Category: Electronics

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

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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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

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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"A qualitative leap into the world of super fidelity...." Foley's price for this JVC CD player was a bit on the high side even for 1983 given some of the other options presented here, but those other CD players didn't promise 'super fidelity'! Houston Chronicle, October 4, 1983

Vintage Ads: Compact Disc Arrived at Houston Retailers 40 Years Ago

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston In 1983, the home entertainment options most American households had were quite limited compared to modern times. Most homes had televisions in 1983, but most people could not do much more than receive local broadcast TV channels on their TVs at that time as cable/satellite TV was still trying to establish itself. There were video games and other home computers …

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This large sign greeted Houston Jewelry shoppers at their catalog showroom at 9633 Westheimer. (Photo: Houston Jewelry's Facebook Page)

A Look Back at Houston Jewelry, Houston’s Own Catalog Showroom Store

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Usually when Mike or I start researching a potential blog post here at Houston Historic Retail, we have to dig deep into historical archives to find useful historical information to present here on the blog. This blog post is quite unique in that the subject, Houston Jewelry & Distributing, is a company which has embraced their history and they have …

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Kmart Electronics Alcove, 1987

Through the Annals: A Guide to Retail History in Annual Reports

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Researching the operations of a publicly traded company here in the 21st century is most certainly not a very difficult thing.  After all, there are numerous reports about companies available through their own websites and through various websites that can all be accessed very quickly.  However, those who were around before the rise of the World Wide Web might remember …

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The Houston store was built in a K-Mart Power Center which replaced Houston's final drive-in theater.

Goodbye Fry’s!

Think back to your formative years on computers. If you’re anywhere close in age to me, then these years span a wide timeline of operating systems from early memories of basic commands in Windows 3.1, ending during the time of Windows XP. I have lots of early computing memories which beyond screeching dial up noises involves going to stores like CompUSA, Best Buy, Microcenter, and on one occasion a trip to Incredible Universe. Unfortunately, these …

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