Kmart Electronics Alcove, 1987

Through the Annals: A Guide to Retail History in Annual Reports

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Researching the operations of a publicly traded company here in the 21st century is most certainly not a very difficult thing.  After all, there are numerous reports about companies available through their own websites and through various websites that can all be accessed very quickly.  However, those who were around before the rise of the World Wide Web might remember that it was quite difficult to obtain information about companies back in the day.  One thing which could be requested from libraries or by contacting …

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Retail News: Bowling closer to returning to former Palace Lanes, and Taco Bueno is back in Pasadena

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Taco Bueno takes over for Krispy Kreme in Pasadena Good Monday to you morning loyal reader! Let’s start off this week off with another edition of Retail News. This first story comes to us from a reader’s tip. Good news to fans of Taco Bueno, if any, because the casual Tex-Mex drive-thru chain is expanding their Houston range even further. Some readers may remember Taco Bueno’s earlier presence in the Houston area which lasted from the 1970s-1980s fondly. While reporting on Taco Bueno’s return to Houston I found the food to be somewhat appetizing, but for the most part rather …

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A gas station will replace this former Foodarama location

This Week in Demolition: So long Safeway, it’s been nice!

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Howdy everyone, this week in demolition we’re spoiled for choice! Not only do we have a good number of interesting homes, but a very interesting store to boot! As this is at heart a retail blog, we’ll start off with our retail based demolitions. The main focus of which is 4805 Old Galveston Road, as pictured below. Many readers may recognize this as a former Safeway, and you are quite correct. The even keener eyed reader may remember its stint as an AppleTree, which is also true. However, today’s focus is on the somewhat special role this store took on …

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Continuing in the area former Midtown Fiesta continues to sit empty, although renovation is supposedly nearly complete.

Random Retail: 4 Gas Stations, and Quite a bit more!

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Welcome back to another post loyal reader! Oh man, it’s really been a while since we’ve done a Random Retail post. For anyone new here, Random Retail is essentially me going through my camera roll and posting anything I had a chance to take a photo of but have not had a chance to post. This quite often proves to be a reader favorite since, you never know what you’ll end up with! Well lets go ahead and dive in! Well folks, it’s been a fun one this week. I hope you enjoyed the excess of photos, stay tuned and …

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Decoding some of the most famous photos of 1980s Wal-Mart on the net!

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Welcome back loyal reader, I apologize for the somewhat clickbaity sounding title this time. However, I promise I have not made any false claims! Let’s start out with a trip down memory lane. A recent conversation with a friend on the topic of early retail history on the net, led me to a site I hadn’t visited in a few years. Pleasant Family Shopping. By multiple accounts this is one of the earliest “pure retail” blogs or websites to gain fame. While other sites did feature malls, they were often focused around those in poor condition like Dead Malls.com (yes …

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This Week in Demolition: Avalon Place’s finest Gregorian

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This week in demolition, not a whole lot is going on! While we have a pretty standard length demolition list, none of the buildings are particularly interesting. Which unfortunately means that I don’t really have a story to tell this week so let’s just get straight into the interesting buildings. First we have this week’s featured home 2515 Reba Drive. This wonderful 1940s Gregorian style two story, has been tastefully updated while keeping much of its original exterior charm. Huge picture windows surround the original fireplace. The only new construction on the house is a one room two story addition …

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