Delay at The Domain

Opening of home decor giant's Domain storefront hits a roadblock

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Restoration Hardware's new storefront is ready, but The Domain isn't ready for it.

The new Restoration Hardware store at The Domain in North Austin is essentially ready for shoppers, but the high-end retail center isn’t ready for the store.

Construction on the store wrapped up during the fourth quarter of 2015, yet it isn’t scheduled to open until the third quarter of this year. What’s behind the delay? While the RH store is complete, the rest of Phase III at The Domain is under construction.

In a conference call March 29 with Wall Street analysts, Gary Friedman, chairman and CEO of RH, said: “We’re ready to open and everything around us is a construction site ... So we’re sitting there with a built-out store, waiting for the development to catch up.”

Opening the store now “would just be foolish,” Friedman said, given that construction cranes remain in place, sidewalks haven’t been finished and neighboring shops still are being built.

The RH store, primed to be one of the home furnishings retailer’s posh Design Gallery locations, now is set to debut sometime this summer, company spokeswoman Alexandra McClure says. In December, the California-based company said the 48,000-square-foot store would open this month.

Northwood Investors, Endeavor Real Estate Group, Columbus Realty Partners, and Lodgeworks are developing Phase III of The Domain, a 1.4 million-square-foot, mixed-use project whose retail anchors will be the RH gallery as well as a 123,000-square-foot Nordstrom store. The Nordstrom store is scheduled to open September 30.

In a statement, Endeavor says: “Phase III is slated to open this fall and is currently ahead of schedule regarding construction. We are thrilled to open Phase III at The Domain this fall and look forward to having Austin experience the next generation of RH.”

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Mini Meatballs

IKEA to debut new smaller-format store in Central Texas city

IKEA

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People in San Marcos will be getting their own "new format" IKEA store designed for a smaller city, according to a press release. It'll be 35,000 square feet — that may sound big, but IKEAs are often around 300,000 square feet.

The store will open this spring at the San Mar Plaza shopping center (917 SH-80 N.), and it'll be the ninth IKEA unit in Texas. It should be easy to find, since the release says it's "accessible off SH-80, and visible from IH-35."

Ikea's loyal following is generally thanks to its relative budget-friendliness and practical design. In San Marcos, more local sensibilities will be introduced, although it isn't clear exactly what that will mean for how the store is curated. The release promises "local living solutions, tailored to local preferences that reflect the unique everyday needs of the San Marcos community."

That'll be reflected in the store's 2,500 products on the sales floor, 2,000 of which will be immediately available. Everything will be available to order for home delivery or pickup. There will also be a chance to enjoy some of the store's Swedish Food Market finds, presumably including the famous meatballs.

This isn't the first small store in the Austin area, but the one at The Domain (3306 Esperanza Crossing) is really tiny at only 5,010 square feet. It's designed for placing and picking up orders, rather than browsing and then taking something home. The San Marcos store sounds more like a regular IKEA, but smaller.

"The opening of IKEA San Marcos exemplifies our strategy of developing smaller, more accessible urban store formats in this journey towards a more connected and accessible IKEA experience for the many," said IKEA U.S. CEO and chief sustainability officer Javier Quiñones.

The release discusses a commitment to adding "customer meeting points and locations that complement each other," plus e-commerce and service improvements. Overall, IKEA seems to be presenting a goal of greater diversity and accessibility in its shopping experience.

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