Part of the Halls team is in New York City this week. They’re placing orders and visiting with vendors, as usual for this time of year. But they’re also participating in an exciting new project – a photo shoot for our upcoming Halls magazine.

This fall, Halls customers will receive a beautiful magazine with all the latest from Halls on fall fashion trends, new merchandise, styling tips and even articles about our favorite hidden Kansas City gems. But you’ll have to wait to check it out…

In the meantime, we’ll tease you with a few pics from our photo shoot (including one of our own Patty Ponchur who appears to be having TOO much fun!).

Paired with a fabulous strappy sandal and this goes day to night in a snap. Distressed boyfriend jeans by Hudson and white blazer by Theory. Available at Halls Plaza.

Halls, Kansas City’s specialty department store, announces exciting plans for a new 60,000 square foot department store, slated to open in September 2014 in Crown Center. Representing a $10 million investment into the center, the new store will be the sole retail tenant on the third level of the Crown Center Shops and will feature the current Halls departments as well as an in-store café. The existing Halls stores in Crown Center will close in early 2014 to allow for construction of the new store.

The Crown Center shopping, hotel, office and entertainment district adjoins the headquarters of Hallmark Cards, Inc., which owns both Crown Center Redevelopment Corp. and Halls.

Halls has engaged Charles Sparks + Company, an award-winning retail store design firm, to imagine and create the new store experience. The firm counts Neiman Marcus among its clients, as well as sleek museum stores for the Art Institute of Chicago, the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco. The preliminary designs are open, modern and full of light, with a focus on enhanced customer service.

Shoppers will enjoy a fresh new design with bright, crisp accents and special moments of luxury. Custom finishes and iconic Halls architectural touches will invite longtime customers and new visitors into a shopping environment unlike any other in Kansas City.

The proposed plans call for the enclosed walkway bridging Grand Boulevard to be opened up with windows, allowing customers to view Crown Center Square and the downtown skyline from the store. This newly-imagined area, known as “The Bridge”, will blend the best of Downstairs and Upstairs, Halls’ men’s and women’s contemporary departments. The Bridge will have its own vibe within the larger store, highlighted by an urban/industrial feel with a dedicated sound system.

An expanded beauty department will cover over 5,000 square feet and features a serene private treatment room, an unexpected oasis where customers will enjoy rejuvenating facials, customized to their skin-type. Spacious new fitting rooms will be beautifully appointed with custom furniture and designer wallcoverings. Customers will take just a few steps from their cars to an inviting store entrance on the 3rd level of the Crown Center Shops parking garage.

The Halls Plaza store will remain open through late summer 2014, at which time all operations will move to the new Halls store in Crown Center. The amenities and services that make shopping at Halls a pleasure will remain uninterrupted. Halls will continue to offer the luxury brands and exclusive merchandise its customers expect – stylish home furnishings, Halls Wedding Registry, designer labels in men’s and women’s fashion, and the most sought-after contemporary fashions – as part of a thoughtful range of price points.

Halls president Kelly Cole described the company’s excitement at the move, “It is exhilarating to be a part of the on-going revitalization of both Crown Center and downtown Kansas City. Halls operated out of several downtown locations for 50 years before opening the Plaza store in 1965 and the Crown Center store in 1973. As the store evolves into the new Halls, we will transcend the traditional retail landscape, creating instead a vibrant, one-of-a-kind shopping destination.”

Crown Center president Bill Lucas commented, “As Crown Center celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2013, we’re thrilled to welcome the new Halls experience to the Crown Center Shops. This is the latest step in Crown Center’s evolution, on the heels of last year’s openings of LEGOLAND® Discovery Center and SEA LIFE Aquarium. We can’t wait for our customers to enjoy the new Halls when it opens next year.”

For on-going project updates, please stay tuned to Halls.com, blog.Halls.com or Facebook.com/Hallskc.

Everywhere we look this spring, we see light denim. The dark washes of seasons past, of fall and winter, are set aside. And the pastels, neutrals and faded/vintage washes now take their place for the warmer seasons. We convinced Halls associates Seth and Lindsay to grab some light-colored denim off the racks at Halls Plaza recently to show us this trend.

Grey denim by Vince.

Cream denim by Hudson. Yellow denim by J. Brand.

Faded wash by Citizens of Humanity. Distressed denim by Hudson.

All men’s denim seen here available Downstairs at Halls Plaza.

Butterfly denim by Paige. Pinstriped denim with zippered leg by J. Brand.

Distressed denim by Hudson. Light denim with zipper and seam detail by DL1961.

Floral denim by Joe’s Jeans. Peach denim by J. Brand.

All women’s denim seen here available Upstairs at Halls Plaza.