Six months ago, a Saturday errand loop in Forney meant hitting the Kroger center off FM 548, running to Mesquite for anything the local strip couldn't cover, and calling it a day. That loop is shorter now. A 120-acre retail node at U.S. 80 and Gateway Boulevard has quietly absorbed most of the trips residents used to make out of town, and the openings are stacked so tightly through 2026 that it's worth mapping them out before you plan the weekend.
Here's what has already opened, what to expect between now and the school year, and the one fall opening that changes the character of the whole development.
The February store that shifted the map
The clearest inflection point wasn't a ribbon cutting so much as a delayed one. The opening of the Forney H-E-B store was postponed to Wednesday, February 4. Find out more here. Forney shoppers can set their calendar reminders now: the new H-E-B supermarket location at 11700 US-80 has an opening date. The nearly 140,000-square-foot store is located at U.S. 80 and Gateway Blvd., in the fast-growing Kaufman County city of Forney, about 21 miles east of Dallas. The new store showcases products and services H-E-B customers have come to expect, including a full-service H-E-B Pharmacy with drive-thru, Curbside and Home Delivery service, Wellness Primary Care clinic, and a True Texas BBQ restaurant with drive-thru.
Two details there matter for how residents actually use the store. The Wellness Primary Care clinic means the grocery trip and the annual physical can share a parking lot. The True Texas BBQ drive-thru means the weekday dinner problem has a new answer that isn't a chain sandwich.
What's already open that you might not have tried
The February anchor set the pace. What followed was less dramatic individually but adds up to a real change in the Gateway corridor.
Costco (150 FM 460). The warehouse opened this spring, closing the loop for members who had been driving to Mesquite or Rockwall. Building permits reveal the main warehouse spans approximately 161,000 square feet and cost around $18.6 million to construct. Costco is also building a $3.49 million fuel station at 140 FM 460, featuring multiple gas pumps to serve members. The fuel station is the part locals should note; it's a rare price anchor in a county that mostly buys gas from convenience stores.
BJ's Wholesale Club. The Forney Economic Development Corporation is enthusiastic about the addition of BJ's Wholesale Club, which opened its doors in early 2026, making it the first of several North Texas locations under development by the Massachusetts-based company. Two membership warehouses within a mile of each other is unusual for a city Forney's size, and it's a meaningful signal about how the developer is reading household density.
Home Depot (11350 E U.S. Highway 80). The Home Depot opened on November 13, 2025, at its newest North Texas location in Forney. For homeowners with a spring project list, the drive to the Terrell or Mesquite stores stopped being necessary at the end of last year.
The Peach Cobbler Factory (512 W. U.S. Highway 80). The EDC named it Business of the Month for May 2026. This business, located at 512 W. U.S. Highway 80, opened in April and held a Grand Opening on Sunday, April 26. The menu goes deeper than the name suggests. In addition to peach cobbler, you can order a cobbler of blackberry peach, strawberry peach, mango peach, cinnamon peach praline or blackberry or caramel apple. The Peach Cobbler Factory also prides itself on its banana pudding, which can come in original or many combinations, such as chocolate chip, cherry swirl, bourbon pecan or coconut cream. It's owned and operated locally by Chris and Kametra Barbour.
Mix It Up Creamery. Named the April 2026 EDC Business of the Month, it sits alongside the Peach Cobbler Factory, Crumbl, Nothing Bundt Cakes, and Iced in what's become an unexpectedly deep local dessert bench for a city this size.
Eno's Pizza Tavern. The March 2026 EDC Business of the Month, and one of the few sit-down independents on the growing downtown-adjacent restaurant list.
A calendar you can plan around
Rather than a running list, here's the cadence, organized by when things happened or are expected to happen:
| Timing | Opening | Location |
|---|---|---|
| November 13, 2025 | Home Depot | 11350 E U.S. Highway 80 |
| February 4, 2026 | H-E-B, True Texas BBQ, Wellness clinic | 11700 US-80 |
| March 2026 | Costco warehouse + fuel station | 150 FM 460 / 140 FM 460 |
| April 26, 2026 | The Peach Cobbler Factory grand opening | 512 W. U.S. Highway 80 |
| April 29, 2026 | BJ's Wholesale Club | Village at Gateway |
| Q3 2026 | Ross, Burlington, Rack Room Shoes, Five Below | Village at Gateway |
| Fall 2026 | EVO Entertainment | 1065 Cypress Hollow Drive |
The Q3 additions are the ones to watch through back-to-school season. Expected to open in the third quarter of 2026, newcomers include Ross, Burlington, Rack Room Shoes, and Five Below. These additions will complement an already impressive lineup that features H-E-B, Target, Home Depot, and EVO Entertainment. If you have kids heading back to Forney ISD in August, that quartet is likely to open close enough to the first bell to matter.
The fall opening that changes weekend nights
The single most consequential item on the calendar isn't a store. It's a movie-and-bowling complex with a family history that runs straight through Forney.
EVO Entertainment commenced construction on a new entertainment venue in Forney, marking a significant milestone for the community. The groundbreaking ceremony on January 20 brought together local leaders and stakeholders to celebrate the 82,000-square-foot development, which is set to open in the fall of 2026. The new venue, located at 1065 Cypress Hollow Drive, features nine theaters, including an IMAX® and two EVX® auditoriums, a full-service restaurant and bar, and spaces for events and conferences. Guests can also enjoy a 22-lane bowling alley, over 15,000 square feet of gaming attractions, rock climbing, laser tag, and more.
The Forney connection is the part locals should know about. EVO Entertainment CEO Mitchell Roberts' grandfather Lee Roy Mitchell was founder and former chairman of the board of Cinemark and a Forney native who helped shape the modern cinema industry, making EVO's return to the city a meaningful full-circle moment. A Forney native founded one of the largest theater chains in the world, and his grandson is opening a nine-screen IMAX house on the same soil almost seventy years later. That's not a marketing line; that's a family arc.
For a household that's been driving to Rockwall or Mesquite for a movie, the fall opening cuts the round trip by roughly forty minutes. For teens with no way to fill a Saturday afternoon, a bowling alley plus laser tag plus a ropes course in one building is a genuinely new option.
What this rearranges about a Forney Saturday
Set the retail news aside for a second and picture what a summer Saturday actually looks like now versus a year ago.
A year ago: grocery run at Kroger or Tom Thumb, a drive to Mesquite or Rockwall for anything else, dinner at whatever you could find on U.S. 80, movie in another county.
This summer: H-E-B or the two warehouse clubs for groceries, Home Depot for the project list, Peach Cobbler Factory or Mix It Up for dessert, dinner at Eno's or a True Texas BBQ pickup, and if the timing lands right in the fall, a nine-screen IMAX ten minutes from your driveway.
There's also the medical piece that's easy to miss. Next to the project, Texas Health Resources plans to build a 242,000-square-foot hospital and four-story professional office building on 50 acres immediately west of the development. A hospital campus adjacent to a retail center means specialist visits stop being a Dallas trip, which is the sort of shift that changes how people feel about growing older in a place.
Two things worth marking on the calendar this month
If you already live in Forney, put the June 27 date somewhere you'll see it. The Forney Community Park Independence Day celebration lands on Saturday, June 27, 2026, and the park sits well within walking distance of most of the older subdivisions south of U.S. 80.
The second item is smaller. The Wingstop at 1012 US-80 in the Shoppes at Mustang Crossing is getting a $150,000 refresh this spring. That's a data point about the older retail strip, not the new one. It suggests the existing tenants are reinvesting rather than ceding ground to Gateway, which is a healthier sign for the town's overall retail mix than a single power center dominating everything.
A quick note before you plan around any of it
Opening dates in fast-growing retail centers slip. H-E-B slipped a week. Costco slipped by months against its original 2025 targets. Treat the Q3 dates for Ross, Burlington, Rack Room Shoes, and Five Below as intentions rather than commitments, and check the retailer's own site or the Forney EDC page the week you plan to go.
If you're a Forney homeowner watching all of this land in a single calendar year and wondering what it means for your property's position in the market, that's a longer conversation and one we're happy to have. The Cole Home Team tracks what these openings do to buyer traffic and price bands across Forney's subdivisions in real time. When you're ready to see what your home is worth in a Forney that looks different every quarter, request a free home valuation and we'll walk you through it.
