Dallas Mayor R.L. Thorton pulled out a huge pair of scissors when he cut the ribbon on the Preston Royal shopping center on July 12, 1956. It was followed by a three-day celebration that was heavily advertised across the city, and the site of the inaugural Miss Preston Royal pageant. It began in the northeast corner of its namesake intersection, later growing to include the northwest side of the street. Original shops included Holiday Cleaning, which used state-of-the-art dry cleaning techniques; Wyatt’s grocery store and Safari Steak House, with its murals of Bengal tigers and cuisines filled with unusual spices. High-end clothing retailer Lester Melnick was the longest standing tenant with more than 40 years at the corner center.
