Houston Historic Retail

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re taking a trip all the way up to Splendora to check out Archie’s Food Basket, which is not actually a taxidermy hall of fame but could quickly become one! Before we dig in, let’s go over the brief history I found. Archie’s opened around 1985 but has older roots in the community. It all started with a single superette in Splendora purchased by Archie Barrilleaux. The …

Nordstrom’s off-price division, Nordstrom Rack, will open a new store tomorrow at 10885 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77042. This will mark the chain’s 7th location in Houston, opening about 5 months after the most recent store in Meyerland Plaza. This new store, the first on Houston’s westside, helps close a gap left after Syms, a similar off-price designer store that sat catty-corner from the Westchase Shopping Center, closed in 2011. The new store will also …

They say a picture is worth a thousand words; maybe a thousand years from now, these pictures will be worth a few words. Right now, they hold far less value as they depict something that any Houstonian driving by has become accustomed to. A massive retail store sits on its own at a major interchange. However, it wasn’t meant to be this way. This Bass Pro Shop is the crown jewel of a multi-decade plan …

Massive Houston-based wholesaler Sysco is reportedly working on a new concept named Sysco To Go. According to a Reddit post, it will be a “restaurant club”. Construction work has been ongoing for the past few months at the former Town & Country Bed Bath & Beyond. According to the architectural plans linked in the post, this will be a grocery retail operation featuring walk-in coolers and curbside pickup. While its name entails that this will …

A Kroger location at 6700 Woodlands Pkwy, The Woodlands, TX 77382, will close by May 6th. The store has been the anchor of the Sterling Ridge Shopping Center since it opened in December 2000. Kroger and Randalls initially dominated The Woodlands; however, by 2004, an HEB opened across the street from this location. In 2012, Trader Joe’s entered the Houston market with a store catty-corner to Kroger. Kroger has not expanded on why this location …

Big Lots’ final Houston area locations, which included one each in Houston, Pasadena, Cloverleaf, and Humble, finally concluded their going-out-of-business sales at the end of last week. With this move, Big Lots has officially exited the Houston area and has gone to join the other great discounters in the sky. They entered Texas in 1995 and significantly expanded their reach by purchasing a competing closeout chain, MacFrugals (formerly Pic’N’Save), in 1998. Big Lots had been …

According to reader reports, local chain Food Town closed its long-standing outpost at 9520 Jones Rd, Houston, TX 77065, this past weekend. This store faced intense competition from HEB and Kroger directly across the street, and an Aldi less than a block away. The corner has long been a grocery-heavy intersection, with a similar battle between what was at the time a Randalls, and Kroger, scaring away a proposed Safeway in the 80s. In 1992, …

Two weeks ago, HHR reported on the status of craft and fabric retailer Joann. Even then, things didn’t look great, with four of the nine locations across the greater Houston area scheduled to close. The company was restructuring during bankruptcy and was looking to sell what remained of the chain to either a competitor or an investment firm intending to run the stores. However, no such deal was made, so Joann will close all its …

The Houston-based Timewise convenience store chain has quietly been expanding into food service. Over the past few months, a pilot that started last year as a Timewise in Katy has expanded to multiple stores across the Houston area. The first store to undergo a conversion was at 23007 FM 529, Katy, TX 77493. This gas station opened in 2019 as an Exxon-branded Timewise and was one of a handful to be converted to Shell in …

Hola, y bienvindios a Houston Historic Retail! Today, we are finally getting to Mi Tienda, HEB’s smallest banner. If you’re a regular HEB shopper, you might recognize the Mi Tienda name without ever being at one of their stores. Mi Tienda has evolved from just a banner into an entire brand, and I feel it is a worthy entry into the HHR blog. However, before discussing the store, let’s discuss the site’s history. Located at …