"Years ago, we were asking retailers to consider Lakeside for their first store in the New Orleans market," Tricia Phillpott, regional director of retail leasing for The Feil Organization, told New Orleans CityBusiness in March. "Today, many brands are choosing Lakeside for their first location in the entire Gulf South."
That changes the job of the mall at 3301 Veterans Memorial Blvd. For anyone in Metairie, Lakeside is a short drive. For the brands that opened there this year, it is the one store meant to serve a region. The holiday season that starts in Center Court on November 21 is the first with all of those stores open at once.
Why one store has to cover 60 miles
Mall officials gave CityBusiness a plain explanation. Off-price retail and e-commerce have grown, so many chains have cut how many stores they run in each metro area. They now concentrate on high-performing centers that pull customers from a wider area.
According to the company, recent third-party analysis shows Lakeside drawing visitors from as far as 60 miles away. A typical super-regional mall draws from about 25 miles. Lakeside said changes in shopping patterns after Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic helped speed up that regional reach.
A 60-mile draw explains which kinds of stores open there. A brand that plans to run a single location between Houston and the Florida Panhandle needs a center that people will drive an hour to reach. Phillpott described the goal as "curating a thoughtful mix of sought-after brands and distinctive retailers." The 2026 openings fit that description.
The 2026 arrivals, wing by wing
Lakeside is organized around its anchor wings. Knowing which wing a store is in saves a lap of the building, especially on a crowded Saturday. Here is where the year's new names ended up.
Dillard's wing
- Coach opened March 6, across from Vuori. CityBusiness reported that it is Louisiana's first full-price Coach store.
- Gorjana, the fine jewelry brand, was open next to Vuori by May 1. CityBusiness described the store as part of the brand's expansion across the Gulf South.
Main mall
- Aritzia opened its first Gulf Coast store on August 13, according to CityBusiness. It sells apparel and accessories from the company's in-house labels and offers styling services. The plan announced in March called for a 9,200-square-foot store across from Kendra Scott.
Pottery Barn wing
- Clarks opened on June 26, WGNO reported.
Food court
- Chicken Salad Chick started serving customers on Friday, March 27, per CityBusiness.
Macy's wing
- JD Sports was announced by the mall in August for the space across from Anthropologie, CityBusiness reported. General Manager Lisa Manzella said the store would strengthen the mall's athletic and lifestyle category.
Two of these arrivals are firsts. Coach is the first full-price location in Louisiana, and Aritzia is the first on the Gulf Coast. Gorjana arrived as part of a Gulf South rollout. Each one is the kind of store a shopper from Houma or the Mississippi coast would drive in for. Phillpott's March comments describe exactly that.
The tenants already there made more room
New brands are only half of what changed. Several longtime tenants spent 2026 taking bigger or better space.
- Zumiez moved into part of the spaces formerly occupied by The Royal Standard and The Engraving Co.
- Foot Locker expanded into Zumiez's old location. The full renovation adds about 70% to its footprint. The expanded store now covers 9,332 square feet, CityBusiness reported in May.
- The Royal Standard moved next to Restoration Hardware.
- The Engraving Co. reopened in the P.F. Chang's wing.
Mall officials said the Foot Locker move came after lease renewals and store expansions by Apple and Lululemon. In their words, the relocations let retailers "expand, reconfigure, and enhance their store presence while energizing key areas of the shopping center."
This is the same regional logic from the existing tenants' side. A chain that closes its smaller metro stores tends to put more into the one it keeps. If a store you go to regularly seems to have moved since last December, it probably has. Zumiez and Foot Locker are the two to look for first.
Santa's arrival is Saturday, November 21
The holiday season officially starts at Lakeside with Santa's Arrival Celebration, which the mall's event page lists for Saturday, November 21. The morning runs on a tight schedule:
| Time | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 a.m. | Doors open | Mall entrances |
| 9:30 a.m. | Holiday parade | Starts at Veterans Skylight, ends at Candy Cane Lane in Center Court |
| 10:00 a.m. | Holiday sing-along with Santa and Mrs. Claus | Candy Cane Lane |
| 10:15 a.m. | Santa photos and North Pole Express train rides begin | Center Court |
Rudolph, Frosty and other Christmas characters join the parade. Admission is a $25 family pass covering up to five people. Children age 1 and under don't count toward the five and get in free. Each pass includes train tickets for every child in the group and one food voucher, good at Chick-fil-A, Reginelli's or Café du Monde. Tickets are sold through Eventbrite.
After opening day, both attractions keep running:
- Santa photos are set up near Café du Monde in Center Court from November 21 through December 24. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. You can book a time through Welliver Productions, and walk-ups are welcome.
- The North Pole Express train runs from November 21 through January 3 on the same daily hours. Rides cost $2 each, cash only.
Center Court is where the photo line forms, where the train runs, and where Café du Monde sits. For six weeks, that one spot will hold more people than any other part of the building.
The mall's posted hours
Lakeside's homepage lists regular hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Santa photos and the train follow almost the same schedule, but they close at 7 p.m. every day except Sunday. On a Friday or Saturday, that means the stores stay open an hour after Santa has gone home.
For a family that lives nearby, those hours shape the visit. Santa photos and the train run on weekdays as well as weekends. Because the photos can be booked ahead, a family can plan around them on any day the photo set is open. The new stores are spread across the Dillard's wing, the main mall and the Pottery Barn wing, while the train and Santa stay in Center Court. Splitting a trip by wing keeps the errands away from the busiest part of the building.
We've also covered other changes along Metairie's main roads, including what filled in around the new Porsche dealership on Veterans Boulevard and the Shrine on Airline rebuild. The Feil Organization described the mall's role as serving the region, and in 2026 it signed retailers to match.
At Linda Nguyen, we follow what opens and moves along Veterans because it shapes daily life near the corridor. That includes how close you are to the stores people drive an hour to reach. If you own a home near Lakeside and want to know what it's worth this season, request a free home valuation. We'll walk you through it in English or Vietnamese.
