Dallas retail reporter Halkias says goodbye

Dallas Morning News retail reporter Maria Halkias, who is retiring after 41 years on the beat, writes about her job.

Halkias writes, “Sometimes stereotypes are true. Dallas is a great place to shop, and it’s also home to some of the nation’s smartest retailers and bravest entrepreneurs. One person could never keep up with all that happens here, even if they get years to do it.

“I spent the past three decades as the retail reporter for The Dallas Morning News, and there was plenty to keep me interested.

“Our grocery competition is the toughest in the nation, giving us some of the best food shopping in America. We also have some of the country’s most successful malls and shopping centers. The mall evolution is still playing out, but shopping centers have reestablished that they’re important to us. NorthPark Center and Highland Park Village — both locally owned and operated — are crown jewels.

“Dallas-Fort Worth has watched homegrown successes become national chains, from Neiman Marcus and Zales Jewelers to 7-Eleven and RadioShack.

“Kip Tindell and Garrett Boone dreamed up the original organization store at The Container Store. Pat Anderson and Ken Gjemre created Half Price Books. Tom Kartsotis’ Fossil made affordable fashion watches a thing. Tom Thumb’s Cullum family taught Sam Walton the grocery business.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.