Fort Worth's Zoning Commission yesterday approved a request from Dickies to rezone about 22 acres at 9201 U.S. 281 for warehouse and distribution use, clearing a path for a potential new industrial development on land the brand purchased just months ago. The property sits directly north of an existing Dickies warehouse and distribution center at 9400 Blue Mound Road, and it falls within Fort Worth City Council District 10, where the district office says it was not even briefed on the case before the vote.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the commission's approval is only advisory. Under city procedures detailed by the City of Fort Worth, the rezoning cannot take effect until the full City Council holds a public hearing and casts a final vote, which typically happens the following month. Per city staff, the property is currently zoned for intensive commercial and light industrial use, and the developer behind the application is seeking light industrial zoning specifically for warehouse and distribution purposes.
Tarrant Appraisal District data cited in the same report shows the property is owned by Dickies itself, which purchased the land from VF Outdoor LLC — a subsidiary of VF Corporation — in May. Crow Holdings, a Dallas-based real estate investment firm, is listed on the zoning paperwork, but a person listed on that paperwork told the Star-Telegram that Crow Holdings is no longer involved in the case and referred further questions to Bluestar Alliance, which did not return requests for comment.
A Brand Untethered From Its Hometown Roots
The zoning request lands at an odd moment for a company whose name has been synonymous with Fort Worth for more than a century. Dickies was founded in the city in 1922 by C.N. Williamson and E.E. “Colonel” Dickie as a denim bib overall manufacturer for regional farm hands, according to Texas Highways. VF Corporation acquired Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co. and its brand portfolio in October 2017 for roughly $820 million in cash, per VF Corporation's own announcement at the time.
That local footprint began shrinking well before this week's zoning vote. VF Corporation relocated Dickies' corporate headquarters from Fort Worth to Costa Mesa, California, in 2024, ending more than a century of headquarters presence in the city and cutting roughly 120 local jobs, according to Shop Eat Surf. VF Corporation also maintained a Vans shoes headquarters in Costa Mesa, and the Star-Telegram notes VF Corporation had previously spent at least $4.5 million on new office space for Dickies in Fort Worth before that move.
The financial backdrop to the headquarters shift was steep: Dickies' annual revenue dropped 35.2% from a peak of $837.2 million in fiscal year 2022 to $542.1 million in fiscal year 2025, according to SGB Media. VF Corporation ultimately sold the Dickies brand to New York-based Bluestar Alliance for $600 million in late 2025, a deal Hoodline covered in VF Corp's debt-reduction push. VF used those proceeds to help cut its net debt from $5.3 billion to $4.3 billion by mid-2026, per Retail Dive.
Bluestar's Licensing Model and a Separate Local Legal Fight
Bluestar Alliance, founded in 2006, manages a portfolio that includes Off-White, Palm Angels, Scotch & Soda and Hurley, representing more than $13 billion in global retail sales, according to a PR Newswire release announcing the Dickies acquisition. The firm operates primarily through licensing agreements rather than direct manufacturing or real estate holdings, though land ownership records show Dickies itself retained ownership of the industrial land near Blue Mound Road and Highway 287.
Bluestar's arrival in Fort Worth has already stirred one unrelated legal dispute. Managing nonprofit Trail Drive Management filed a lawsuit in 2026 over naming rights for the city's 14,000-seat Dickies Arena after Bluestar sought to exit the sponsorship agreement originally struck in 2017, according to The Real Deal.
District 10 Says It Was Left in the Dark
Fort Worth City Council District 10, which represents the land in question, is led by Chris Jamieson. His office told the Star-Telegram it had not been briefed about the zoning case and had no comment on it — a gap that stands out given that the City Council still must hold its own public hearing and vote before the rezoning can move forward.
The timing lines up with a broader industrial building wave across North Texas. The Dallas-Fort Worth region recorded 34.6 million square feet of industrial leasing activity in the first half of 2026, keeping it the busiest warehouse and distribution hub in the country, according to REJournals. Whether the additional 22 acres near U.S. 281 becomes Dickies' next distribution footprint now rests with the City Council, which has not yet scheduled its hearing on the request.
