This Week in Demolition, we take a moment to reflect on a tragedy just over a year later, the special houses this week will be in the second paragraph. On January 24, 2020 a deadly explosion occurred at the Watson Grinding Facility in Spring Branch. Two employees were immediately killed by the blast, and a third man who lived near the facility died later from injuries related to flying debris. Sadly most neighbors were unaware …
Read moreYear: 2021
Sunoco’s attempt at earning their Stripes
In this fast-paced world of corporate acquisitions it sometimes gets confusing as to who owns what. Family owned concerns are getting harder to find as time goes on, often selling to firms promising an investment that never comes. Stripes was no stranger to all this confusion, having gone from arguably the strongest independent chain in Texas to a subsidiary of 7-Eleven in the short span of only 3 years. Stripes started out as a family …
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This Week in Demolition: A philanthropist’s River Oaks Mansion and an abandoned Federal Building
This Week in Demolition, we’re spoiled for choice! Let’s start out with some houses of note. Our most expensive residential demolition of the week is no doubt 3315 Del Monte. Located in the heart of old River Oaks this 1960s mansion is not original to the neighborhood. It was built by Albert Alkek, one of the early pioneers of the Texas petrochemical industry being involved early on with Sinclair oil. After Mr. Alkek and his …
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Whos been painting Eckerd?
Remember Eckerd? Sure you do, it was the second largest pharmacy chain in the United States at one point! And its blue and white color scheme with purple, red, and gold accents are peak “90s aesthetic”. Even if you’re not familiar with the store, you’e likely to agree they looked awesome! Eckerd stores looked nice, had locations nearly from coast to coast and were all unfortunately doomed. This was largely due to the 1996 merger …
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Walgreens and Village Medical a match made in Houston
Did you know over the past year, Walgreens has been using Houston as a test market for a new store type? The announcements for the new stores were quiet, but the concept has made a huge impact. Growing up in and around Houston, most folks were very familiar with their neighborhood drug stores. In some neighborhoods it’s one of the closest options to a grocery store, and sometimes the only option. Even out in the …
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This Week in Demolition: A former bank on a historic downtown plot
You can now subscribe to receive post updates via email. This can be done via the Subscribe box to the right of this post on the desktop version, and below the post on mobile. Thanks! This week in Demolition, we see multiple interesting demolition permits filed. Starting off with some of the more interesting houses we have 1149 Waverly an interesting 1920s cottage (no interior photos sadly!) in the Heights, also in the Heights a …
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Goodbye Fry’s!
Think back to your formative years on computers. If you’re anywhere close in age to me, then these years span a wide timeline of operating systems from early memories of basic commands in Windows 3.1, ending during the time of Windows XP. I have lots of early computing memories which beyond screeching dial up noises involves going to stores like CompUSA, Best Buy, Microcenter, and on one occasion a trip to Incredible Universe. Unfortunately, these …
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This Week in Demolition: Things start to get back to normal with a 30s bungalow in Upper Kirby
Before we start if you’re interested I now have a way to subscribe to my blog via email. There is a box in the sidebar you can input your email. If you’re on mobile scroll to the bottom of the page to find it. This week in demolition things start to get back to normal. I hope you’re seeing a return to normalcy for you and yours as we transition back into everyday life. Our …
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Geoffery’s Bargain Box of Toys: The Toys “R” Us Concept you probably never saw
On the heels of Toys “R” Us second departure from the Houston area (which I unfortunately have no photos of). I wanted to take a look at a store that TRU opened in Houston only months before their bankruptcy. You might be thinking, oh I already know all about Geoffrey’s Toy Box, however that was deployed post bankruptcy! You might even think, oh well duh everyone knows about the rural, child-sized Wal-Mart stores simply named …
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When Kid’s Meals came with records
Good morning! This week in demolition, we don’t really have any demolitions. With Winter Store Uri, City of Houston permitting offices were closed most of the week so only 2 new permits were issued. Both small houses with nothing very significant about them. However just because we don’t have a demolition post doesn’t mean we can’t have Monday content! So today I want to show you one of the cooler items in my collection of …
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