Houston Historic Retail

I’ll start by admitting my own bias: I’m not a fan of Aldi. While they certainly know their business, I much prefer Joe V’s or WinCo (when available) in the discount grocer segment. While I could, and potentially should one day fill a post with my criticisms, for the purposes of this article, I’ll keep my bias to a minimum. Aldi hasn’t opened a new store in Houston in the past five years, putting them …

Based on permits filed this week, Mi Tienda may be headed for Sharpstown. Mi Tienda is a Hispanic-oriented grocery store chain run by HEB, with two current locations, both in the Houston area. The filings provide an address of 7140 Southwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77074, which does not correspond to any existing structure and is shown on Google Maps as the same parcel as PlazAmericas Mall, formerly known as Sharpstown Mall. While this vague address …

Happy blog-a-versary, HHR Readers! HHR is turning 12 this year. I want to use this post to commemorate that, and give you all a bit of a behind-the-scenes update. The last year has been a busy one, and some of you may have noticed that content creation has slowed down a bit. While we’ve been getting regular blog posts, I’ll be the first to admit new permanent pages have been a second priority lately. Part …

Mexican retailer Parisina recently opened its first Houston area store in a former Joann Fabrics location, and it’s good news for those longing the loss of their favorite fabric store. The store located at 25415 Interstate 45 N, Spring, TX 77380 closed as Joann about a year ago, and Parisina opened earlier this week. While not a well known name in the US, Parisina is the largest fabric retailer in Mexico with over 600 locations. …

A recent comment I received on Facebook stated: “The death of Randalls should be studied for future generations.” Well, good news, I’ve already studied it! At nearly 7,500 words (about 20 printed pages), the Randalls Food Markets page is one of the projects I’m most proud of on HHR. It gained enough traction to catch the attention of Randall Onstead a few years back, who invited me to his office to meet him and discuss …

Let’s start today with a question: how many independent supermarkets does Houston have left? I was asked this a short while ago on Facebook, and the answer I came up with is around 50, according to my definition. So what exactly counts as independent in my book? Well, let’s start with the simplest terms: they’re independently owned and do not have a specific niche. This creates a broad category but immediately eliminates a few contenders, …

The Target located on Eldirge Parkway between Westheimer and Richmond Ave is currently closed after a fire was reportedly lit in the store earlier this week. According to KPRC’s Gage Goulding, Harris County Constables found signs of forced entry into the store late Sunday evening, after Target had closed for the night. Presumably in response to a burglar alarm, the police found evidence of forced entry at the front of the store. They entered the …

Howdy folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re trying to preserve some photos of what I’m guessing will not be a permanent partnership, the alliance between Best Buy and IKEA. We’re taking a look at the Best Buy in Humble. This location was one of ten selected last year to try out this crossover. The basic version of this is that IKEA has set up plan and order centers at a handful of Best …

If you took a snapshot of Houston’s Asian retail scene even just 10 years ago, it was largely dominated by Chinese and Vietnamese stores. Since 2016, that has slowly been changing, and while Japanese retailers are still “playing catch-up,” they have a much stronger foothold than they did even just 10 years ago. Today, we’ll be focusing on Seiwa Market, Houston’s premier Japanese supermarket. Before we dive too deep, though, I think it’s worth noting …

7 Brew will soon move into the former Salad & Go located at 3000 N Durham Dr, Houston, TX 77018, according to permits filed by the drive-thru coffee shop. The Arkansas-based company, founded in 2017, first expanded to Texas in 2023 and has used a careful approach to selecting smaller towns and the outskirts of cities to establish itself against better-known competitors like Starbucks and Dutch Bros. This new location will be a slight departure …