Year: 2023

Before H-E-B, before Randalls, Houston was ruled by a different grocery chain. Even before Kroger or franchises like Minimax and Lucky 7, there was a grocer many of us still know by name, Weingarten’s. Shutting down most operations 40 years ago, it’s incredible that so many still have such a fond place in their heart for Weingarten’s. Why did people love Weingarten’s so much, well, that’s a complicated question, but the answer is mainly in …

Word on the street is that Foodarama has lost its lease in the Wilcrest and W. Bellfort shopping center. Based on a few HHR fans who reached out and postings online, it seems the store’s final day will be this Friday, August 11th. The facility was initially constructed in 1973 for Safeway, who served the neighborhood until 1987. This location was dropped towards the end of the reorganization, which would form AppleTree. It would come …

Over the past few months, Mississippi-based “extreme value” retailer Dirt Cheap has closed 13 of its 15 remaining Texas locations. In an article released by The Marshall News Messenger back in April, Channel Control Merchants (the owner of Dirt Cheap) informed the employees of their Marshall-based warehouse that the company would shut down its Texas warehouse and all but two Texas stores by May. This news shocked some as Channel Control Merchants was on an …

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re discussing the long-departed Venture Department Store on the 30th anniversary of entering Houston. Rarely have things gone worse for a chain than Venture’s disastrous expansion into Texas. A story that’s often misconstrued; while Venture’s time in Texas did ultimately lead to their demise, the pieces which led to the company’s drastic decline were laid years prior. So let’s start off with a bit of …

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today we’re taking a quick look at a Randalls, which I never had a chance to explore! This store, located at 2323 Clear Lake City Blvd, Houston, TX 77062, was a quiet closure at the start of 2020. An HHR reader, and former Randalls employee, believed that these cuts were performance-based, possibly in anticipation of the then not know Kroger-Albertsons merger. Randalls closures over the past few years …

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re talking about Whataburger and how their acquisition of a Pacific Northwest Burger chain’s Texas operations led to some of their more iconic Houston restaurants. Before we switch gears to talking about the outsiders, let us spend a minute talking about Whataburger’s history in town. The first Whataburger opened in Houston in 1957 on OST. At the time, Whataburger did not use the iconic A-Frame. …