Howdy folks, and welcome back! It should be no secret by now, that I have a bit of an obsession with Safeway/AppleTree. While I don’t really remember Safeway’s presence in Houston, I do have lots of distinct memories of AppleTree. In learning about AppleTree, I’ve also learned lots about Safeway. One fact, I didn’t originally know, was that most Safeways in Houston were built with an adjacent Eckerd location. It seems that the deal allowed …
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My name is Mike and I am the founder of the Houston Historic Retail! I have been running this site since 2015. For more information check out the About page!
This Week in Demolition: The Final House on this side of River Oaks!
This Week in Demolition, we see the final house on the South side of San Felipe, along with the last Demolition Post, for now at least. Let’s start with the house, which was originally constructed in the late 30s. However, by 1963 it had been converted to commercial use. One of the first tenants was a Bookstore named The Bookman, run by David Dorman. Eventually morphing into an Art Gallery, it was holding general purpose …
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Sears Marcoplaza Mall location, reopens as a Hometown Store!
Howdy folks! Welcome to a Retail News update, I never thought I’d write about, a Sears reopening. Granted, as stated in the headline it is as a Hometown Store, this is still big news! For those not in the know, the Sears at Marcoplaza Mall, closed in January 2021. Leaving the Houston area without a mainline Sears presence for the first time in nearly 100 years. Sadly, I was unable to capture the closing, however …
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Houston’s oldest TJ Maxx is in a former Weingartens
Rummel Creek Village is a very interesting shopping center. With wooden shingles, ample trees, and vintage facade, you almost feel closer to the Hill Country than Houston here. Despite fitting stylistically with the surrounding Memorial Villages area, Rummel Creek Village is actually entirely within Houston. It’s anyone’s guess as to how it has survived unchanged for so long, but thankfully with age the design has only gained charm. It almost looks like something that would …
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This Week in Demolition: New House, Meet Old House
This Week in Demolition, we find something I’ve never seen before. Meet 9325 Grady Street, a lot containing two homes. One of them is an obvious tear down. It’s in poor shape, and would be a full gutting at the least, likely needing structural reinforcements as it seems to have been sitting for a while. Next to the original house, sits another “house”. Although in reality it looks more like a trailer office on a …
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I know what you were last Halloween, Visiting 3 Costume Conversions!
Checking out costume conversions, is by in far the oldest “blog tradition” here on HHR. If you’re just joining us, I would highly recommend checking out my post from 2019 which explores Halloween pop-ups in a former Palais Royal, Walgreens, and Babies ‘R’ Us, along with last year’s limited investigation of the recently closed Willowbrook Spirit/Sears (Spears?). These posts are always fun, and one of the most popular of the entire year. So this year, …
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Costco’s new Stafford store means (small) Business!
Howdy Folks, welcome back to what will be the closing chapter, for now at least, on Costco’s new Stafford store. For those not in the know, Costco announced earlier this year their intent to build a new location in place of a driving range originally planned in the Grid mixed-used development. Located on the grounds of the former Texas Instruments campus, the Costco is a bit difficult to spot from the feeder. When announced, it …
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This Week in Demolition: Assistance League Buildings on the way out after Thrift Store shuts down
This Week in Demolition, we see the end of a Montrose Area thrifting staple. Based on the final posts made to their Facebook page, the Assistance League of Houston’s thrift store quietly shut their doors this year at the end of August. The Assistance League Thrift Shop at 1902 Commonwealth, was one of Houston’s oldest continuously operating stores, dating to around the 60s. By the 70s, the Thrift Shop had made its way into Montrose, …
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What’s going on at Fuddruckers in 2021?
Howdy folks, and welcome to another entry into what almost became truly “historic retail” in Houston, Fuddruckers! The beloved burger joint was saved at the last minute earlier this year. Luby’s Inc. who announced their intent to dissolve their company over a year ago had looked for but was unable to find a buyer for any of their restaurant chains. Fortunately, at what was truly the last minute, an offer was accepted by the company’s …
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This Week in Demolition: Three more Ranch Styles outta Oak Forest!
When I started doing these demolition reports, I once saw a comment that was along the lines of “I can’t believe they still have any home left to knock down in Oak Forest.” Here we are nearly two years later and Oak Forest has continued to see the most consistent inclusion in demolition reports. This is a list of the buildings which received a City of Houston demolition permit the week before this post. Residential …
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