Houston Historic Retail

An iconic store closed last month, as Food Town shut down their outlet at 570 El Dorado Blvd, Webster, TX 77598. The store started as a Randalls and was famously visited by Boris Yeltsin in 1989. The stop was impromptu and was requested by Yeltsin after a planned trip to the nearby Johnson Space Center. Yeltsin wanted to see a “typical” American grocery store, and what he found shocked him. The store was fully stocked, …

The sign from the former N Shepherd Sears is all that remains of a once-great retail site. The land on which the store sits is undergoing the first stages of redevelopment and is slated to become a mixed-use property. The sign, which initially served as a bus stop for the Sears store, spared the wrecking ball, much to the delight of preservationist neighbors, when the building finally came down last year. However, new development documents …

Macy’s has announced they will close the Almeda Mall location sometime this year. This closing includes 65 other stores across the U.S. and is part of a plan to cut 150 stores by the end of this year. The store initially opened as a Foley’s in 1966. Almeda Mall and its twin Northwest Mall were first proposed by Foley’s, although developed by another company. The closing has been a standard prediction for Houston since Macy’s …

A popular thrift store at 1811 Gessner Rd, Houston, TX 77080, has a new name, Value World. The thrift store remains under the same ownership as it had under the name Value Village. This is presumably a move by the company that owns the stores officially named “Mercantile Thrift Stores” to align their operations in Houston with their locations in Ohio and Michigan. The company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1955 and expanded to …

Howdy folks, welcome back to HHR, and Happy New Year! Today, we’re looking at the best-preserved example of a chicken chain that flew the coop in Houston just about four years ago. PDQ landed in Houston in 2015 as part of an aggressive expansion campaign for the still-new chicken restaurant. This location at 9440 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77055, was the first to open in the area of many planned. The concept was born in …

Howdy folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re going to take a look at the Brookshire Brothers in New Caney. For those of you already asking, “Didn’t that store close?” Yes, it did, but there is a successor! While it has a Tobacco Barn sign-up, this location is quite more than just that; it also has a fascinating history. Brookshire Brothers started in New Caney in 1982, with the construction of a new store …

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re taking a look at an interesting Fiesta. This location at 20331 FM 529, Cypress, TX 77433, was the final location to open with any direct input from much of the original staff. This store opened in January 2015 and was one of the last moves from Grocers Supply Co. before Fiesta was sold to an investment firm later that year. This location was an odd duck …

The Kroger-Albertsons merger ended in a somewhat surprising development last week when Albertsons, seemingly unhappy with a lack of progress, terminated the merger from their end and, shortly after, announced plans to sue their proposed partner. As part of the merger, Kroger and Albertsons had to create a list of stores to divest to present to the FTC. This list included 26 stores in Texas. A mix of Tom Thumb, Albertsons, United, and Randalls locations, …

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we’re looking at something that seems a bit mundane but is actually quite special. Located at 9669 FM 1960 W, Humble, TX 77338, this is technically Houston’s newest Big Lots, but the history of this building interests me. As keen-eyed readers have likely already noticed, this Big Lots juts right up to a Sam’s Club in an unusual setup. While this isn’t the only Sam’s …

About a month ago, Advance Auto Parts announced they intended to close 523 locations in response to poor earnings. While the plan is not set to be complete until 2027, HHR has identified six locations soon to close within the Houston area. These stores were part of 16 locations across Texas, which had WARN notices issued last month. The ten other stores are spread across the DFW area. All locations visited by HHR were confirmed …