In terms of retail, if you dream it, Dallas probably has it. But despite the city’s prowess for attracting big, buzzy brands, it’s small businesses that are instrumental in shaping the culture and DNA of our many neighborhoods. Whether they serve up rare labels, exquisite home décor, or thoughtful gifts, these passion projects are crafted with a care that’s evident across their inventories, interiors, and the atmospheres they create. To enter one of Dallas’ most beautiful shops is to experience everything it stands for all at once.
The city’s retail scene is always evolving, but we’ve done our best to narrow down the 20 most stunning independent shopping destinations in Dallas.
(Note: in order to keep the focus on small, more under-the-radar shops, we’ve left out Dallas heavy hitters, like Forty Five Ten, Stanley Korshak, and Tootsies — but we’d feel remiss without giving them a mention.)
BLUE PRINT STORE
2707 Fairmount St (Uptown) | blueprintstore.com
We’ve been Blue Print die-hards since 2010, when five interior designers and friends renovated a 1925 home to open the shop of our home decor dreams on a quiet street in Uptown. Beyond its topiary-flanked blue front doors, the store serves as a showcase for Blue Print’s English and French antiques, midcentury modern furnishings, custom upholstery, gifts, and jewelry. After the group’s acumen for curating modern art became clear, they opened up Blue Print Gallery next door (in another renovated charmer) to house even more of it.
KOCH
2600 Fairmount St (Uptown) | shopkoch.com
Founder Nicole Musselman projects a sunshiny sentiment that informs not only Koch’s block-printed T-shirts and flirty smocked skorts (easily identifiable among the Park Cities set as “The Erica”), but every square inch of the light-filled 1920s bungalow-turned-storefront reimagined by Dallas interior designer Jean Liu.
NICOLE KWON
3699 McKinney Ave Suite 530 (West Village ) & Level 2 of NorthPark Center | nicolekwon.com
Designer Nicole Kwon has an eye for what works and a knack for bringing in under-the-radar, cool girl brands like Paloma Wool and R.G. Kane (along with her own private label made in Korea). In 2019, Kwon upgraded from a thimble-sized spot in West Village to a spacious corner in the same Uptown development. Then last year, Kwon did the unthinkable: she brought a small, local retailer into NorthPark Center’s mix of national power players. Once inside, however, you’re squarely in Kwon’s beautifully designed world – even if Eataly is right around the corner.
