IRDC

In a previous Hotspot segment, we looked at mixed-use development West Village and mentioned a fun and free way to get there—the McKinney Avenue Trolley system. These vintage streetcars make numerous stops along the route from the Dallas Arts District to West Village and back, and the area (known as Uptown) is populated with upscale independents worth a look.

The grandest of these is Stanley Korshak, a luxury retail store built in 1986 in the Philip Johnson-designed Crescent Court hotel and business complex. At the time, the brand was a small chain centered in Chicago, but the other stores closed with the shaky economy of the late 1980s. The Dallas store became—and remains—the sole Stanley Korshak location, an independent department store on the order of Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman.

The luxe experience begins in the parking garage, where you’re greeted by the sound of rushing water from a large, custom-built fountain in the center of the complex. Step inside the marble-and-rosewood adorned main building and explore the series of boutiques—men’s, couture, shoes and handbags, jewelry, cosmetics and bridal—on three levels, all featuring the finest labels and famously attentive sales staff. 

Cross the courtyard to the gifts and home boutique and The Shak, a clothing and jewelry outpost with a decidedly different vibe from the main store, aimed at younger fashion fiends. Two restaurants complete the courtyard space, a gorgeous backdrop for trunk shows, charity events and, for IRDCers, an afternoon of retail research. 

(Trolley users: Get off at McKinney and Pearl Streets and look for The Crescent Shops and Galleries.)