Year: 2023

2023 The Year of Kroger, and so much more on HHR!

Howdy folks, and welcome to the only publication this week for HHR and the last of 2023. Today, we’re going to take a brief look back at some of the posts we had in 2023 before regularly scheduled programming returns next week in 2024! This was a banner year for Houston Historic Retail. Readership and commenting are up, as is social media engagement. Everything, really! Before we start, I have to give a couple of …

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Seafood City at 15235 Southwest Fwy

Retail News: Houston nets two new Asian grocers on the West Side

99 Ranch Market and Seafood City opened new Houston-area locations last week. Both stores are established specialty Asian grocers based in California, with large followings of loyal fans. While they share many similarities, there are some stark differences between the two chains. 99 Ranch Market is a broad Asian market importing products from many different countries and cultures but mostly focuses on mainland Asia. On the other hand, Seafood City primarily focuses on Filipino products …

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Retail News: Arlan’s Markets purchased by owner of La Michoacana

Rafel Ortega, owner of La Michoacana Meat Market, among other grocery chains,  purchased the 15-store chain last week, according to the Galveston Daily News. Arlan’s was the brainchild of Ames Arlan, who was already a veteran of Cox’s Foodarama when he set out to open his first store in the Seabrook area. For the most part, Arlan’s focused on smaller communities along the South side of the Houston area, taking over when other independent grocers …

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Pasadena Town Square Mall 2023 Update

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re taking a final look for the year at the former Pasadena Town Square Mall. These days known as Marcoplaza Mall, after an ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to rebrand the mall. To recap a small amount of a complex history, Pasadena Town Square took years to come to fruition. The mall was anchored by a Foley’s that was freestanding for years. While the mall was planned …

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This Joe V's building was originally a Service Merchandise

Retail News: Joe V’s holds Katy Grand Opening

Joe V’s Smart Shop opened its first store since 2018 in Northern Katy last week. This new store marks the start of a new chapter for the discount HEB banner. Joe V’s first hit the Houston market in 2010 and has somewhat filled the void left by the discontinuation of Pantry Foods. Joe V’s has become well known in Houston for generally lower prices than a full-line HEB in exchange for some of the amenities …

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Retail News: Big Lots closing Willowbrook store

Discounter Big Lots has recently announced the close of its 7323 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W, Houston, TX 77070 location. The location represents one of three in a 6-mile stretch of 1960 from Jones Road to Veterans Memorial. The store is the newest of the three, opening in 2011 in a former Toys ‘R Us, which had moved to a larger space adjacent to Willowbrook Mall. According to Big Lots, its recent store closures …

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There is no better way to close this series than with some nighttime Art Deco!

The Year of Kroger Closes with a Silver Anniversary Celebration of the River Oaks Art Deco Kroger

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike It is quite hard to believe that the end of the year 2023 is near! This means, of course, that The Year of Kroger series here at Houston Historic Retail is concluding with this post. I’ll reflect on The Year of Kroger series at the end of this post, but first we’ll discuss the …

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Retail News: Honey Farms replaces some Exxon Timewise locations

Editor’s Note: Shoutout to HHR Fan and contributor Jason McMillon, who provided the photos and information for this story! The franchised Timewise Exxon locations in Houston are finally starting to don a new name, Honey Farms. The change was not unexpected and was announced after 64 stations were acquired by Global Partners LP a few months ago as part of a larger shakeup of Timewise, which landed the company in the hands of Shell Oil. …

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A look at NewQuest’s plan to “WoW” Houston

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today, we’re taking a quick look at arguably the most prominent development in Houston right now, West on West. WoW, as it’s abbreviated, is a project spearheaded by local developer NewQuest, which looks to redevelop a forty-year-old shopping center on Westheimer. Their plan came to light over a year ago with the announcement of a new 99 Ranch Market in the shopping center. While the full …

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Retail News: The first Timewise removal appears to be underway

It has been reported to HHR that what is likely one of the first cases of Timewise rebranding is getting underway on the Northwest side of town. The transition is not unexpected and has been openly mentioned since Shell acquired Timewise from local ownership in June 2022. Since Timewise was mainly composed of Shell and Exxon outlets, the company split itself along those lines and sold its 64 Exxon stores to Global Partners earlier this …

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