Chuy’s, an Austin-based Tex-Mex restaurant chain, will open Dec. 6 in Longview at 208 E. Loop 281, across from Longview High School.
Brandon Hurdle, local operator for the new restaurant, previously said Chuy’s in Tyler has received many requests for a Longview location.
The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, from 11am-9pm Sunday to Thursday or 11am-10pm Friday and Saturday.
Toy store in the mall
A new toy store has opened at Longview Mall, just in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Toy World opened near the mall’s main entrance as a new venture from the owner of Quilt World, which has been located in the mall since 2019.
David Seaman owns both stores, said manager Mary Parham.
Quilt World started in a 10-by-10-foot tent at Canton’s First Monday Trade Days and has grown to three “major locations” there, as well as locations at Longview Mall and Pierre Bossier Mall in Bossier City, Louisiana. Quilt stores also carry sheets, bags, blankets, and jewelry, and they used to have stocking stuffers.
Seaman started the toy store out of necessity, she said. They were out of the room at the Longview store.
“This is the only toy store we have. We have something of everything,” Parham said.
This includes electronic toys and tea sets, Ty merchandise, hair bows, baby dolls and lots of dinosaur merchandise.
“We’re really big on dinosaurs right now because kids love dinosaurs,” Parham said.
Baking supply store
Shealynn and Jonathan Smith offer gourmet chocolate in expanded colors for candy makers and bakers, as well as candy drops, customizable sprinkles and more at Candy Kaleidoscope in Longview Mall.
Located next to Buckle and across from Journeys, the store will follow normal mall hours, except it is closed on Sundays. Shealynn said she has been a baker and food maker for five years, creating “edible art.” She created her product line to expand the colors and options of chocolate, sprinkles and other items used by bakers and cake makers.
“There was a need in the community for chocolate sprinkles and different colored fondants,” she said.
She said everything is made from scratch, by hand, with custom sprinkles — teddy bears for a baby shower, for example, available to order in the store or online at www.candykaleidoscopebytcc.com/.
“When they come (to the store) they’ll see all 50 colors of chocolate. Even the cake drips and sprinkles will be out, too — pretty much everything we offer,” Shaelynn said.
“The store is primarily designed as a supply store,” showcasing her products. she said. “There are so many different things in the candy world that are hard to find, especially in Longview.”
The store will also offer other tools and supplies, such as cake boards, boxes and edible glitter.
The general store opens
Top Homestead General Store and Market celebrated a soft Thanksgiving opening weekend.
“We’re trying to have an old-fashioned general store that offers a little bit of everything,” Trent Durst said. He and his wife, Leah, opened the store at 9999 US 259 North, just north of Satterwhite Log Homes on FM 1650.
The store’s name is a play on the name of the family’s longtime business, Topp Office Supply, which will move into the same location as the general store in the coming weeks. Topp Office Supply has been in business since 1936.
“A few years ago, Leah and I started dreaming and praying about something new and different for our family,” Durst wrote in a Facebook post announcing the store’s opening. “We decided that we wanted to build a new family business that felt more like a home than a business. We wanted to create a welcoming place where people could come, sit and talk. God took our dream and featured in Top Homestead Store and General Market.”
The store, Durst said, has “a little bit of everything” — toys, cookware, farm and ranch supplies and more. The family also later plans to have cows and chickens and other animals on the property and a vegetable garden so people can see where their food comes from, Durst said. The store will eventually sell meat and vegetables that the family grows on site.
Regular hours are still to be decided, but Durst said it’s likely the general store will be open Fridays and Saturdays throughout the holiday season.
For information, visit the store’s Facebook page at facebook.com/tophomestead.
