Author: Mike

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. …

According to court documents filed by Big Lots over the past few days, four Houston area Big Lots locations will likely close before the end of the year. The four locations are 8210 Kirby at OST, 10951 FM 1960 at Jones, and one each in Baytown and Galveston. The closures come only months after other locations in North Houston quietly closed in early 2024, signaling the troubles Big Lots has been experiencing. Big Lots has …

Houston’s newest DG Market opened earlier this week. Located at 1838 S Kirkwood at Briar Forest, this new location takes the place of a shuttered Walgreens store. DG Market first broke into Houston late last year by converting existing Dollar Generals in North Houston and La Marque. This was bolstered by another location South of Houston, in a former CVS in Leauge City, which opened a few months ago. This newest store is the most …

The soon-to-open Sugar Land Trader Joe’s may be coming sooner than previously thought. Original estimates had put the opening closer to Christmas, but rumors online now put the grand opening about a month out, specifically on October 15th. While HHR was unable to get direct confirmation from Trader Joe’s, a few employees of locations other than the one mentioned above said that the mid-October assumption was likely correct. TJ’s has made a large amount of …

Pasadena Town Square, Marcoplaza, or Plaza Paseo are three names that all say the same thing: a dead mall. However, unlike every other dead mall in Houston, this one seems to have outlived expectations anyone has had for it. When I first visited the mall, it was during the Marcoplaza days, and the entire building was still open. My return to the mall would not occur until after the pandemic began. Dwindling mall traffic called …

The first of six former 99 Cents Only stores planned to become Ollie’s Bargain Outlet locations has opened in Rosenberg. The store, located at 2516 Avenue H, Rosenberg, TX 77471, is one of 11 purchased by the Pennsylvania-based outlet chain. Ollie’s had their eyes on Texas ever since the downfall of Toys ‘R Us when they were rumored to be eyeing many leases throughout the Lone Star state. Ultimately, Ollie’s took a slower approach, opting …

New York-based Shake Shack recently announced they will close two Houston locations by the end of September. The locations are the original Galleria location, which opened in 2016, and the Montrose location, which opened in 2018, replacing a long-standing Burger King location. According to reports online, Shake Shack indicated the stores were cannibalizing sales from other locations and were underperforming overall. The Montrose location no doubt has the most competition from other Shake Shack outlets, …