Dillard's Amarillo celebrates 40 years with grand opening of new location
A crowd of hundreds helped Dillard's Amarillo celebrate 40 years serving the community, with the grand opening of its new Women's Dillard location in the Westgate Mall on Thursday morning.
The new Women's Dillard's is now housed in the former Sears location, on the east side of the Westgate Mall. The new location, totaling at 158,400 square feet, hosts everything from the former location on one floor and more.
"This is a huge dream come true; it makes me feel so good for our team to experience this. It's a legacy that we have created in Amarillo, and this new building is a whole new chapter and legacy that we are building for our community and beyond," said Craig Seiter, General Manager for Dillard's Amarillo, at the ceremony.
According to the Dillard's Regional Manager, Jerry Rios, the men's location will remain as is, stating that the space has received much recognition and awards for its service and location and felt it was best to preserve that community. Dillard's officials also stated that they currently do not know what will become of their former women's Dillard's space.
During the opening event, 200 attendees received a "swag bag" filled with a mystery gift card ranging from $5 to $200. The event also included the attendance of 10 food trucks for shoppers to enjoy; several promotional deals, including an opening day cosmetic promotion where every $100 spent by shoppers earned a $25 voucher; and the promotional deal held opening day through Monday, allowing Dillard's card holders to receive five points for every dollar spent.
The grand opening celebration also included fashion shows from multiple local and non-local influencers hosted through Friday, with kids' fashion shows including superheroes on Saturday. On opening day, attendees also had the chance to meet Miss Texas and Miss Texas Outstanding Teen; view demonstrations for the first in the world, state-of-the-art skin imaging system by Lancôme; and a chance to utilize the first-in-the-nation Lancôme counter and the third-in-the-nation Clinique bar. As a part of the grand opening, the location is showcasing the 50 new brands now available, as well as the full service James Avery and Kendra Scott shops.
"We are a hub; I like to think of Amarillo as the capital of the Panhandle. All the quad state areas come here to do their shopping, including New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas, to seek their needs including medical, insurance, business. Amarillo is a very successful city, but there is so much more potential and we are glad Dillard's could fulfill a part of that with this brand new beautiful building," Seiter said.
As read by district manager Rios during the opening ceremony, Dillard's founder Bill Dillard said: "Retailers who survive have to be as flexible and as nimble as possible. There will always be a need for a brick and mortar store; not everyone is going to buy everything online. Dillard's has been in Amarillo for 40 years, and we're here to stay."
Dillard's was founded in Amarillo in October of 1982, creating 40 years of community service. In the future, the location hopes to add more brands and create more community partnerships benefitting non-profits, much like their fashion gala benefitting the High Plains Food Bank held Wednesday evening and their ongoing Fit For The Cure event raising funds to fight against breast cancer.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Community celebrates 40 years with Dillard's in new bigger location
