Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend BillyTheSkink Unassumingly Stands a neighborhood pillar The first Krogertsons I did not think much of this store when I first moved to West Houston in the early 2010s. Kroger HO-735, perhaps better known as the Dairy Ashford and Briar Forest Kroger, sits about as quietly as a grocery store can in busy West Houston. While situated at a high traffic intersection, the store at 12555 Briar Forest Dr. is mostly surrounded by housing and some small, low traffic retail. It is located less than two miles away from …
Keep readingCategory: Gas Stations
The homegrown history and future of Timewise
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re checking in with Houston’s most prominent homegrown C-Store chain Timewise. Just over a year ago, Shell Oil Co. completed its purchase of Landmark Industries (the parent of Timewise). Since the acquisition, there have been plans to sell off 64 locations which seem to be bound by contract to sell Exxon fuel. New England-based Global Partners announced their plans to pick up these stores a few months back. Of the many brands Global Partners operates, it’s unknown which one they will bring to Houston. However, we can expect to see …
Keep readingReturn to Krogerstons Express, aka Kwik Stop’s lost cousin!
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re taking a look at a Krogerstons Express! For those unaware, a Krogerstons, is a Kroger in a former Albertsons, which we have plenty of in the Houston area. While Albertsons did re-enter some former store spaces when purchasing Safeway (including Randall’s), they stand to reenter a large number of former stores depending on the outcome of their planned merger. When Albertsons exited Houston in 2002, they left behind plenty of modern and up-to-date stores. Their issue was not necessarily low sales but rather over-expansion. With the odds stacked against …
Keep readingRetail News: Biglari is back! – The return of Steak N Shake to Houston
The great fast food hamburger debate has so many sides: loyal Texans stumping for local Whataburger, west coast transplants singing the virtues of interloping In-N-Out, those squares who like Wendy’s. These sides have their merits, but I found my favorite fast food burger to be the midwestern-style steakburger, smashed flat with crispy edges, the cheese melted into the thin patty so completely that the two are practically an alloy. Specifically (and with apologies to Kansas-based Freddy’s and their many Houston-area locations), I came to love the steakburgers from Illinois-founded Steak N Shake. While it has long been an institution in …
Keep readingRetail News: The gas station in an ex-Walgreens near West Oaks Mall, finally opens! Welcome Now & Forever Plus
Well, folks, the day has finally come. The former Walgreens at Westheimer and Highway 6 has reopened. This will mark the building’s first permanent retail tenant since closing as a pharmacy around 2017. Now and Forever also marks the return of a gas station to this intersection. Before the most recent expansion of Highway 6, every corner of the intersection, except the mall, hosted a gas station. This gas station, however, aims to be a bit different. The space is huge, and while some area was built out around the checkout, I would wager that 3/4 of the former Walgreens …
Keep readingNow & Taking Forever, who’s behind the new Walgreen’s Gas Station on Highway 6?
Update 7/17/22: Over 2 weeks later, I realized that a draft version of this was published, well the full thing is here now! Anyone whose driven near West Oaks Mall recently has probably seen the work being done to a former Walgreens building at the corner of Westheimer and Highway 6. If you’ve been following this blog for a while you may have seen the building before. We checked it out in 2019 as a Spirit Halloween, and more recently when the pumps were installed last year. If you don’t know Now & Forever they about 10 stores throughout the …
Keep readingFinal “non-Beaver” Bucky’s disappears from Houston after Star Stop purchase
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we have some surprising news. The Bucky’s Express Gas Stations Houston’s locations have finally crumbled. This should not provide a huge shock to anyone who follows C-Store news, as Bucky’s was purchased by competitor Casey’s just over a year ago. Initially, it seemed the plan moving forward was to convert the locations into Casey’s stores. It would make sense, as Casey’s is now the third-largest C-Store chain in the U.S. However, the Houston locations were always outliers to what were otherwise two Midwestern chains. By the end of 2021 when …
Keep readingA Tour of Tomball Retail in 2000 and 1965
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Loyal Houston Historic Retail readers may recall that a few weeks ago, we published a blog post showing screenshots from a YouTube video published by Dan Starr and filmed by his wife Amy that showed Tomball’s retail scene in the year 1998. Well, Dan has come through once again as he recently uploaded some video footage taken by Amy and her father in the year 2000. This footage, which was taken right after Y2K, shows some of the retailers from the 1998 video in greater …
Keep readingA Speedway Gas Station in Texas? It’s more common than you think!
For those in the know of Speedway, the Houston area isn’t a market you’d expect to find the chain in. Even after an aggressive expansion campaign that landed the chain with a handful of stores in and around El Paso, H-Town is far from Speedway’s turf. The reason for the location of the store is due to the previous parent company of Speedway, Marathon Oil. The first Speedway to be built in Texas actually dates all the way back to the previous Melinium, yes 1999. When Speedway opened its first location outside of the Midwest, a Travel Center conveniently located …
Keep readingA guess at why Circle K has had trouble lately in Houston
Howdy folks and I’m glad you’ve found yourself back at HHR. Today we’re talking about what’s likely to become a local issue within the next few years, the underperformance of Circle K. Depending on your age, you may remember the giant red K’s, first go at Houston. Despite being founded in El Paso during the 1950s, Circle K has never had an easy go of Houston. Their first attempt at expanding here started in 1983 with their purchase of U-Tote-M Food Stores, from an insurance company that had purchased them as an investment. However, the iconic Totem Poles weren’t immediately …
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