Year: 2023

Retail News: Foodarama holds official Texas City grand opening this week

Grand opening sales and festivities at Foodarama’s newest location at 915 6th St N, Texas City, TX 77590, will commence this week. Foodarama, which is turning 50 this year, took over this location in late December 2022 from the previous operator Food King. Personnel from Foodarama disclosed to Houston Historic Retail that they had planned on removing some of the remaining Grand Union-era decor features, such as the overhead mural above the checkout, but had …

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The Denny's at it appeared in 2008. Photo Credit:Danielle Bourgeois Creative Commons 2.0

Houston’s rogue Denny’s the tale of Steve’s Kitchen

Houston is a big city; this is an observation that makes an impact on nearly any visitor who spends time here. Not only is Houston tangentially long, East to West and North to South, but each sector of our city is also composed of varying densities. We travel so much in this city that it’s easy to become blind to anything but drastic changes if you’re not looking for them. Today’s story is something I …

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Ollie’s Katy Excursion, how Houston’s third Bargain Outlet makes out

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today we’re completing a trilogy by checking out the third and currently final Ollie’s location to open in the Houston area. All this “Ollie’s Fever” started nearly two years ago, when HHR broke the news that Ollie’s was coming to the former Steeplechase Target on Jones Road. When that Ollie’s finally opened in September of the same year, I visited and was quite underwhelmed. Having visited Ollie’s first …

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Retail News: Shoppers World confirmed as coming to Houston

Shopper’s World is in the process of finishing out the former Target space in the Steeplechase Center seen here in 2021. Houston Historic Retail first reported that New York-based Shoppers World is planning on bringing one of their discount department stores to Houston last October. While the company has yet to release any official statement on its new Houston store, its list of locations has been updated to include 10701C Jones Road, Houston, TX 77065. …

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Fuddrucker’s Houston outlook is mostly grim

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re trying to figure out What the Fudds is going on at Houston’s remaining Fuddruckers. Things began first publically to unravel for Fuddruckers towards the end of 2017 when parent company Luby’s Inc posted one of many continuous losses in sales. To help abate this, Luby’s Inc. would begin closing locations nationwide. Throughout 2017 and 2018, a number of low-performing Luby’s and Fuddruckers locations would …

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From the outside at least, it would be hard for one to guess that this supermarket is 50 years old!

The Texas City Kroger’s Golden Anniversary

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike This month’s installment of The Year of Kroger will be an anniversary celebration. 2023 is the 140th anniversary of the formation of Kroger, but that isn’t the Kroger anniversary we will be celebrating in this post. Instead, we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Texas City Kroger located at 3541 Palmer Hwy, …

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Retail News: Highland Village, Houston’s first Starbucks abruptly closes

Houston’s original Starbucks location abruptly closed its doors last week. The store at 4081 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77027, has been a mainstay in the shopping center for nearly 30 years. The shutdown looks like it may not have been at Starbucks’ discretion owing to ongoing construction in the area. A ramp leading to the store’s entrance along with the front sidewalk across the entire building was demolished just after the store closed. Neighboring stores …

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Retail News: Almeda Mall down an anchor after Burlington moves North

Burlington has moved out of Alemda Mall, creating a major anchor vacancy at the regional mall for the first time in nearly 15 years. The space which Burlington occupied at the mall was originally a JC Penney until the chain closed the location in 2006. The anchor spot remained vacant until 2009 when Burlington (at the time) Coat Factory moved in. Burlington never utilized the entire JCP space, leaving the second floor untouched and a …

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Analyzing Houston’s Three Closing Sprouts

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. A sprout is defined in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as “to grow, spring up, or come forth.” Unfortunately for some Houstonians, three of our Sprouts locations are withering away. The cuts in Houston are part of a larger restructuring by Sprout’s Farmers Market, which recently announced plans to close 11 stores in the coming months. Some folks have heard this news and taken it to mean …

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Retail News: Bun B’s Trill Burgers start work on former James Coney Island

Work on transforming the former James Coney Island at Richmond and S. Shepherd into Trill Burgers has begun. JCI closed this location for good in July 2022 after years of sluggish sales. JCI Grill, as they’re now known, has sold off most of its property in the past five years, closing many locations for Cabo Bob’s, leaving some to sit vacantly and others demolished. Overall, JCI has openly admitted that their property is much more …

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