20 elements, 2005, Joel Shapiro, Nordstrom Court 

Dallas' famous NorthPark shopping center is the largest indoor mall in Texas and it's no less than the fifth largest in the United States.

It was built on leased land and opened in 1965, and that might not have happened had Raymond Nasher, an apartment developer with no experience whatsoever with developing shopping malls, not convinced Stanley Marcus and the Marcus family to relocate their Neiman-Marcus satellite store there.

    {=====Raymond Nasher, Developer of Dallas' NorthPark

Over the years, I've searched and found my heroes.  Raymond Nasher and his wife Patsy, now both deceased, were two of them.  Although we never met, Mr. Nasher and I did exchange letters now and then, and the last one I got from him was no more than three weeks before he became ill and died recently after a trip to Europe.  He was 85, but up to and including the end was still very much the brilliant gentleman he had always been.

No one with an interest in retailing, marketing, developing, art, flowers and plants, window dressing, store facade design, and store placement should pass up the opportunity to study NorthPark.  And no shopper should bypass this unique shopping experience.

Please stay with me.  I'm now going to tell you why, and at the end, you'll be able to read the remarkable story of Raymond Nasher.

NorthPark is located in Dallas where Central Expressway (US 75/I-45) and Northwest Highway (Loop 12) intersect.

Throughout the mall is a valuable hanging art and sculpture collection by notable artists, and it belongs to the mall.  Pieces are continually being bought and added.  There are huge pots of exotic plants and flowers...unimaginable exotic plants and flowers...here, there, and everywhere in the common areas.  And they are changed out probably as frequently as once a month.  Who knows what they are?  There are no identifying signs in the pots.  And I doubt most botanists could identify them all.

See how these features keep the common areas from being static? The vibrancy that's created is noticeable even to the children.  They learn and experience tasteful excellence, the ingredients that are missing at the common mega-malls -- even the Galleria -- throughout the city.  As an aside, it shows how close the mind sets of Raymond Nasher and Stanley Marcus were.  Odd, really, if you think about it.  Both felt they were obligated to display, share and teach good taste to those around them, most of whom they would never personally know.

Study the store exterior and interior designs of these shops:  Ted Baker, Billy Reid, Janie and Jack, kate spade, Lacome Boutique, Mavado, CH Carolina Herrera, Bottega Veneta and Ralph Lauren.  This is architectural merchandising genius.

Now look at the desolate two floors of Barney's New York, and by comparison you will understand how once again they have totally missed the retailing mark, as hundreds, perhaps thousands,  of shoppers pass their doors without even so much as considering turning in to see what's there much less to make a purchase.

Notice the dressed windows of Neiman-Marcus, Ted Baker and Billy Reid. Contrast with them the strange window dressings of Barney's. Theirs is a look that makes little sense to anyone other than the creaters.  Another Barney's missed mark.

See the future of retail store design: Hollister, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Anthropologie. 

While food is everywhere and the restaurants and bistros are good, when you're at NorthPark, you must return to its roots, and eat in the place where the ladies used to wear hats and gloves, among the blond wood furnishings of Old Hollywood.  It's Neiman's The Zodiac on the third floor.  (The fillet at about twenty bucks has to be a money loser for the store.  It's definitely a winner for you!)  The antithesis is the modern and hip Bistro I N on the third level of Nordstrom.

Finally, look how the stores are properly yet imaginatively clustered.  This is the hardest thing for a leasing agent and owner to achieve, yet here at NorthPark it's just a smidgen less than perfect; only a smidgen.

Now please click on this http://www.bu.edu/alumni/bostonia/2000/spring/nasher/

You'll read the very interesting story of Raymond Nasher.               

BILL CHERRY, DALLAS BROKER-REALTOR. MY 43RD YEAR SELLING TEXAS. 972 380-7347

                                        Meet me on the web at http://www.billcherrybroker.com/