Hobby Lobby is leaving Parkdale shopping center for a much bigger storefront across town, trading roughly 57,000 square feet for nearly 90,000 square feet in the space Belk is vacating at Central Texas Marketplace. The craft retailer's departure strips Parkdale of its longtime anchor just as Belk prepares to shutter its own Waco location in January, setting off a scramble to refill two major retail footprints at once.
Hobby Lobby has signed a lease on the Belk space at Central Texas Marketplace, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald, with the move swapping its current footprint for nearly 90,000 square feet at the new site. Public-record reporting cited by the Tribune-Herald indicates the lease, signed July 8, 2026, runs a 10-year primary term with three five-year renewal options, covering the 96,240-square-foot space currently occupied by Belk, as KWTX reported. Hobby Lobby currently operates at 1200 Richland Drive, Suite 1, and KWTX reports that store will close in connection with the move, though no specific timetable has been released.
Belk's Waco store at 2700 W. Loop 340 is scheduled to permanently close Jan. 8, 2027, per the station's reporting, freeing up the space for Hobby Lobby's relocation. As of early October 2026, the City of Waco had not yet issued building permits for interior or exterior remodeling work on the Belk building, the same report noted.
Parkdale's Long Run as an Anchor Store
The Tribune-Herald's shakeup story reports the retailer has anchored the center since 1997, matching a separate Tribune-Herald report on the lease that places the Waco location at the shopping center since 1997. Either way, sources suggest Hobby Lobby's wind-down at Parkdale could stretch over at least a year, though the exact relocation timeline remains unclear.
James Quattrocchi, a Bostonian who brought Five Guys Burgers to Waco in 2009, is now developing a retro diner and bakery on the Bosque Boulevard side of Parkdale, remodeling space in that part of the center. He said he needed another challenge and was drawn to the retro diner and bakery concept. Quattrocchi said learning that Hobby Lobby would depart helped improve his bargaining position, adding that he might still have signed his lease but not for the same amount of money. He also said he thinks Hobby Lobby may stay at Parkdale for about another year.
Who Backfills the Anchor Space?
Drug Emporium is already identified as a major anchor tenant at the center, alongside dd's Discounts, according to Cromwell Commercial Group, which lists Parkdale Shopping Center at 1200 Richland Drive as surrounded by more than 50 national and regional retailers with available suites ranging from roughly 250 to 12,000 square feet. Once Hobby Lobby leaves, Drug Emporium is expected to become Parkdale's largest anchor.
Clay Fuller, a partner at Cromwell Commercial Group who is listing the available Parkdale space, said the center is already discussing backfilling the space and expects to secure another proven anchor. A local store manager estimated Hobby Lobby generates 30% to 40% of Parkdale's traffic, according to the Tribune-Herald's reporting.
Scott Halvorson, who managed the Drug Emporium store at Parkdale for 19 years, offered a similar estimate, putting Hobby Lobby's share of center traffic at 30% to 40%. He said Hobby Lobby's departure means the center is losing substantial traffic. Halvorson pointed to the arrivals of 7Brew and AutoZone nearby as a positive counterweight; AutoZone now occupies the former Ruby's location, and its team members spilled into the Parkdale parking lot one day last week while preparing for a grand opening. Even so, Halvorson said Drug Emporium continues to face competition from health food stores, the internet and drone-delivery services, though he added the store is keeping its head above water and he does not expect the situation to worsen.
A Pizza Ranch and a Belk Farewell
Pizza Ranch, described as a growing chain serving fried chicken, pizza and buffet meals, is remodeling about 13,000 square feet next to Hobby Lobby at Parkdale and plans to open a family-friendly eatery with an arcade. A construction superintendent indicated the restaurant is unlikely to open by the originally planned building handover, which had been scheduled for December.
Belk, meanwhile, is holding a going-out-of-business sale with most merchandise marked down 65% to 75%, and some display areas inside the store are now vacant or covered. The retailer will continue deliveries to the Waco store for an unspecified period before the January closure. Rebecca Wiese said she will miss Belk because it has everything under one roof and she visited at least twice weekly; she returned to Waco from California on a Wednesday and learned the store would close just two days later.
The broader shuffle lands amid what a Waco economic-development page describes as a retail scene that has expanded substantially over the past five years, per Waco Economic Development. Parkdale Commons itself, a 191,559-square-foot center built in 1973, recently sold for $15.4 million, according to REBusinessOnline, which also lists True Value as another tenant alongside dd's Discounts and Drug Emporium.
