Meyerland Plaza is one of Houston’s oldest continually operating shopping centers. Opening in 1957 as part of the Meyerland Housing Development it underwent an extensive renovation in the early 90s turning it from a more traditional outdoor mall to a department store anchored shopping center. Only a few original tenants managed to survive to the transition. The renovation added new features such as a second story and a new Venture Department Store. The mall has continued to change over the years and has been rather successful.
Starting off Meyerland has received a new sign. This is the large sign along 610, the previous large neon sign was not original as the first sign supposedly collapsed during Hurricane Carla. I believe the sign change was part of H-E-B’s agreement to become a tenant.Moving along to the front of the plaza Bed Bath & Beyond has shut their Meyerland location leaving a oddly shaped vacancy. This was one of the store to originally include a second floor.When the plaza was renovated the interior walkways were converted to second story loading docks. As such the first floor was given to BB&B, giving the store a T-shape.While some larger fixtures were left behind, it looks like the space was stripped of most everything else including flooring. Within the last few years the second story of most stores had been closed.The large blue skylights give a nice looking light, they’re not particularly stylish compared to more modern shopping centers but make up a large part of Meyerland’s design so hopefully they stick around.To the left this space was most recently occupied by Justice’s a girls clothing store that closed in 2015. By 2018 Navy Federal Credit Union opened in a majority of the vacant space, leaving just this small portion vacant.
The old interior is still in tact with the new bank’s wall running down the middle of the former sales floor.
This space received temporary use as a BBVA branch. Originally occupying the former Meyerland State Bank, the branch (famous for one of Houston’s biggest robberies) was torn down for the new H‑E‑B, where they now lease tenant space.This store was most recently a Motherhood Maternity. It seems to have closed around the end of 2019 as part of a bankruptcy related multiple unit closing.Argenta Silver was a local silver jewelry shop that closed around late 2018. The space has sat vacant since then.Next is Palais Royal which closed within the past few months. This location previously had a second story, some of which was converted to offices and a training center, the entrance to which sits to the left of the store.Inside of Palais Royal one of the interesting features is this hallway which originally provided access to the second story.Moving down the line to JCPenney. While this location is not listed in the closures, I’m not optimistic for Penney’s continued success.This is approximately where the fourth entrance sat, it was pretty well covered up and is only visible by differences in the ceiling.This jewelry case had the tile knocked off exposing the original grout which matched the brown tiles seen at the former Almeda and Northwest Penneys locations.Looking out of the new second story entrance which was added when H-E-B opened. For a look on the other side check out these photos from earlier in the year.These last two photos are from a few days later and show Pier One which was one of the first to close in Houston. It was recently converted into a new Five Below locationPier One and all shops on this side of the plaza were added later after General Cinemas closed their location here.
While Meyerland Plaza has experienced lots of success thanks to proper upkeep and a good mix of stores, they are just as effected by the retail apocalypse as any other shopping center in Houston. With this new loss of anchors hopefully more space will be redeveloped.
May 18th marked the 5th birthday of Houston Historic Retail, The site existed a few years prior as a free WordPress blog. Some readers have been here since day one and I thank you all for your unending support.
Welcome back loyal reader! With the ongoing COVID crisis I haven’t really had any chances to get out and take that many photos. I have made some updates, like new photos of West Oaks Mall, and HEB Pantry Foods, along with new pages like Sunniland Furniture and Luther’s Bar-B-Q. One of the few trips I have taken during this time was out to Shiner, Texas to pick up some custom made masks. On the way there, my wife and I decided to stop in Halletsville for lunch. This was when dine-in was still banned.
Our first choice was Sonic, but we sadly found it out of business.Next on this list was Subway but we found it closed too.Moving forward it looked like even more of the town was closed. This Courthouse Annex started life as a Stanley Supermarket location.After Stanley’s bankruptcy this store was eventually sold to Godwin’s. At some point the county took over the majority of the building, and it looks like the former Subway is next.Driving up the road a bit we eventually saw some signs of like in the form of a Brookshire Brothers and a Division 1 Walmart located side by side.It’s rare enough to find a non supercenter still operating in a town big enough for a full line grocery store. Even more rare was the unprotected Garden Center in the parking lot. Most stores discontinued the use of parking lot garden centers, and the few that keep them only operate seasonally and with a barrier to prevent theft.The Brookshire Brothers location was even big enough to maintain a Connoco with a tiny C-StoreHeading back into town we ended up stopping at Dairy Queen which we had avoided because of the line. In retrospect the line was due to the fact that DQ was basically the only option.Past the classic 3 pole design, this DQ had something unusual about it. Can you spot it?This DQ has a second window! Not just has, but uses. It was tiny and was very obviously created by removing only a few bricks.Upon finally reach Shiner, I didn’t find much of interest to photograph. Although we really just grazed the town. One neat thing was this Subway Cafe, which means they sell extra items, this one also sells Mama Deluca Pizza.
While it wasn’t the grandiose trip we wished for, Shiner was a nice drive out into the country. I have some back-loaded blog posts that will likely be appearing soon. In addition to those keep your eyes out for some themed posts. Until next time loyal reader!
Happy Fourth of July! To celebrate lets check out two chains both on their second run in Houston. Steak ‘n Shake returned to Houston in 2008 with their Eldridge and 1960 location. With the Katy, Pearland, and Webster locations opening 2012-2013. The previous incarnation of Steak n Shake dated from the mid-1970s and would only last until 1978. While I was never able to find an exact reason for them leaving Houston, it seems that lack of proper management was the largest cause.
The signs had been removed completely by July 2ndWhile the Katy location has already been leased to Eggcellence I haven’t been able to visit Pearland or Webster to see their fate.
The second run of Steak ‘n Shake is deffinetly the winner for overall length, but there are gaps when the stores closed usually around a few months at a time. There were even times when signage was removed from the building in an attempt to lease but no tenants were found. While COVID has given major issues to many restaurant chains, Steak ‘n Shake was circling the drain before any of this began. For a while now, the company has tried to convert locations from corporate ownership, to franchises with many stores sitting empty awaiting a new fate.
The building is in rough shape, and looked this way prior to closing.The closing was hasty, with menus being left in place and only handwritten signs informing customers.
Right across I-10 from the former Steak’n Shake is where Taco Bueno has decided reentered the Houston market. As previously mentioned this is the second go around for Taco Bueno in Houston. In the 1980s the chain opened a small number of locations around Houston. These buildings had very striking adobe style architecture, with some former locations maintaining their themeing.
The Carl’s Jr sign was reused with the star extension removedThe exterior elements like the stars around the build were sanded away, and the entrances received new stone facadesMuch of the inside of the restaurant remains the same, including the soda fountain, which still has all the same drink selections.All the read themed seating was left in place, and after a much needing cleaning actually looks pretty nice.
Carl’s Jr. leaving the Houston area happened in a similar manner to Steak ‘n Shake, a few months ago. It’s also worth noting that while Taco Bueno was once associated with Carl’s Jr. this ended about 20 years ago. Hopefully Taco Bueno will be successful, but only time will tell, and with the current pandemic this may be a challenge.
Check out Houston Historic Retail on Facebook for updates: https://www.facebook.com/HoustonHistoricRetail
Today we say goodbye to the Spring Break Demolition Report, with a palty list of 3 demolitions. Saying goodbye doesn’t mean that I wont ever do this again. I anticipate a repeat next Spring Break, this was never meant to be a permanent solution but a tiding over. If you enjoyed this or not, let me know, I always appreciate feedback.
The feeder is where a neighbor’s house once stood. This development predates I-10 by about 15 years.
This is a list of the buildings which received a City of Houston demolition permit the day before this post.
Based on the feedback from my last attempt at a Demolition Report, there seems to be a good amount of support for inclusion of residential properties. As of Friday I’m going to attempt a Daily Demolition Report over the remainder of Spring Break.
This is a list of the buildings which received a City of Houston demolition permit the day before this post.
The famous Cypress of Lebanon don’t have anything on the cabinets in the very 60’s kitchen.
Starting off Meyerland has received a new sign. This is the large sign along 610, the previous large neon sign was not original as the first sign supposedly collapsed during Hurricane Carla. I believe the sign change was part of H-E-B’s agreement to become a tenant.
