Cha-cha-changes
Big changes at The Galleria: New luxury stores moving in, keeping the River Oaks District at bay
The Galleria has taken a giant step in cementing its place as Houston's premier luxury shopping destination with the announcement that it has landed four new stores.
The luxury watchmaker Rolex will open its first free-standing store in Texas at the mammoth shopping mall next summer. The 1,800 square-foot store will open next to Tory Burch, which will undergo a major expansion about the same time. Burch has told CultureMap several times that she was looking to expand in Houston.
Other new stores include:
- Tod's, the high-end Italian shoe and accessory retailer, will open a 2,000-square foot store in The Galleria in the summer of 2015. Former Gucci and Valentino designer Alessandra Facchinetti is the new creative director of Tod's women's collection, so expect to see a whole lot of attention on the brand from major fashion magazines soon.
- Trina Turk, the hot womenswear line, will open a 1,400 square-foot store next to Sephora in Galleria I in the fall of 2014. Sephora will also greatly expand its store.
- Tourbillon, the luxury watch retailer, will open its first Houston store in The Galleria next summer. The 2,815 square-foot store will be located next to bareMinerals in Galleria II.
While there has been much speculation in retail circles that Chanel would leave The Galleria for the new River Oaks District complex, where Hermès and Tom Ford are among the new tenants, the French luxury house is staying put in the Galleria. The boutique will begin an extensive renovation of the store, located near Neiman Marcus, early next summer and will remain open during that time.
In other changes, Zara will expand to a two-story store encompassing more than 18,000 square feet. Construction will begin next April and is scheduled to be completed next fall.
And Club Monaco will relocate to Galleria II next to Zales with a 4,500 square-foot store.