Highland Park Village’s Market has quietly gained a track record as an incubator for “Texas-curious” designers that want to test the store experience and their potential with Dallas shoppers.
Los Angeles-based Staud opens Friday for a six-month pop-up inside the Market, which was founded in 2015 by Elisa Summers, a co-owner of the luxury shopping center.
In the last three years, brands hosted by the Market have gone on to open their own stores in Dallas, Austin and Houston.
One of those recent pop-ups from Jonathan Simkhai, who also hails from Los Angeles, opens Thursday in its own retail space in Highland Park Village.
Other designers that test-piloted Texas in the Market have their own stores. Ganni is in NorthPark Center, and La Ligne, Love Shack Fancy and La Vie Style House all have stores in Highland Park Village. Love Shack Fancy also went on to open stores in Austin and Houston.
“We’ve proved time and time again that a successful run at Market sets up designers for success in the Texas retail landscape,” said Keenan Walker, chief creative officer at Market. “Our formula works.”
Staud will be open through January 2024. The designer of women’s apparel, and accessories including handbags and shoes and bridal dresses was founded in 2015 by Sarah “Staud” Staudinger and George Augusto. Staud has two stores in West Hollywood on Melrose Place and in New York’s Soho neighborhood on Greene Street.
The brand already has a loyal Dallas customer base, said Jon Zeiders, Staud’s president. “There is no better way to enter the Dallas market than our partnership with Market.”
The idea of helping brands figure out the Texas customer came after Walker joined the Market in 2018, and now there’s a long list of brands reaching out to get a spot, she said.
“We’re not a wholesale relationship,” Walker said. “We help select the merchandise that we think a Dallas customer would want, share analytics and we market and message to the Dallas customer.”
Two areas of about 300 square feet each inside the Market are designated pop-up areas. A.L.C., a Los Angeles-based women’s apparel brand, has occupied one of the pop-up spaces since September.
Customers are curious to see the next pop-ups and that helps the Market stay fresh, Walker said. Staud has collaborated with brands not considered luxury such as New Balance, Birkenstock and most recently Keds. A new partnership is planned for Market, but hasn’t yet been disclosed.
For the pop-up brands, she said, the arrangement removes “the big risk of opening a new store without knowing the retail landscape in Dallas.”
Vacheron Constantin
Besides Simkhai, three more previously announced stores are opening this summer and fall at Highland Park Village. Brioni opens later this month, Balmain in September and Loewe in the fall.
Dior is under construction in the former Ralph Lauren space.
A new lease has been signed by luxury Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin, and it will open later this year. The Highland Park Village store will be only the second boutique in Texas for the company. There’s one in Houston on Post Oak and service center in Fort Worth.
The shopping center has been making itself more of a jewelry destination in recent years, adding Van Cleef & Arpels, Rolex and Cartier to brands that have been there for years, such as Harry Winston, Chanel and Hermes.
Twitter: @MariaHalkias
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