Year: 2025

The Value World (formerly Value Village) located at 1811 Gessner Rd, Houston, TX 77080 is temporarily closed, after a fire broke out in the store last week. The fire was reported to HHR by multiple readers on June 17th. According to HTX News no injuries were reported. The thrift store, which opened in 1995 occupies a building originally constructed as the 15th Rice Food Market location in 1966. It would later be sold to Gerland’s …

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we’re taking a walk down memory lane and looking at some retro photos of the Santa Fe Junction Shopping Center, and discussing the grocery store it once housed. The Arlan’s, which was the subject of a previous HHR post in early 2023, recently closed and is an interesting piece of retail history. In my last post, the history of Big Chief was unclear, and although …

According to a now-deleted Facebook post, there are behind-the-scenes plans to close a Houston-area Randalls located at 4800 W Bellfort Ave, Houston, TX 77035. According to the post, employees had been notified that their store, along with other locations in the Southern Division, would soon be closed. A DFW Tom Thumb store was revealed to be closing over a month ago, and a Baton Rouge Albertsons was also revealed to be closing yesterday. The location, …

Local grocer Arlan’s Market has closed its store located at 12460 Hwy 6, Santa Fe, TX 77510 in the Santa Fe Junction Shopping Center. This store originally opened in 1984 as Big Chief Foods. Arlan purchased this location in 2011 and was operating as the only full-service supermarket in Santa Fe, competing against a small footprint HEB. In late 2023, Ames Arlan sold his grocery store chain to Rafael Ortega, owner of La Michoacan, El …

In the ongoing battle between chain and independent C-store operators, it appears that newcomer Honey Farms is repositioning itself in Houston. Massachusetts-based energy company, Global Partners LP (owners of Honey Farms and multiple other brands), arrived in Houston just over two years ago, with the purchase of 64 Timewise locations selling Exxon-branded fuel in March 2023. The new owners took control in June of that year, licensing the Timewise brand and logos, and made minimal …

One of the spaces left vacant by Joann Fabrics’ recent closure will soon be filled in Katy. Burlington (formerly Coat Factory) has secured a deal to pick up 45 of Joann’s former leases across the United States, including 1219 N Fry Rd, Katy, TX 77449. The new location will be the first in the general North Fry portion of Katy. The new store will follow a trend of smaller, more streamlined Burlington stores. It’s not …

Work on Houston’s first Primark store is showing progress at Katy Mills Mall. The Irish department store first filed permits to build the location last year. It will be located in the former Bed, Bath & Beyond Outlet, which was previously the Restoration Hardware Outlet. The chain is known for selling its merchandise at extremely low price points. Work on another Primark location is currently underway at part of the former Sears in Willowbrook Mall. …

Trader Joe’s has been expanding across the Houston area lately. Specifically hitting up the suburbs for new locations. Earlier this year, HHR identified two new locations headed to the north of Houston. One headed to the former Kingwood, Randalls, and the other was destined somewhere for the Cypress Masterplanned community of Towne Lake. The details of the Towne Lake location were debated, with residents of the neighborhood questioning whether the address provided on the permits …

Sprouts Farmers Market is once again expanding in Houston. Three new locations are planned: one in Richmond’s Waterview Town Center, another in a former HEB/Albertsons in Kingwood, and one in a former Randalls in The Woodlands. The move is a reversal from two years ago, when Sprouts closed three locations. When those stores closed, Sprout’s said the locations were oversized for their needs and were part of broader cuts. Based on comparing these new locations …

Joann Fabrics is reaching the end of a months-long liquidation sale. After exiting restructuring last year, the ailing fabric chain filed for bankruptcy again in January. The chain failed to find a buyer and had been slowly liquidating operations. The final day for most stores in Houston will be May 25th. According to employees, there is a possibility that some locations may stay open until the 28th to sell remaining fixtures. During the liquidation sale, …