Dallas Cowboys Leave Valley Ranch Offices, and Nearby Businesses See Big Hit In Their Bottom Line

The Dallas Cowboys have officially closed their doors at their Valley Ranch headquarters.

Several moving trucks left the facility Friday afternoon.

Jerry Jones has had his teams offices there for 30 years.

Now, Valley Ranch residents and business owners are coming to terms with a future without America's Team in their backyard.

"We are going to miss them, and when I have family come into town they loved to see them practice," said Valley Ranch homeowner Sharon Fullmer, who lives down the street.  "But we won’t miss the traffic."

She said it felt cool to live so close to America's Team, and it made her home a popular destination for out-of-town guests.

"I have an aunt who is a huge Cowboys fan and she lives in Utah and when comes into town, the very first thing she wants to do is see the Cowboys practice," she said. "So yeah, we are sad to see them go."

Overall, it hasn't been a great year for Irving sports. The Cowboys organization is now gone; and the countdown is on until the Byron Nelson golf tournament leaves in three years.

But the mayor said the city's future is in entertainment, food, and business -- and the best days are still to come.

"With every close of a door, we always look for the opening of a window. And we’re really looking at this an opportunity for that entire area," said Mayor Beth Van Duyne.

For nearly 15 years, Allison Emami has cleaned the clothes of countless Cowboys.

She's the owner of Tuscan Dry Cleaning on MacArthur Boulevard, just a Tony Romo touchdown pass down the street from the team's old headquarters.

"It’s going to hit the business hard," she said. "They used to come over here all the time, they were some of my best customers, and we are sad they’re moving."

"Between the players and the coaches and the office workers, they probably accounted for 15,16 percent of my business," she added, noting that it's a "big loss."

To make up the difference, Emami plans on more direct-mail advertising and coupons, and hopes positive word-of-mouth will bring new customers.

A few of the Cowboys coaches came earlier this week for one last cleaning order.

"Some of them come over here and they say goodbye, and they left. We're going to miss them dearly," she said.

Van Duyne refused to say she's sad about the Cowboys move to Frisco. She's said she's not angry either. Instead, she's focused on the future. 

"It's a new chapter. I focus on that it's a new chapter in Irving's history," she said.

She points to her excitement about the $173 million Irving Music Factory complex, which is now under construction and set to open in less than a year.

The Music Factory will  have an 8,000-seat concert arena, and 30 other restaurants, clubs, shops and a Alamo Drafthouse cinema.

Also ahead for the city is a planned 158-acre mixed office-and-residential project with more than three million square feet of space.

Verizon wants to bring 10,000 employees to the development once it's completed.

"There's a lot going on in the city of Irving, and there's millions of dollars being spent on investment in the city for these new developments," Van Duyne said. "They're bringing in tens of thousands of potential new job opportunities; and places for people to live, work, play, shop, and eat."

The mayor said she wants to see the Valley Ranch offices turned into single-family housing. With thousands more jobs coming here, Van Duyne said housing is in big demand.

And even though the Cowboys are gone, dry cleaning owner Emami said they're definitely not forgotten.

"I'm sad, but I'm definitely still a Dallas Cowboys fan," she said with a laugh. "Forever."