Landmark Richardson retail center gets new name and tenant

Contributed/Cencor Realty Services

A landmark Richardson shopping center is getting new life thanks to a new major tenant.

The 50-year-old Dal-Rich Village shopping center at Coit and Belt Line roads was one of the first large retail centers in Dallas’ northern suburbs.

The longtime shopping venue has suffered in the last year because Whole Foods Market and, earlier, Drug Emporium moved out.

Now a new business, Richardson Mercantile, is taking more than 50,000 square feet of space in the project.

It’s part of a plan to rebrand and upgrade the aging retail complex.

Landlord representative Cencor Realty Services has renamed the project Dal-Rich Towne Square.

“We think the best community centers are those that reflect the mix of uses that could be found in the old-time town squares in all of the pioneering cities in Texas,” Cencor chairman Herbert Weitzman said. “Richardson Mercantile will have all kinds of merchandise, just like those old-time mercantile stores where you could get anything.

“With this new anchor, combined with the already outstanding mix of shops, services, restaurants and medical uses, Dal-Rich exemplifies our town square approach.”

Other tenants in the shopping center include Jason’s Deli, Dollar Tree, Big Shucks Oyster Bar, Thai Soon, Madras Pavilion, McDonald’s, The UPS Store and Edward Jones.

Announced in 1963, Dal-Rich was built by Richardson’s pioneer Stults family, which had owned the land since 1873. Dallas developers Hugh Prather and Charles Brown were partners in the project. Famed Dallas architect George Dahl did the original design.

In 1972, the shopping center was sold by the Stults family to a partnership organized by Weitzman. The retail center’s anchors back then included grocer Safeway, Hubbard’s Cafeteria and TG&Y Variety Store.

Over the years, Dal-Rich was expanded and remodeled several times, and now has a Spanish-style architecture, thanks to a recent renovation.

Dal-Rich’s new Richardson Mercantile store is run by the same company that has a similar outlet in Frisco. Frisco Mercantile opened in 2009 on Preston Road.

“We’re excited to bring Richardson Mercantile to Dal-Rich Towne Square. Our unique shopping experience will be a perfect fit,” said Elke Nutterfield, general manager of Richardson Mercantile. “Our Frisco location is wildly successful, and we expect even more from the Richardson Mercantile. Our distinctive emporium opens Oct. 1.”

Michelle Caplan and Joey Keffler with The Weitzman Group negotiated the new lease with Cencor’s David McNeil and Joe Lea and Ryan Shafer with North Central Texas Realty.