As of 2020 Sears has nearly left the Houston area. They have shutdown all but the Pasadena store, sold their outlet chain, and shutdown all area Hometown stores. It’s really a shame for a chain that once had a major influence over the Greater Houston area. Their presence in this town was built as the city grew starting downtown and expanding to the suburbs as our sprawl progressed. In 1978 Sears announced plans for three …
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Post Relating to Malls
Checking in on Meyerland Plaza
Meyerland Plaza is one of Houston’s oldest continually operating shopping centers. Opening in 1957 as part of the Meyerland Housing Development it underwent an extensive renovation in the early 90s turning it from a more traditional outdoor mall to a department store anchored shopping center. Only a few original tenants managed to survive to the transition. The renovation added new features such as a second story and a new Venture Department Store. The mall has …
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What’s left of West Oaks Mall
Update 1/2022: Obviously this article gained traction somewhere on Facebook, but I can’t figure out where. I was actually already in the middle of preparing a more recent update to the mall, including some photos from the last month. If one of you kind souls could share with me which group/page this post was shared on, I’d appreciate it! -Mike Welcome back, today we’re taking a look at West Oaks Mall. A place which is …
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Two Closures in Galleria IV
Upon visiting the Galleria last week, I was surprised to learn of two recent closings. One of them I saw coming from a mile away which was of course Best Buy Mobile. The stores, which were more similar in fashion to a cell phone retailer, than a real Best Buy. I had tried shopping here a few times, and never had an exceedingly pleasant experience. Best Buy announced the closure of all BB Mobile locations …
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Visiting Almeda Mall for the first time
In light of the recent publicity of my website thanks to a Chron.com Article I decided to visit the literal twin of Northwest Mall, Almeda Mall. The following may come as a surprise to my readers, prior to yesterday I had never set foot in Almeda Mall. I had of course driven by it many times, knew where it was, and knew its shared lineage with Northwest. Both malls opened in October of 1968, they …
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Northwest Mall July 2018 Update
Well, we’re coming to the end of July, which means it’s finally time for another biannual trip to Northwest Mall, before you read any further not much has happened. However, everything is still there, at present there are no plans for demolition. The last stated plans were to remodel and redevelop the inside with a possible grocer taking the space of a former anchor. I have since been contacted by the group wishing to purchase …
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Katy Mills Renovation
Katy Mills which has been previously covered in this blog, is undergoing a renovation. Simon who purchased the malls original developer (The Mills Corporation) had not invested much in Katy Mills in terms of upgrades. Individual stores had updated their store fronts, but nothing in common areas. One of the first things to go was the “Star Family” a common mascot among the Mills malls. My understanding is that the idea was that you and …
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Northwest Mall December 2017 Update
As it had been nearly 6 months since my last visit to Northwest Mall, I figured it was time for me to stop by. From the outside it looks like not too much is going on, and the views from the inside support that as well. All the stores with exterior entrances are still open, including Thompson’s Antique Center, Palais Royal, The College of Health Care Professionals, The Post Oak Club, and Chapa. Upon speaking …
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Katy Mills Opening Day
All images in this post were taken by Darel Rex Finley. With his permission, I have used them to write this post. When Katy Mills Mall opened in 1999, it wasn’t surrounded by much. To the South, two recently developed and unfinished neighborhoods, Pin Oak Village and Falcon Point. To the North, downtown “Old Katy”. With no development to the East or West. Even the outparcels of the mall were underdeveloped, with a Walmart and …
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Northwest Mall June 2017 Update
Northwest Mall closed the interior of the mall on March 31st, 2017. It was a sad and unexpected occasion. I made a final visit to the mall to try to talk to some of the shop owners. I found that everyone was unaware of the closure, until Mid-March, and for the most part, lacked concrete plans of where to go or what to do next. Once the mall closed, the interior sat untouched for a …
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