bclaridge

That one portion of the facade is original to the second phase of the shopping center.  The two adjacent stores have covered over that brick facade.  I will go back and check some of my archives to see what I can determine.  With all of the construction and with Barnes & Noble and Blue Mesa closing, I don't go over there at all.

I remember when they built the Freebird and Gorjana stores! They opened in spring 2023.

It's interesting to see how they've added new façades on the newer stores instead of showing the shopping center's original façade. This seems to be a trend in retail as of late; it makes the individual brand's look take priority over that of the entire shopping center.

It does make sense as to why you might not visit; UPV definitely has a lot less in their lineup for those who aren't feminine-identified like myself, at least on the fashion side of things. There's still J. Crew, and Lululemon and Nike have some men's stuff, but as far as I can tell, every other fashion retailer there exclusively caters to those who would wear women's clothes. As a feminine-identified person I don't mind, but as someone who used to be a guy, I can sympathize with guys being "brought along for the ride" by their female partners.

Since my transition I've almost exclusively visited UPV for White House Black Market. I've actually shopped at their North East Mall location since 2017, mainly because they had a newer store (opened 2014) with more-spacious fitting rooms, but I started going to UPV in early 2022.

This image is a repost from my photography thread, but I just learned that the White House Black Market boutique at University Park Village was their second location in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, based on a search I did using the Wayback Machine! Apparently WHBM first opened at UPV in 2002 (either August or September of that year; the Wayback Machine archived their site on 8/6/2002 and 9/23/2002, with only the latter mentioning the then-new Fort Worth boutique). WHBM's very first DFW-area location was at Preston Park Village in Plano (opened 2001), and their first Texas location was at Rice Village in Houston. The brand itself got its start in Baltimore in 1985, initially as a boutique known as "The White House" which sold women's fashion exclusively in shades of white and ivory; a separate concept known as "Black Market" focused on women's fashion in black opened in 1995, and the two concepts combined a few years after that. For the longest time, I thought that WHBM's first DFW-area boutique was at Stonebriar Centre in Frisco; it turns out that was their third DFW location (WHBM Stonebriar moved to a new space a few weeks ago), although the first time I personally noticed a WHBM boutique was when I was a kid visiting Stonebriar circa 2004.

What I'm curious about is if this storefront design actually dates from 2002, or if they renovated this store sometime after that. I've seen some mid-to-late-2000s era WHBM boutiques use a similar design to this one, so that's why I'm wondering. I'm not sure if too many people on this forum have paid attention to the comings-and-goings of retail at UPV over the last 22 years, let alone women's fashion retail, but I just got a little curious about this. Chico's acquired WHBM all the way back in 2003, so it would be fascinating if this was an original design that predates the Chico's acquisition. I know the Plano WHBM (the first in DFW) has a similar interior to the UPV location, at least judging from my last visit there back in November 2022.

Those who know me know that WHBM is my favorite fashion brand; I've been doing a little deep-dive into the brand's history.

Speaking of intact interiors, take a look at the former H&M space at 3rd and Commerce. You can see the signs pointing to the fitting rooms and the cashier, as well as an "elevator" sign over the elevator from its time as an H&M. It appears that almost all the fixtures from H&M are still intact, as this interior appears just as I remember the H&M looked.

It looks like they are just using the space for storage, but I wonder if something might be about to happen. That's because the windows had been covered for quite some time, but I noticed the coverings removed tonight (3/31/2024), allowing me to take this photo:

On my DSLR, I shoot everything with the RAW format.  On my cell, I only shoot nighttime photos with RAW.

 

You have taken more nice photos to add to your collection.

Thank you! I know my skills are definitely improving; this has been a "learn-as-I-go" endeavor. First I started with my shooting skills, now I'm starting to work on my editing skills.

I currently use RawTherapee to edit my RAW files. I'm debating on getting either a Lightroom or Capture One subscription, although I find the open-source RawTherapee more than sufficient right now.

Speaking of cameras, I'm on a full-frame mirrorless camera body (Canon R8) as mentioned in my first post. Sometimes I wish I got a DSLR instead for better battery life, but I love the small size of the R8. Put on a small prime lens such as the RF 50mm F1.8 STM and it is fairly compact.

I just wish I had a telephoto lens with the total solar eclipse coming up, but I'm pretty short on funds right now. With my birthday coming up on April 11th I had thought about asking my family for an early birthday present, but they have other things they need to spend money on (car repairs mainly). While there are plenty of other use cases for a telephoto lens, there's no guarantee that skies will be clear on April 8th, so I don't want to invest in such a lens right now if I can wait. The RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM seems to be the most affordable telephoto option out there for RF-mount that would give me just enough reach; even 400mm probably isn't ideal reach on a full-frame camera (if I were on APS-C it would be, but APS-C has worse low-light performance due to the smaller sensor). I'll probably make do with a wide-angle totality shot of some sort using my RF 24-50mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens, but with the eclipse going to be high in the sky at around 1:40pm, wide-angle shots are less than ideal compared to an eclipse taking place closer to sunrise or sunset. I had thought about solar filters too, but I know those need to be removed during the phase of totality for the ideal shot. There are also mirror (catadioptric) lenses, but I'd need to buy an RF-to-EF converter as all of those seem to be EF-mount; photo quality is lower and there is the donut bokeh effect to consider on some types of shots too (which I'd love to use for artistic effect). There's also the TTArtisan 500mm f/6.3 manual-focus telephoto prime I might consider (it's available for RF-mount), if I could get one shipped in time.

 

 

I guess I missed the announcement but it appears there is a new jazz club coming to Sundance Square:

https://www.instagra...zRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

Record AD23-00192: 

Alcohol Distance Check

Record Status: Accepted

 

Permit Address

401 HOUSTON ST

 

Project Description:

THE SPOTLIGHT

ALCOHOL DISTANCE CHECK / LH - LATE HOURS CERTIFICATE/ MB- MIXED BEVERAGE

https://aca-prod.acc...ShowInspection=

 

 

 

Here's Spotlight today at Sundance. 

 

 

 

I still can't unsee what used to be here. There are definitely plenty of design elements from the space's days as White House Black Market (WHBM) in this photo, namely the walls and the chandeliers. While the walls have been repainted, the chandeliers were essentially "trademark" design elements from WHBM's boutiques from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s, so I'm a little surprised that the chandeliers got to stay intact. I believe the wood floors are new, although I can't say I'm 100% sure of that. I can say that the wall behind the bar is definitely new; back when this was WHBM, that was open because that's where the fitting rooms were. For comparison purposes, I will note that the WHBM at North East Mall in Hurst shares many of the design elements that the former Sundance WHBM did (when it was a WHBM), considering that they both opened around the same time back in 2014.

The vast majority of people probably won't notice, though. I suspect the only reason why I notice is because I'm a huge WHBM fan, and much less so the fact that I have been involved in jazz/swing dance meetups before (which does make me curious about this space's new use). I wonder if this space will end up being used for stuff like the latter?

The one thing I don't miss about this being a WHBM were the curtain gaps on the fitting rooms; I loved the luxurious heavy satin curtains they had (and that they still have in their University Park Village and North East Mall boutiques), but the gaps at the edges made me nervous. Back when I used to shop here in 2017 and 2018, I have memories of asking the sales associates for a fitting room that did not face into the store. It doesn't help that two of their fitting rooms faced out into the store and the windows along 3rd Street. No other WHBM boutique I've encountered has ever had curtain gaps as bad as this one did; UPV and North East have no gaps at all despite having the same curtains.

Enough of reminiscing on the past. I would have thought (and hoped) that this space would have become another clothing store, as it seemed ready-made for that. Still, I have no complaints, especially if The Spotlight ends up getting used for stuff like jazz performances and swing dancing which I personally enjoy. I'm not normally a person who goes to bars and lounges (as this space appears to be), though.