Author: Anonymous in Houston

As we return to the center cut-through, we see some remaining Albertsons flooring elements. While the black and grey design has been retained now that the renovation is complete, the toy letter blocks and the pink checkerboard designs have been removed. We also see the Bountiful aisle markers on the left and the Artisan aisle markers on the right.

Kroger’s Artisan Takes Over the FM 1960 W. & N. Eldridge Grocery Palace Krogertsons Which Previously Had Bountiful Albertsons Leftovers

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike in July 2024 2024 may not be The Year of Kroger here at Houston Historic Retail like 2023 was, but we still aim to bring our readers the latest in Houston Kroger developments! With that in mind, this post will be about the recent renovation which took place at Kroger HO-737 located at 12400 …

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This photo of Lee Brown with Ernie the Safeway Super Chicken was obviously taken in the 1980s. However, since there aren't any photos of Lee Brown, who was Mayor of Houston in 1999, with Safeway executives welcoming them back to town after the Randalls' buyout, this photo will have to do. (Photo source: The Portal to Texas History)

25 & Still Alive: The Silver Jubilee of Safeway’s Buyout of Randalls

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston.  I am not a communications or marketing person, but I’ve heard it said before that organizations try to announce news which might be viewed as being unpopular on Fridays since the public is more concerned with their weekend plans and will be less likely to ruminate over the unpopular news. Well, July 23, 1999 was a Friday. It was the …

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Lifestyle v2 with spotlights and X-lights (Courtesy of Albertsons Companies.)

Ingredients for Survival: Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Safeway’s Lifestyle Concept

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston.  Many thanks go to Northwest Retail of the Northwest Retail Blog and to Mike from HHR for supplying the photos for this post. Last year, during The Year of Kroger series here at Houston Historic Retail, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Kroger Signature format. The Kroger Signature format dramatically improved Kroger’s position in the Houston market. In this …

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Celebrating 15 Years of the Louisiana & Texas Retail Blogspot

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston.  The photos used in this post are republished with permission from Je’s Louisiana & Texas Retail Blogspot. Houston Historic Retail posts typically cover the history of retailers and retail locations, but today’s post is going to be a little different. Instead of looking at the history of retail establishment, we’ll be celebrating the anniversary of one of our fellow retail …

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A Computer City brand floppy diskette on the left and a CompUSA floppy drive driver disc on the right (From Anonymous in Houston's computer collection)

Vintage Ads: Two Metroplex Retailers, CompUSA and Computer City, Were Briefly the Most Exciting Computer Stores in Houston During the 1990s

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Vintage Ads posts here at HHR are a way to visually look at retail history during a brief period of time. In my last Vintage Ads post last summer, I discussed the introduction of audio Compact Discs and CD players to Houston’s retail scene in 1983. Today’s Vintage Ads post will also be about electronics retailing, but the focus of …

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The infamous postcard on the wall where stores never opened at the Mall of the Mainland. Nikki's address and hometown is completely made up, but it is interesting to note that 77060 is Greenspoint Mall's Zip code. Perhaps at the time this post card was painted, the Mall of the Mainland did have more worthwhile shopping and entertainment options than Greenspoint Mall. That's not saying much though. I will say that shopping at the Mall of the Mainland was a vacation if you wanted to spend time in a public space and didn't want to see anyone else! It was paradise for those who wanted peace and quiet. (From the Anonymous in Houston retail photo collection)

A Look Back at Houston Retail in January 2014 with Anonymous in Houston’s Photo Collection

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Happy new year, Houston Historic Retail readers! Today’s topic is a bit of a random retail post. Those of you familiar with my guest blog posts here at HHR know that while I enjoy discussing retail history, I am not much of a retail photographer. The wonderful retail photographers out there deserve a lot of credit for their skill in …

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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

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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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Two Westside Kroger Stores With Unique Safeway and AppleTree Designs

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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 The Year of Kroger post will be a bit unique for a couple of reasons. For one, this post will be about two different, but similar Houston-area Krogers. Also, a unique aspect of this post is that we will be looking at stores which both started out as Safeway stores, then became …

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Office Depot tries to make it clear that when you shop at OfficeMax, you’re really shopping at an Office Depot.

With the Hedwig Village OfficeMax Closing Soon, We Remember OfficeMax’s Glory Days In Houston

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike Sometimes retail blog posts just don’t go as planned. This is the case with this post. Only a few weeks ago, Mike and I discussed the possibility of us doing a blog post about OfficeMax and Staples’ small presence in the Houston area in current times. Both names are so rare in Houston these …

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Here’s how the store looks at night. The black signs turn white when they are lit. It is interesting to see curtains on some of the mezzanine windows! It makes the mezzanine look like a fancy hotel!

Kroger Goes Upscale With The KTRKroger in West U

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Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike, who has recently published a new page covering the history of Henke & Pillot. In Houston at least, Kroger has long had a reputation as being a ‘middle of the road’ type of grocer. This has helped Kroger in many ways as the combination of good prices and a traditional supermarket experience appeals to …

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