Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we’re taking another look at what has become the agonizingly slow transformation of Houston’s Raceway stations in 7-Eleven stores. In early 2021 the Raceway/Racetrac affiliation in Houston came to an abrupt end after over 25 years. Initially, the first stores opened were company-owned Racetrac locations. These gas stations specialized in discount private label gasoline, supplemented by streamlined C-Store operations. With locations featuring a small Made to Order grill, in addition to what would be classified as the bare essentials to be considered a C-Store. Prices of C-Store items were not …
Keep readingMonth: January 2022
What going on at West Oaks Mall in 2022? A slow death examined
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re returning to West Oaks Mall, a location that holds a space near and dear in my heart as “my mall” during my teenage years. Anyone living in Houston for more than a bit knows that West Oaks is a riches to rags story. Starting off as an ambitious high-end shopping mall, serving a predicted luxury clientele that never really developed in this part of Houston. The mall was able to reinvent itself multiple times, adjusting to fit the changes this side of Houston felt. West Oaks has seemingly hit …
Keep readingDick’s Warehouse Sale, Grand Opening, Now Closing! With special appearance by Babies ‘R Us!
Howdy folks, welcome back! A few months ago in February, Dick’s Sporting Good’s announced they were planning on expanding a new concept to Houston with Dick’s Warehouse Sale. The location opened in Friendswood on February 17, 2021. According to the original press release, which has since been deleted by Dick’s, the stores were intended to be “temporary pop-up shop” experiences, with discounts up to 70%. I had known about the new store for quite some time, but hadn’t made the time to visit. I happened to be in the area taking other photos, not planning on covering this store but …
Keep readingLove thy HEB Neighborhood Market
These days in Houston a vacant grocery store doesn’t tend to sit for too long. While we don’t have a huge number of chains running around town these days to pickup the empty stores, we do have some independents. Even locations that have hit the end of their useful life as grocery stores, are often converted into other types of stores. We’re a town of opportunity, and lax (not non-existent) zoning laws help allow for easy transitions. However, that’s not to say you can’t find any unoccupied supermarket buildings in Houston. If a building is not being reused there are …
Keep readingVintage Texas Retail Videos in 1080p from the Jones Film Collection
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Those who have been reading Houston Historic Retail for some period of time know that I did a two-part series (Part I and II) in early 2021 about the excellent retail videos available at The Portal of Texas History website operated by the University of North Texas Library. Most of the videos at The Portal were supplied by Dallas-Fort Worth TV station KXAS-TV. Well, another Dallas Metroplex university library, the Southern Methodist University Library, also has a collection of videos in their G. William Jones …
Keep readingIt’s your town Boris! A visit to and the history behind the former Iron Curtain Smashing Randall’s
Howdy folks, today we’re taking a look at what is arguably the most significant grocery store in all of Houston. A humble Lewis Food Town located at 570 El Dorado Blvd, Webster, TX 77598. Starting out as a Randall’s in 1984, this grocery store served an important role only a few years later as an impromptu stop by Soviet politician Boris Yeltsin. Aiming to see how “average Americans” lived, many have drawn a direct line between Yeltsin’s experience and his later role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. We’ll get into the history of it a bit more, but …
Keep readingMacy’s San Jacinto Mall location prepares to close by March for demolition of closed mall
Howdy readers, I have some sad, but not unexpected news today. The end is finally in sight for San Jacinto Mall. While this is a sad day for mall lovers everywhere, this has also been a long time coming, and almost everyone would agree that the property should be redeveloped rather than left to sit in the state it currently does. Originally envisioned back in 1978 by Paul Broadhead & Associates, a mall development company based out of Meridian, Mississippi. Broadhead had already made his mark on malls in Texas during the last decade. Originally getting his start in 1966, …
Keep readingThis former TJ Maxx was once Jumbo!
Howdy Folks, and welcome back! This time we’re talking about a store I don’t know that well. Jumbo Markets is a grocery store that only comes up on occasion in Houston retail history. They were a very small chain, so most people who remember them, either lived or spent time around one of their stores. Only making it to six stores over a time period of about 13 years, Jumbo had lots of missteps in Houston. The average “store life” for the chain was only about 5 years, except for their “Flagship” 10250 Westheimer location that stayed open continuously, as …
Keep readingDemolition Update: Party Boy’s over for 1515 Studemont as 10 and Heights takes over
Preparations are being made to demolish the former Party Boy, party supply store located a 1515 Studemont, on the banks of White Oak Bayou and where it meets I-10. For the better part of the last three decades, Party Boy has been one of Houston’s most prominent party supply warehouse destinations. Those in search of copious amounts of cheap decor, will now have no choice but to turn to Arne’s. Rumors of the property’s redevelopment have swirled since 2017 when the attached haunted house, Nightmare on the Bayou, unexpectedly announced they would not reopen the following season. Party Boy would …
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