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 …
Read moreCategory: Gas Stations
A 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 …
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A 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 …
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A Tour of Tomball Retail in 1998
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Tomball might seem like just another Houston suburb today, but nearly a quarter of a century ago in 1998, Tomball was a bit of a distant place to visit even for those of us like myself who lived in the Northwest Houston suburbs in the Willowbrook Mall area. That said, I did visit Tomball quite frequently in the 1990s and …
Read moreRetail News: Circle K Quietly disposes of 4 Houston locations to newcomer Prime Spot
Strange things are afoot at a few Houston area Circle K locations as they begin to rebrand as Prime Spot. The brand is a new one, with their operations mainly consisting of wholesaling fuel prior to this point. Circle K made its reentry into Houston during a 2018 conversion spree, after purchasing the CornerStore chain of C-Stores in 2016, which had recently been spun off by Valero. Many of these Corner Store locations came from …
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Exxon left this On the Run, now it’s time for Star Stop’s story
Howdy folks, and welcome back to HHR. Today we’re taking a break from the norm, and talking about Star Stop. Now that’s a name that doesn’t come up well… anywhere really, and if you don’t recognize it I don’t blame you. The company operates ~115 gas stations and C-Stores, mostly in and around Houston, with a small presence in San Antonio and Austin as well. The stores are mostly former chains that have been snapped …
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Sellers Bros C-Stores the only branch left for this Grocery family tree
Howdy retail fans, and welcome! Today I have to start off with some delayed “breaking news” Longtime Houston grocery chain Sellers Bros. has been sold! Yes, it’s true, in a quiet move sometime towards the end of 2019, the Sellers family sold their grocery operations to Rafael Ortega, owner of La Michoacana Markets. As of yet, no public announcement has been made of the sale, however, Sellers Bros offices have closed, and all paperwork refers …
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Raceway to 7-Eleven the saga continues
Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we’re taking another look at what has become the agonizingly slow transformation of Houston’s Raceway stations in 7-Eleven stores. In early 2021 the Raceway/Racetrac affiliation in Houston came to an abrupt end after over 25 years. Initially, the first stores opened were company-owned Racetrac locations. These gas stations specialized in discount private label gasoline, supplemented by streamlined C-Store operations. With locations featuring a small Made …
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Vintage Texas Retail Videos in 1080p from the Jones Film Collection
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston Those who have been reading Houston Historic Retail for some period of time know that I did a two-part series (Part I and II) in early 2021 about the excellent retail videos available at The Portal of Texas History website operated by the University of North Texas Library. Most of the videos at The Portal were supplied by Dallas-Fort Worth …
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There’s news round the corner! Gas Station coming to Former Walgreens Highway 6 and Westheimer
Howdy Folks, and welcome back to some retail news at the corner of Highway 6 and Westheimer. It seems that two shopping centers, at the crossroads, are coming closer to 100% occupancy again for the first time in nearly 20 years! This intersection has long been considered to essentially be a no-mans lands in terms of retail. Beyond West Oaks Mall’s initial success which is long gone, the two power centers sitting catty corner both …
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