Like so many brick and mortar shopping centers and malls across the country, The Shops At Willow Bend in Plano have permanently closed their doors.
For many, The Shops were a relic from an era when malls were built just because — in the words of D Magazine senior editor Mike Piellucci, "It existed to exist."
Even though the shopping center didn't feature anything particularly special, like the Galleria's ice rink or NorthPark Center's contemporary art, in the eyes of Piellucci's young daughter, the mall was her playground.
"It became this thing where I started to kind of map her life growing a little more as the mall started giving a little less," he said. "It was this very weird juxtaposition where I could see tangible milestones for her and I could seen tangible pieces of decline in the mall every time we went."
Piellucci recently joined NTX Now's Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning to talk about the deeper loss his family's been feeling since The Shop at Willow Bend shuttered, which he discussed in his piece, "Requiem for a Mall."
In Piellucci's eyes, with malls shuttering all over the country, we're losing a community gathering space, where everyone is together for one reason or another.
"The beauty of a mall is it's kind of all these little stores and ecosystems coexisting, which is kind of what our society is supposed to be," he said.
The Shops at Willow Bend were shuttered, in part, to make room for a new Dallas Stars arena, moving away from playing at the American Airlines Center.
Piellucci says the move would be a big deal for Plano.
"If you're Plano, you have seen Frisco rise up and Frisco become the "it" suburb, the way that you used to be in the 80s and the 90s," he said. "So what's a good way if you're Plano to kind of take your credibility back? Oh, you guys have a practice facility for the Cowboys and you have minor league teams, that's cute. Here's an NHL franchise that we have."
To hear this conversation in full, click the 'listen' button above.
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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