Category: J. Weingarten

There is no better way to close this series than with some nighttime Art Deco!

The Year of Kroger Closes with a Silver Anniversary Celebration of the River Oaks Art Deco Kroger

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston with the photos taken by Mike It is quite hard to believe that the end of the year 2023 is near! This means, of course, that The Year of Kroger series here at Houston Historic Retail is concluding with this post. I’ll reflect on The Year of Kroger series at the end of this post, but first we’ll discuss the …

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It's been years since I've even stepped foot in a 99 Cent Only Store prior to this

Visiting the 99 Cent Only Store all these years later

Howdy folks, and welcome to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re visiting a new place for the blog, but a spot with a special place in my heart, the 99 Cents Only Store. Today’s location is actually a new one for me. Located at 10787 Jones Rd, Houston, TX 77065, this store space in the Steeplechase Center was originally filled by Sav-On Drugs, opening in 1982, and later Walgreens, which took over the stores when Sav-On …

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The Rummel Creek Weingarten's in 1973

A tour of Weingarten’s in 1969 at Rummel Creek

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail. Today we’re setting the time machine to 1968 to take a look at the brand-new Rummel Creek Weingarten’s. A store we’ve seen before on HHR, but never in its original form. Before we go any further, I need to shout out Pleasant Family Shopping, who was able to hook me up with these photos and a few others already on HHR. If you haven’t already followed him …

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Retail News: Foodarama adds new location with Texas City Food King on their roster

Local grocery chain Foodarama opened a new location last week at 915 North 6th St in Texas City. The store was purchased directly from the previous operator Food King and was not closed for the changeover. This newest Foodarama represents the first new location of an independent Houston grocery chain since 2015, when Pyburn’s opened its third location. As of this article, Foodarama has eight locations throughout the Houston area. Other independent grocery chains in …

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Foodarama’s Weingarten redemption at Maplewood Mall

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! Today we’re taking a look at 5665 Beechnut St, Houston, TX 77096. A Foodarama store with a somewhat unique history. The store initially opened on January 28, 1965, as Weingarten’s Store #66. Construction of this store had started early the year prior alongside the adjacent Maplewood Shopping Center. The center was located right next to the boundaries of the greater Meyerland area, a part of Houston …

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Here is a drawing of Houston’s newest ‘mall’ in 1971! The Bellaire Texan via The Portal to Texas History, July 7, 1971

Vintage Ads: Celebrating the 1971 Grand Opening of Braeswood Square

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is a guest submission from HHR’s good friend Anonymous in Houston This edition of Vintage Ads will take us back to the grand opening of the Braeswood Square shopping center near Bellaire in Southwest Houston. Braeswood Square’s grand opening was on July 8, 1971 and we’ll be looking at various ads from the July 7, 1971 edition of The Bellaire Texan newspaper which is freely available to read at The Portal …

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Return to Food King, one of the last Weingarten’s out there

Howdy folks, and welcome back to Houston Historic Retail! If you’re a longtime reader of the blog, then you might recognize today’s location, Food King! A former Weingarten, still using much of their Grand Union decor update. This store is a gem, locally owned by a Texas City resident, and honestly pretty dang cheap! If you’re interested in the history of this store and more detailed information on decor overlap, then check out my post …

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This signage is all new, but permits have likely not changed since Safeway who used this separated non-lighted style

Weingarten’s lives on through Kroger in the Heights!

Weingarten’s was a grocer I never knew, and if I had to take a guess, it’s a store most of my readers never knew either. Even though Weingarten’s was long gone by the time I was around, the name was still eponymous for a grocery store in Houston. As well, despite a less than stellar exit, the opinion most Houstonians held of Weingarten’s was still overwhelmingly positive, with most chalking up those final years to …

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Unlike almost every other Randall's this store only feature one set of doors

Randall’s Weslayan Remodel brings up traces of a Weingartens past

Howdy folks, and welcome back to HHR. Over these past few weeks, we’ve discussed the slow dissolution of Randalls throughout the Houston area. As of this post, we’re down to 15 Houston area stores and only a couple more over in Austin. As sad as this is, there was a point where Randalls was king of Houston, and as could pretty much do whatever they wanted. By the early 80s, Randalls was becoming a dominant …

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Still don't believe this store was associated with Grand Union? Here's your sign!

This former Weingarten still uses Grand Union decor 40 years later!

Howdy and welcome to Houston Historic Retail. Today, we’re driving to Texas City to visit a former Weingarten, largely still wearing its Grand Union era decor! This store is located at 915 6th St, Texas City, TX 77590, and originally opened in 1952. While the store has seen some expansions over the years, much of the original store is still in use. The Weingarten locations of the 1950s used what some consider to be a …

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