com

East Dallas Developmental Center

1926 skillman 214.821.7766

Eddc.nEt

Gallery Central 1918 skillman

214.827.3431

Pei Wei 9540 Garland 1.877.782.6356

PEiwEi.com

Urban Spools 1152 BucknEr 214.324.5775 urBansPools.com

El Rancho Supermarket 4201 Gaston 1 (800) 880 0924 Ext. 104 ElrancHoinc.com

1 Wine Therapist, which has occupied the corner of Skillman and Live Oak for nine years, is relocating. 2 The east Dallas Developmental Center (eDDC) is moving across Oram into the old Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage building in September. 3 In April Gallery Central opened at its new location behind the shopping center at Skillman and Oram. They moved to make room for Austin-based coffee shop Houndstooth, which at this point is not going in, although the door isn’t closed, says landord Stonelake Capital Partners

4 Pei Wei Asian Diner has completed the foundation for its new building in Casa Linda. Michael Hale with AmREIT says the design for the new building is “going to feel more like a Pei Wei, but it’s going to incorporate some of the more earthy tones you see out there.”

5 Urban Spools, a sewing lounge that recently moved to Casa Linda Plaza from Lake Highlands Village, opened at 1152 N. Buckner, a level lower than Another Broken Egg Cafe, in mid-May and hosted its official ribbon cutting in June. 6 At the time of publication, construction for Garlandbased grocer el Rancho Supermarket at 4121 Gaston appears to be right on schedule as finishing touches are being added to the exterior of the grocery store. If all goes as planned, the store should open late July.

Patriotic Pup

“Eight-week-old chocolate lab, Maggie, is one patriotic puppy,” says her mom, Andee Pittman, who shared her photo with us on Facebook during the Fourth of July photo share.