Splatter Room guest Abigail creates a painting at Parker’s former location in downtown Plano. (Courtesy Pipe & Palette)
Indoor play arena Nerfies had been open for only two weeks when businesses were forced to shut down last March. Owners Hesham Elsayed and his wife, Heba Hamouda, said they leaned on their savings to keep the business afloat. A year later, the couple said they feel grateful to be breaking even.
“Our plan completely changed,” Elsayed said. “In the beginning, it was a challenge.”
COVID-19 caused “the biggest disruption of retail” the Dallas-Fort Worth market has seen in the last 30 years, said Bob Young, executive director of real estate services firm Weitzman, during a Jan. 14 event. In Plano, about 5.4 million square feet of retail space was vacant at the end of 2020 compared to 3.7 million square feet a year prior.
Despite these challenges, many small…
