Celebrity Cafe & Bakery is leaving its Highland Park home after more than 25 years.
Owners Brian and Brittany Livingston, who took over operations in 2014 and purchased the brand in mid-2015, are moving it a mile away to the Shops at Highland Park, near Oak Lawn and Armstrong avenues.
"There is nothing more important for the brand than maintaining a Highland Park location," says owner and CEO Brian Livingston.
Still, a one-mile move might seem far for cookie company regulars.
On a visit to the shop in late 2014, I watched people return to the cafe in a span of two hours to fill up their on their favorite flavored iced tea.
The long-time Highland Park shop is steeped in tradition, best known for its iced sugar cookies, cranberry chicken salad and flavored iced tea.
Livingston says he'd need to pay for a remodel if he kept Celebrity at its original address. "I wasn't sure how economically [a remodel] would work in 800 square feet," he says.
He has now signed a lease with the Shops at Highland Park and plans to move the bakery into a 1,400 square foot storefront in late 2015.
Highland Park Village has recently made relatively big changes: Italian restaurant Patrizio closed after 25 years; the Tom Thumb has been replaced with Royal Blue Grocery; and casual burger place K.T. Burger, from the owners of Katy Trail Ice House, has moved in. A majority of the shopping center is made up of higher-end boutiques such as Jimmy Choo, Tom Ford and Dior.
Ray Washburne, managing partner Highland Park Village, said in a statement, "While we are sad to see our longstanding partners go, we are thrilled that Celebrity Bakery is able to secure more space and continue to develop their thriving business."
The existing Highland Park Village Celebrity Bakery will stay open through the winter holidays.
Livingston plans to stop selling lunch items in November but will continue to sell pies, cakes and those popular sugar cookies until the end of the year.
The new Celebrity Bakery will take over part of the storefront where Dee Lincoln planned to open a casual steakhouse in Highland Park. Celebrity will join a strip center with Carbone's, TJ's Seafood and new Mexican-French restaurant called Madrina expected to open this summer.
The Livingstons also own and operate Celebrity bakeries in Dallas, Frisco and Colleyville. Brian Livingston says he's shopping for shops in Uptown and Plano next.
New Celebrity Cafe & Bakery, expected to open in November 2015: 4260 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas. The existing Highland Park Celebrity Bakery, at 65 Highland Park Village, will stay open until the end of 2015.
