Bloomingdale's may have its sights on Dallas, again.

FILE 2005/The Associated Press

In New York, Bloomingdale's holiday windows give pedestrians reason to pause. Dallas is reportedly on a short list for the chain's future expansion, but no local malls would comment.

The upscale brand of Macy's Inc. has been on an expansion path in recent months, opening three stores in California, one in suburban Boston and a fifth next month outside Washington, D.C.

Now Dallas is reportedly on a short list for future expansion, along with Phoenix and Seattle, according to an article Monday in Women's Wear Daily based on an interview with Michael Gould, Bloomingdale's chairman and chief executive.

Bloomingdale's would be making a comeback with a new Dallas store.

It opened its only Texas store in 1983 at Valley View Center and closed it in 1990 after failing to show a profit for years.

Bloomingdale's and Macy's had separate ownership at the time. A J.C. Penney store filled the Valley View space in 1996.

A spokesman for Bloomingdale's wouldn't confirm that Dallas would be in the next batch of new stores.

"Bloomingdale's is performing very well, and we continue to look for good locations for future Bloomingdale's and Macy's stores," said Jim Sluzewski, vice president of corporate communications. "We cannot say anything more specific."

Bloomingdale's sales are expected to hit $2.6 billion this year, and the chain has a goal to grow to $3 billion in the near future.

At a Goldman Sachs-sponsored event this summer, Macy's chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren said the division has benefited from the ongoing strength in high-end retailing.

Bloomingdale's has been experimenting with smaller stores since opening a second Manhattan store in Soho.

Its new Chevy Chase, Md., store is 139,000 square feet, about half the size of its typical three-level mall stores.

Dallas' two upscale malls, NorthPark Center and the Galleria, were mum about a Bloomingdale's return.

Last year, when Macy's was converting 400 department stores that it acquired in 2005 from May Department Stores, a few were reopened as Bloomingdale's. At the time, there was speculation that the Foley's at NorthPark might become a Bloomingdale's. Monday, NorthPark's marketing director, Christine C. Szalay, had no comment about Bloomingdale's search for a Dallas site.

The Galleria is a more likely candidate, local real estate sources said. A spokeswoman for that mall said she couldn't comment.