Author: Mike

Howdy, folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today, we’re looking at 9805 Farm to Market 1960 Bypass Rd W, Humble, TX 77338, a location with a storied history. To start with a bit of context, this store sits inside the Deerbrook development, which is a part of Humble, TX. While Humble had an early history as an oil boomtown, also being the namesake for Humble Oil, now known as Exxon, its status as a growth …

For the past few months, many have waited with bated breath for Sugar Land to finally have its own Trader Joe’s, and come Thursday, October 24th, it will be a reality. The Aldi-owned natural foods store has been planning the location at Univeristy Blvd and Highway 59, in a former Sprouts, for the better part of a year, and after pushing back the date, the store seems ready to open. Trader Joe’s began applying for …

Salvage merchandiser Dirt Cheap prepares to bite the dust while closing down operations. Channel Control Merchants, the parent company of Dirt Cheap, and sister companies Dirt Cheap Building Supplies and Treasure Hunt filed for bankruptcy on October 10th. They announced their plans to close all remaining locations by the end of the year as part of their proceedings. Dirt Cheap, which is mainly focused in the Southern United States, has been featured twice before on …

The Big Lots bankruptcy continues to add new locations to the closing list, and in the past two weeks, two Houston stores have joined the lineup. The first is 6138 Hwy 6 N, Houston, TX 77084, and the second is at 425 Sawdust Rd Ste A, Spring, TX 77380. With these two new closures, the greater Houston area is now losing 10 Big Lots stores overall, with a possibility of more closings still looming on …

Work has begun on preparing the site for Houston’s newest Joe V’s Smart Shop. Earlier this year, HEB filed permits to tear down the former Fry’s Electronics at 10241 North Fwy, Houston, TX 77037, and start building their newest store. According to filings the new store is slated to be about half the size of the former Fry’s location. It’s possible that HEB will build additional shopping center space on at least one side of …

Burlington, formerly Coat Factory, has opened the first of two new stores planned for the Westside of town. This first store, located at 5125 Richmond Ave., Houston, TX 77056, takes the place of a former Cost Plus World Market, which closed in 2020. For the past four years, the building has usually sat vacant, occasionally used as a pop-up shop by the Salvation Army. This new location represents a smaller concept Burlington has been rolling …

Big Lots, as part of its bankruptcy, has eyed four more Houston area locations for closure since the previous round, bringing the total number of stores closing in our area to eight. The newly announced stores are in Pearland, Tomball, and Katy, along with one in Houston at Westheimer and Gessner. These closures represent not only a restructuring but also an attempt to shift the company’s focus back to Closeouts from the dumpy Kmart-like facade …

Editor’s Note: The photos for today’s post were kindly supplied by Mike Richardson. The Deauville Fashion Malls have long been a point of curiosity for anyone interested in retail in Houston. While many have fleeting memories of the mall’s brief existence, usually tied to Federated Electronics, even more Houstonians have memories of these giant off-price centers sitting at least partially vacant. Starting with a bit of history, the Deauville Company did not start with retail …

Permits for multiple new Bojangles locations have appeared in the past few months, and slow but steady work is progressing on the locations already under construction. The North Carolina-based fried chicken chain first announced its return to Houston in 2021 after a brief run in the Bayou City in the mid-80s. Progress on this stalled; however, it was only last year that Bojangles made good on its promises and began construction in and around Houston. …