Retail News: Quiktrip headed for NW Houston Jones and 1960

Steeplechase Center Layout Source: Crexi

The Steeplechase Center is supposed to receive a new tenant in the way of a gas station at the corner of Jones Road and FM 1960. The new Quiktrip Convenience Store and Fuel Center will replace a former Capital One Bank branch, which closed about four years ago. This new QuikTrip location will be the company’s third in Houston and the first to be located away from a freeway. The chain, widely known for its travel centers, also operates scaled-down versions of its sites catering to neighborhoods. While Quiktrip has not provided details on what is planned for this location, there is a chance it could be the first non-travel center store in Houston. Special shout out to Jason McMilian, who spotted a since-removed sign and informed HHR! Prior to the bank branch, the corner spot was home to a Blockbuster Video and was originally a J.J. Muggs Restaurant location.

8 comments

  1. Very excited QT is getting into Houston. They scaled up fairly quickly in Phoenix area when I lived there and I’ve long wished they were here.

    It seems silly to have a strong convenience store preference, but there really is a difference with them. They are always clean and well stocked, employees are friendly, bright and plenty of them, bathrooms clean, gas pumps clean and they put fresh soapy water in the squeegee buckets every day. I could go on, but they are like the Starbucks or Mcdonalds of gas stations. Strong brand identity and super consistent.

  2. I have a question: Are all 99 cents closed nationwide? this makes no sense? I hope to see the rest of the stores mentioned!

  3. When can we expect a grand opening at this location? I’m excited to hear about this!!!

    1. QT is to Okies what Buccees is to Texans. Their pizza is excellent I found recently in Tulsa. Grew up there and lived on QT Quarts in the summer

  4. It’ll be interesting to see if QuikTrip fares better than the three previous gas stations which used to be at this intersection. The Eagle shopping center once had a Diamond Shamrock where the Boost Mobile outparcel center is now, the Kmart shopping center once had a Mobil/Shell where the Interstate Batteries outparcel center is now, and the land the Black Rifle Coffee is on now used to house a Gulf/Chevron which had a lovely spinning Gulf sign. All three of these are long gone now, the Gulf/Chevron being gone for probably over 30 years now, and all three of these had basic C-stores like one would have expected 1970s/1980s gas stations to have. With that in mind, maybe QT will have that in their favor that the older and closed gas stations did not have in their favor.

    Perhaps the biggest advantage QT and the Steeplechase Center have over the other three corners of that intersection is access at what is otherwise a fairly inaccessible intersection from a left turn perspective at least. Those wanting to turn left out of the Steeplechase Center have the option of going behind the shopping center via Bridgedown Dr., which goes past the old Albertsons, and then taking either Steepletop Dr. or Fallbrook to go left. Even in the early 1990s, when the other gas stations were around, traffic was heavy at that intersection and so it was hard to make left turns out of those other three corners at least relative to the options available at the Steeplechase Center. This should help QT a bit, but admittedly, Bridgedown is on the other side of the shopping center so it still isn’t the most convenient thing for a convenience store.

    While a lot of the new stores at Steeplechase Center aren’t exactly the types of stores I shop at with any regularity, and I preferred the stores that center had years ago like Weingarten/Safeway, Sav-On, Best Products, Gabby’s BBQ, Wyatt’s Cafeteria, The Black-Eyed Pea, and Godfather’s Pizza, it is nice to see the center reinvent itself as a major discount retail power center featuring early examples of stores like Ollie’s, Shopper’s World, and now QT to the Houston area.

  5. So excited to finally have one near me! I am a die-hard QT fan lol.

    We need more!

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