Blog post and captions written by: Anonymous in Houston Photos taken by: Mike Researched by: Mike & Anonymous in Houston One thing I like to do when I have some free time is to poke around on Google Maps to see if I can spot any interesting retailers in areas that I don’t visit very often. I was recently browsing the Alvin aerial map to see if I could spot anything interesting. For those unfamiliar with Houston, Alvin is a small community in the far southern part of the Houston metro area. I spotted a big box retail looking building …
Keep readingMonth: May 2021
This Week in Demolition: It’s all about location
It’s 2018, you’re a property investor with a dream, of getting in on that sweet Second Ward redevelopment. At this point, some new building has occurred in the area, especially with new bars popping up. Although the area lacks a distinctive style, so you hedge your bets by building what could easily pass as, and may have been an early 20th century home on piers. So why tear it down in 2021? It’s all about location. This is a list of the buildings which received a City of Houston demolition permit the week before this post.
Keep readingExploring Vintage Ads: AIMing For The Best
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston We aim to give you, the loyal reader, nothing but the very best content here at the Houston Historic Retail blog. With that in mind, here is the first entry in what could well be a new series where we will explore some vintage retail ads that are interesting and perhaps even relevant to Houston retail history. I thought it would be a good idea to examine some of the ads in a newspaper issue of the past to see what interesting retail history might …
Keep readingRetail News: Ollie’s Bargain Outlet comes to Houston!
Good Stuff, Cheap will soon be available in Northwest Houston as Ollie’s Bargain outlet prepares to open their first Houston location sometime this summer. While no official statement has been made by the company, a newly hung banner has confirmed online suspicions that an Ollie’s location will soon fill part of the former Target in the Steeplechase Center at the intersection of Jones Road and F.M. 1960. Anonymous in Houston also found online job postings for the new location. This marks the second permanent tenant for the former Target since the store relocated closer to 290 in the early 2000s. …
Keep readingThis Week in Demolition: Photos are key to selling a house
With the recent spike in real estate, and our increased digital browsing, it goes without saying how important photos are to selling a house. They say that photography is all about timing. While this realtor appears to have timed their photos poorly with freeze damaged plants, at least they’ve included pertinent photos. Houses this week are in order of interest. Photo Sources: HAR.com This is a list of the buildings which received a City of Houston demolition permit the week before this post.
Keep readingFeeling square about Jack in the Box’s future
When was the last time you visited Jack in the Box? I recently had a conversation with a coworker about America’s second favorite clown fronted hamburger fast food restaurant. I had dropped by for lunch, that day and my coworker mentioned laughingly mentioned “I remember when Jack in the Box used to be in actual box buildings!” despite an age gap between this person and myself I remarked remembering these stores too. While the specific location I fondly remember, (Mid Lane and Westheimer) has been demolished for several years, the cube stores do live on with the majority still open …
Keep readingWhat was Ashcraft European Bakery?
I was driving through Stafford the other day for an upcoming post, and happened upon a building I didn’t recognize. Generally when I drive around I have a nice mental GPS going, if you will. I can envision what buildings, landmarks, etc.. are coming up and surrounding me. Not an extraordinary feature by any stretch of the imagination but as you can assume retail enthusiasts’ mental GPS’s have far more information related to buildings and landmarks than most other folks around us. That’s why I felt very caught off guard when I saw the Ashcraft European Bakery building. For many …
Keep readingThis Week in Demolition: Living in the shadow of Hope City
This Week in Demolition we see the busiest Non-Residential Demolition list in quite some time! Starting off with smaller news, the original home of C&D Scrap Metal is slated to come down after sitting vacant since the $2 Bills were relocated to Bingle Road in 2016. Towards the center of town we find an unusual address 6100 Main, which any Owl Alums will quickly recognize as home of Rice University. The school announced in April of this year that they plan to replace the Abercrombie Engineering Lab with a new facility. Speaking of rice, our feature this week is the …
Keep readingThrough the Annals: A Guide to Retail History in Annual Reports
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 …
Keep readingRetail News: Bowling closer to returning to former Palace Lanes, and Taco Bueno is back in Pasadena
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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