Holley's future at Lindale Mall in question

Holley's Shop for Men, Lindale Mall's longest continuously operated tenant under the same ownership, may be looking for a new home.

Jim Holley, co-owner of the 47-year-old men's apparel and formalwear  retailer, said the store's existing lease expires on Jan. 31 and will not be renewed by The Macerich Co., which manages and co-owns Lindale with Simon Property Group.

"To the best of our knowledge, we were in the middle of negotiating a new lease and the mall ended up leasing our space and four spaces around us to a cosmetology college," Holley said. "We are about to start a big relocation promotion on Dec. 1, but relocating where we don't know at this point."

That's news to Lindale Mall officials, who claim they have reached an agreement on a new lease with Holley's.

"I spoke to our leasing manager here at Lindale and as far as she knew we had reached a deal with Holley's on Monday and everything was good," said Lisa Rowe, marketing director at Lindale Mall. "We have a new lease and we're moving forward."

Lindale Mall, which opened as Lindale Plaza on Sept. 15, 1960, has two original tenants -- Sears and Younkers -- that have changed ownership over the last 51 years. Holley's Shop for Men was founded in 1964 at Lindale as Craemer's Mens Shop by Jim Holley's parents,  Don and Nola Holley.

Jim Holley joined the business in 1970 and his younger brother, Bob Holley, became a partner after Don Holley died in 1976. The name of the store was changed to Holley's Shop for Men in the mid-1970s.

"We've been here way longer than the people who own the mall (Macerich and Simon) have owned the mall," Jim Holley said. "Even though they own it, it seems like my home."

Holley's Shop for Men, which operated a second location at Westdale Mall from 1979 to 1997, leases a 4,000-square-foot store at Lindale. Holley said it is looking for a location roughly the same size, preferably nearby.

"We want to be where our customers want to go and make it easy for them," he said. "Here, it's very easy for them to literally pull up to the front door and park and we would like to keep it that way."

Jim said his son, Sean, who joined the store in 2002 as a third-generation bookkeeper, hopes to take the lead going forward.

"Sean controlling the bookkeeping has helped immensely," Holley said. "In this day and age, if you're not paying more attention to the numbers than I ever did, you're not going to make it. It's more than just numbers, but that's a big part of it.

"Keeping track of the numbers has been Sean's job and he's done it well."

While he may be unsure of where Holley's Shop for Men will be operating after Jan. 31, Holley remains optimistic about the future.

"We have to be optimistic," he said. "There's no reason to be any other way."