Barton Creek Square's holiday season this year is centered on one spot. That spot is the lower level, around the Care Bears Play Area. Levi's opened there this summer. Santa set up in front of it on November 7. Both special Santa events on the December calendar are booked for the same patch of floor. The bigger names announced for the mall at 360 and MoPac are still behind construction walls or listed as "Coming Soon." The most talked-about of them, UNIQLO's first Austin store, is now on the calendar for 2027.
Barton Creek neighbors use this as their nearest mall, so that changes how you plan December. The new mall you've been reading about since last fall is mostly a 2027 mall. The one you'll walk into this season is smaller, aimed at families, and centered on a play area that opened in January.
Everything New Sits Near the Care Bears Play Area
The Care Bears Play Area opened at Barton Creek Square in January 2026. Community Impact reported it as the first Care Bears Play Area in the U.S. It sits on the lower level near Pandora.
Six months later, the mall's main new apparel tenant opened right across from it. Community Impact reported in late June that Levi's was expected to open July 3 on the lower level, across from the Care Bears Play Area. Simon's homepage for the mall now advertises it as "Now Open."
Then the holiday setup landed in the same place. Santa's spot is on the lower level in front of the Care Bears Play Area, according to Simon's Caring Santa listing. So a holiday trip with kids now starts and ends on one stretch of the lower level. It has a play area, a Santa line and a new denim store within sight of each other.
The Smaller Openings Filled In Around That Core
The past year at Barton Creek Square brought a steady run of small openings rather than one big anchor change. These are open as of the mall's current listings and local reporting. Each comes with the neighbor that helps you find it:
- Pastissimo, a custom pasta bowl counter from AMC, opened November 15, 2025, per Community Impact's January roundup.
- Purificación García opened November 29, 2025, next to Michael Kors.
- Steel N Ink opened December 12, 2025, next to Sephora.
- Mavi Jeans opened December 22, 2025, next to Altar'd State.
- Hello Sweetie, a gift and candy shop, opened August 3, 2026, according to Community Impact's August business update.
- Fresca Palapa, a Mexican drinks and snacks counter in the food court, soft-opened in September, per Community Impact's October update.
Four of those six opened in the last six weeks of 2025, so this is the first full holiday season for most of them. None is a destination store on its own. Together they fill out a trip built around the lower level. You can pick up a candy stocking stuffer, grab a drink at Fresca Palapa in the food court, and a gift errand doubles as a stop for the kids.
The Big Names Are 2027 Stories
The headline tenants are on a slower schedule.
UNIQLO. The Austin American-Statesman reported in October 2025 that UNIQLO planned its first Austin store at Barton Creek Square. The Statesman cited a $2.4 million, nearly 18,000-square-foot buildout estimated to finish in early September 2026. Then the retailer changed its own timeline. UNIQLO's 2026 U.S. store openings page now carries this line:
"6/1/26 Update: Now opening in 2027: Austin: Barton Creek Square — 2901 S Capital of Texas Hwy"
The state filing points the same way. The project registered with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation covers a 17,953-square-foot tenant improvement in Space #LO1E. It lists an estimated cost of $2,400,000, notes the tenant is paying for it, and carries a construction completion date of April 30, 2027. That date marks the end of construction. It is not an opening day, but it places UNIQLO's arrival well past this holiday season.
Chubby Cattle. This all-you-can-eat wagyu concept first showed up on Barton Creek Square's coming-soon lists in 2024. Community Impact reported in April 2026 that it was opening "this summer." The company's own July 2026 post said a concrete opening date was still to come. Simon's directory still lists it as "Coming Soon."
Teso-X. This is the newest name on the list. Community Impact announced it for the mall in its October 15 update. Its TDLR filing describes a 3,780-square-foot project with construction scheduled from October 30, 2026, to January 30, 2027. Construction on that schedule runs through all of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Christmas.
So the 2026 additions are small-format shops plus one play area. The construction filings for the two larger projects show completion dates of January 30 and April 30, 2027.
A Holiday Calendar Built Around One Spot
Today is Thursday, November 12, the last of four weekdays when Santa photos are closed. That break ran November 9 through 12, right after Santa's opening weekend. Photos pick up again tomorrow. Here's the season as Simon has posted it:
- Friday, November 13. Santa photos resume, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Through November 19, weekday hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays noon to 6 p.m.
- Friday, November 20, through Wednesday, November 25. Santa hours stretch to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Monday through Wednesday. Saturday, November 21, runs 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, November 22, runs noon to 6 p.m.
- Thursday, November 26. The mall and Santa photos are both closed for Thanksgiving.
- Friday, November 27. The mall opens at 6 a.m. for Black Friday and closes at 9 p.m. Santa photos run 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Sunday, December 6. Caring Santa, a sensory-friendly session, runs 10 to 11:30 a.m. Reservations are required.
- Sunday, December 13. Pet Photos with Santa runs 6 to 8 p.m. My Neighborhood News reported that reservations aren't required.
- December 19 and December 21 through 23. The mall stays open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Thursday, December 24. Christmas Eve hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and it's Santa's last day of the season.
- Friday, December 25. The mall is closed.
Both special Santa events are set for the lower level in front of the Care Bears Play Area. Levi's is right across the way. If you're doing a family photo and one real errand in the same trip, the whole plan fits on that one stretch of floor.
Picking Your Window
The posted hours show the calmer stretches. The week of November 16 is the last run of regular 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekday Santa hours before the Thanksgiving extensions start. Sundays keep the shortest Santa hours through the end of November, noon to 6 p.m. on November 15 and 22 and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on November 29. If you have a child who does better without the full mall around them, the 90-minute Caring Santa session on December 6 is a reservation-only option.
Simon's Santa and mall-hours pages are live schedules without publication dates, so check the Santa photo page and the mall hours page the morning you go.
For anyone who lives in Barton Creek, Rollingwood or West Lake Hills, the coming months at this corner have a clear shape. This December's mall is the Care Bears corner and a handful of small shops. Teso-X's construction window closes January 30, and UNIQLO's state filing lists April 30, 2027, as its construction completion date. UNIQLO has said only that its store opens in 2027.
We track what's changing around 360 and MoPac the same way we track pricing in the neighborhoods next to it, by the dates on file, not the announcements. If you're wondering how this corner and the rest of the area figure into your own home's numbers, Propertysmith Realty can walk you through it. Request your personalized home valuation.
