For those in the know of Speedway, the Houston area isn’t a market you’d expect to find the chain in. Even after an aggressive expansion campaign that landed the chain with a handful of stores in and around El Paso, H-Town is far from Speedway’s turf. The reason for the location of the store is due to the previous parent company of Speedway, Marathon Oil. The first Speedway to be built in Texas actually dates all the way back to the previous Melinium, yes 1999. When Speedway opened its first location outside of the Midwest, a Travel Center conveniently located …
Keep readingMonth: April 2022
Fishing Tackle Unlimited closing means the end for this historic former Sugar Land Grocery Store
Fishing Tackle Unlimited, the Fishing Superstore, located just outside the entrance to the Sugar Creek Neighborhood, has recently closed. While I’m not sure exactly when the store shut down, it seems to have been sometime in early April of this year. Fishing Tackle Unlimited is hardly the first tenant here, but it has done a great job of preserving the history of an important building in the area. For many years, this was one of the only grocery stores in this part of Fort Bend County. Located at 13833 Southwest Fwy, Sugar Land, TX 77478 plans for a grocery store …
Keep readingRetail News: Burlington likely to move out of Almeda Mall and Ollie’s makes plans for Friendswood Babies ‘R Us
Welcome to Retail News: This week we learn about a big tenant loss for Almeda Mall, a new Ollie’s Bargain Outlet pops up in a familiar location! Almeda Mall Burlington is likely to close as a new nearby store is being planned The Burlington (Coat Factory) at Almeda Mall has operated at Almeda Mall for just shy of 15 years at this point. The store opened in 2009 replacing JC Penney after they chose to relocate in 2006. While ambitions seemed to be for the space to end up subdivided between multiple tenants, only Burlington ever occupied the space. Their …
Keep readingThe World’s Largest Dollar Store, was once located in a former Houston Target
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston, GIANT, Historic, Retail! Today we’re taking a look at a bold claim, a store that was indeed once the largest Dollar Store in the World! First, let’s start off by trying to quantify this claim. We’re going to limit this challenge to the United States, not because the Dollar Store concept doesn’t exist in other countries, but rather I don’t want to deal with all that exchange rate and metric conversion nonsense… Anyways, the claim made by our friend “Giant $” pronounced “Giant Dollar” is that they are the largest dollar store in …
Keep readingZombie Sears Pasadena Texas: All stocked up, with no one to shop
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Your blogging source for all things retail in Houston! Today, we return to the Sears Hometown where these horrible conversions all started. The former Marcoplaza Mall Sears reopened as the first example of a Sears Hometown Store in a closed Mainline store only a few months ago in late 2021. At the time the store was pathetically stocked, using a bit of leftover shelving to form somewhat of a barrier. Only maybe 1/8 of the original store space was used, and there was no way to get into the mall from …
Keep readingRetail News: Axiom Space to redevelop former Fry’s in Webster property and an NYC Chain chooses Pearland for their next location
Howdy folks and today we’ve got news! A former Fry’s Electronics space in Webster seems to be living up to its design scheme as a future part of the space race. On the same side of town, an NYC-based Korean Corn Dog chain is making its debut outside the Big Apple, in our Little Pear. Fry’s Electronics in Webster is being built out by Axiom Space In a move that no one could have directly predicted, the former Space Station-themed Fry’s Electronics in Webster appears to be part of a new development related to Private Space Station builder, Axiom Space. …
Keep readingA guess at why Circle K has had trouble lately in Houston
Howdy folks and I’m glad you’ve found yourself back at HHR. Today we’re talking about what’s likely to become a local issue within the next few years, the underperformance of Circle K. Depending on your age, you may remember the giant red K’s, first go at Houston. Despite being founded in El Paso during the 1950s, Circle K has never had an easy go of Houston. Their first attempt at expanding here started in 1983 with their purchase of U-Tote-M Food Stores, from an insurance company that had purchased them as an investment. However, the iconic Totem Poles weren’t immediately …
Keep readingCould Houston’s oldest Safeway locations date back to the 1950s?
Howdy folks, welcome back to HHR. Today we’re dipping out of Houston proper for the quick drive over to central Pasadena, no not to make fun of the Sears Hometown in the old mainline store there, (that update will be coming soon). Rather, we’re checking out a building I have passed up many times when it was masquerading as a Value Village. However, after a new business popped up inside I took the chance to stop by and visit what is one of the Houston area’s oldest unmodified Safeway stores. Located at 2127 Southmore Ave, Pasadena, TX 77502 Store Number …
Keep readingRetail News: Randall’s in Sugar Land prepares to close as Sam’s Club in West Houston prepares to reopen
Edit: 5/3 Interested in following the status of the remaining Randall’s in Houston, then consider following Houston Historic Retail on Facebook or subscribe via email for updates! Welcome back to Houston Historic Retail, for another Retail News brief! This week we have some bad news for Randall’s fans and some good news for bulk shoppers on the West Side. Randall’s in Sugar Land prepares to close The headline this week is the announcement that Albertsons plans to shut their Randall’s location at 3346 Hwy 6 S, Sugar Land, TX 77478. The store which opened on November 14, 1982, traces its …
Keep readingWalgreens as a Family Dollar, now that’s more like it!
Howdy folks and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. A little while back we took a look at a Walgreens that’s now stunting as a Dollar Tree. Based on your reactions, and overall view counts, we didn’t like it. So this week we’re instead trying out another former Walgreens. This time under the other side of the “Dollar Family Tree”. This Missouri City Walgreens originally opened in 2004 at 3403 Texas Pkwy, Missouri City, TX 77489. A nice-looking freestanding location it was not actually brand new, but instead, a replacement for a shopping center-based location after Randall’s left Missouri City …
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