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    El, yeah

    Step inside the Upside Down at Texas mall's new Stranger Things experience

    Stephanie Allmon Merry
    May 17, 2022 | 1:26 pm

    Stranger Things fans, prepare to enter the Upside Down: a new immersive experience based on the Netflix hit is premiering at Grapevine Mills mall in North Texas.

    According to a release, the Stranger Things Store will debut Saturday, May 21, and will include some of the show's most recognizable locations, "gnarly merch, and rad activities."

    A description on the website reads, "Take a peek at the lockers of Hawkins High, answer the yellow phone at Joyce’s house, play games at the Palace Arcade, and pick up some bodacious threads. Just know that you might come face to face with a Demogorgon — don’t say we didn’t warn you!"

    Avid watchers know a shopping mall is the perfect place for a Stranger Things shop, as the fictional "Starcourt Mall" is a favorite hang for the teenage stars and their supernatural monster-nemeses in the '80s-set show.

    Stranger Things shops have been known to pop up in other places — like New York City — but Grapevine will get the first one in Texas. It's considered a pop-up shop, which means temporary residence, although an end date has not been announced.

    For the uninitiated, Stranger Things debuted as a Netflix original sci-fi series in 2016 and quickly became a cult sensation for its supernatural elements, teenage drama, and quirky '80s nostalgia. The network describes it thusly: "Strange things are afoot in Hawkins, Indiana, where a young boy's sudden disappearance unearths a young girl with otherworldly powers."

    It launched a cast of teenage actors to superstardom, including Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin.

    The timing of the Grapevine store couldn't be more appropriate: The upcoming fourth season, Stranger Things 4, will be released in two volumes, Netflix says, with the first dropping on May 27 and the second on July 1.

    "Grapevine Mills strives to create a family-friendly destination and continues to bring unique shopping experiences by welcoming entertainment and experiential elements to the property," says a news release. "The Stranger Things Store will not only create buzz in the community being the first-ever experience in Texas, but it will also transform the way consumers look at mall centers based on its immersive theme."

    Reserve free tickets to the store and secure a spot in line here.

    The first-ever Stranger Things Store will open at Grapevine Mills on May 25.

    Stranger Things store
    Facebook/Stranger Things Official Store
    The first-ever Stranger Things Store will open at Grapevine Mills on May 25.
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    holiday travel news

    Houston's IAH flops in new ranking of least stressful U.S. airports

    Amber Heckler
    Dec 11, 2025 | 10:00 am
    George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston
    Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash
    Flight delays and cancellations at George Bush Intercontinental Airport can be a stress-inducing experience for some travelers this holiday season.

    Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) has some work to do to improve its stress-inducing environment during the peak holiday travel season, a new study has revealed.

    European tour company Travel by Luxe compared 30 major airports across several stress-inducing flight factors, such as security wait times, flight delays, cancellation rates, passenger traffic, and average airfare prices to determine the least stressful departure points. The airports were then ranked based on which were the "best equipped to keep travelers calm rather than frazzled."

    The No. 1 most stress-free U.S. airport to travel over the holidays is Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona, the report said.

    George Bush Intercontinental was dubbed the 27th "least stressful" American airport with longer security wait times and more flight cancellations than most other major U.S. airports.

    According to passenger traffic data from December 2024, more than 2.1 million travelers flew through IAH for the holidays last year. Nearly a quarter of all flights were delayed, and IAH had the fourth-highest rate of cancelled flights (1.18 percent) out of all 30 airports analyzed during the same period.

    Average flight costs at IAH came out to $419.19 in the final quarter of 2024, which the report determined was the 11th most expensive airfare out of all 30 U.S. airports analyzed. However, the report states flight fares are not "the biggest drivers of airport stress," but flight delays and security wait times are.

    Travelers heading out of Houston should always plan extra time to get through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lines during peak travel times, as the report found travelers waited about 22 minutes on average to get through IAH security lines in December 2023 (where the latest data was available). That's the fourth-highest wait time nationwide.

    The report's author says the 2025 holiday travel season is expected to be one of the busiest on record, and stresses that "choosing the right airport could make or break" a traveler's trip. Nearly 4.6 million travelers are expected to fly through IAH during the final two months of the year.

    "Holiday travel is supposed to be joyful. [T]hink of all the twinkling lights, family reunions and much-needed downtime," the author wrote. "But anyone who has battled chaotic airport lines, last-minute cancellations or a departure board full of red delay warnings knows how quickly that festive spirit can evaporate."

    Elsewhere in Texas, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was ranked the 9th most stress-free airport in the U.S. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was deemed the worst of the airports studied; it ranked at the bottom of the list at No. 30.

    The top 10 U.S. airports with the smoothest travel during the 2025 holiday season are:

    • No. 1 – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
    • No. 2 – Salt Lake City International Airport
    • No. 3 – Washington Dulles International Airport
    • No. 4 – Tampa International Airport
    • No. 5 – Harry Reid International Airport
    • No. 6 – Chicago Midway International Airport
    • No. 7 – Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
    • No. 8 – Philadelphia International Airport
    • No. 9 – Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
    • No. 10 – LaGuardia Airport
    travelflightsholiday travelhoustongeorge bush intercontinental airport
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